Scuba Diving with Kyalami Dive Charters in Jupiter
Florida is arguably the best state for scuba diving and the Palm Beach area is the best spot in Florida. Andrew and I both got dive certified in Jupiter and have been going back for more ever since! We have seen so much beauty right off the coast from sea turtles, to coral reefs and more exhilarating encounters like sharks and eels. We decided to do a 2 tank dive one August day hoping for clear warm waters right off the coast. We went with Jupiter Scuba Diving on their famous red Kyalami boat. It is docked in the Jupiter Inlet right across from the Jupiter Lighthouse. We had a very easy time getting there as the meet up is in the parking lot of the U-Tiki restaurant. They had all the tanks and the dive equipment I was renting right there and transported it on to the boat for us. From there we hung out on the bow of the boat while we waited for the dive to start. I found this to be a much more relaxed experience then going out of the West Palm Beach docks like I did when I got certified. They were very crowded which made it difficult to find the right boat to go off of. The boat left promptly at 10 am and though it was completely booked, there was plenty of room and it did not feel crowded. Their dives can fill up fast so make sure to book early, especially if you are going on the weekend. This was in August so I had my shortie wet suits and some people are on the boat were talking about going without a wet suit. Well, the time of year does not always determine water temperature as this day the water was 68 degrees! I was bummed I did not have a full wet suit but decided to brave it anyways. As almost always, the visibility was great, with 50 feet of visibility, meaning you can see clearly for up 50 feet in each direction. The water was also very calm, with less than 2 feet high seas. Despite the temperature, it was shaping up for a great dive!We dove down for our first dive and had awesome experience. It was cold at the bottom so I hovered a little higher than normal to stay warm. We saw so many sea creatures though! The coral reefs were beautiful and there were lots of fish swimming around, including Goliath Groupers, which someone on the boat got a picture of. There were also a few sharks, which I had not encountered this closely before, but they of course were not harmful. One was lurking in the shadows of a reef, which was a bit scary, however you have to stay calm around sharks during a dive and they won’t be a problem.
After the first dive we came up for a rest and enjoyed the snacks and beverages that the boat offered. The beautiful sunny day started to look a bit cloudy. All of a sudden there were storms up ahead and the captain made the decision to cancel the second dive. I was glad of this as he said it would be hard to find us in such heavy rain! It can be hard to tell what the weather in Florida will be like as thunderstorms pop out of nowhere, but this crew made the right decision. Also, I was still cold from the first dive, so I did not mind They even gave us half credit since we only did one dive so now we can go with them again! The Kylami Charters were such a great crew and we recommend them to everyone going down to Jupiter to dive. We unfortunately did not get any good go pro videos on this dive, but Andrew has taken a bunch of our past dives. Feel free to check them out here and here.
Comment below if you are or a scuba diver and have a favorite place to go! Or I can provide you with some tips if you are interested in trying it. Don’t let a shark sighting scare you 😉