24 Mar 2026
Today, once again, started before the sun was up- my fire alarm went off at 0530 and startled me from what was actually a decent sleep (once the traffic died down around 11pm).
But no flames, no smoke… my camera’s moisture sensor had gone off last night because my room was so humid (the downside to being right on the ocean), I’m guessing that’s what set the fire alarm off as well. I opened my door for a few minutes and it did turn off, so I called it good enough and went back to bed.
Or tried to- traffic was beginning to pick up again and I tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 8a.
I don’t really need to be up that early- my dive shop opens at 9, but I don’t know how many rental tanks they have and I want to make sure I get one, so I drove over early, grabbed a coffee and a treat:
no idea why my camera decided not to focus on the big cup of coffee right in front of it…
and waited for my shop to open. Once I had acquired my tank, I headed back to my room to play that game of “how to I kill 3 hours before I get to go diving”. All my gear is set up and ready, camera is prepped… I ended up starting working on this log- maybe I’ll actually have this trip report done in a timely fashion?
But, finally, it was time!
My plan is to basically just explore the east side of the park, under the bridge closest to where I’m staying. Depending on what the current is like/what critters I find, I might branch out later this week, but last time I was here, I started my dive from the beach in the park and by the time I got to the bridge, it was getting close to time to turn my dive, so I’m looking forward to actually spending some time exploring here.
One of the first things I spotted was this little filefish!
it took a few shots to get decent lighting, but he kept his little file fin up the whole time!
Sea star waves:
I asked at the shop when I picked up my tank if there were any spots known for nudibranch sightings; their only recommendation was the far east wall, which ended up being super shallow (like, 5′), which I was a bit too floaty for (I wasn’t wearing any weights), so I didn’t explore there long, but I did find these Yellowline arrow crabs:
Large blenny, I think:
Another arrow crab (these guys are super common here):
Hogfish in the “I’m eating” coloration:
Sneaky scorpionfish, hiding under a corally bush:
Bristle fireworm!
Nurse shark!
He was about 6′ long and did not want his picture taken- he took off right after I snapped this, but as I tracked him to see if he’d settle elsewhere, this Blue angelfish cruised past!
A whole pile of these fireworms- over a dozen in this one spot. It was actually kinda creepy…
Usually I don’t photograph corals, but these reminded me of little sunflowers:
I ventured out into a sandy area just past the bridge and found this Scrawled cowfish:
Unfortunately, my camera/strobes don’t know what to do with all the ambient light- pictures were either way over exposed, or barely lit at all, hence the terrible coloring on this little Web burrfish:
I just liked how pouty this mojarra was:
This Sand perch was surprisingly tolerant of my attempts to get a good picture, but alas, I couldn’t find that happy medium:
So, I retreated back under the bridge where I found a giant school of spadefish!
Look at them all!
Lobster apartment:
I counted at least 6 in there.
These arrow crabs were fighting- that little one kept pinching the bigger one:
Solitary arrow crab:
Another not-so-hidden scorpionfish:
There were a TON of these blue sergeant majors guarding their nests:
None of the eggs looked mature yet:
Arrow crab:
Flounder!
and one last filefish!
I spotted so many more critters on the second half of my dive- tomorrow, I think I’ll spend more time behind the bridge (closer to where I’m staying) rather than trying to cover more of the park- I could have spent much more time down here but I kinda burned through my tank- I got pretty chilly. I moved the wetsuit warmer to my front, and had it on medium for most of the dive, but 1) I still couldn’t really feel it and 2) it dug into my ribs and was actually rather uncomfortable. Will have to find a better position for the heaters and probably just crank it up to high.
But first, a nap!
Turns out towing a dive flag and fighting a bit of current is actually a decent workout- I’m beat. So I set my alarm for an hour and laid down. Unfortunately, I was woken up by a call from my blackwater boat- dive is cancelled, tomorrow is probably off as well.
Shoot.
I really don’t have good luck when it comes to diving in Florida!
When I took my tank back to the shop, I asked if they knew of any blackwater boats going out- nope! I drove over to another shop to check and he knew of a few options, so he made some calls and sent out some messages, but I’m not feeling hopeful- it sounds like the waves are pretty choppy right now and are only set to get worse over the next few days.
I briefly considered trying to join a morning boat, but last time I was here, I did some boat trips and finding parking at the marina was a struggle. Plus, dives here are mostly wrecks or drift dives, and I don’t really care for either of those. Then I ran into a couple other divers back at the hotel and they had their morning/afternoon dives for tomorrow cancelled…
So I might be just diving the Bridge this trip. Once it was late enough that I was sure there wouldn’t be a night dive today, I ventured out an found some ice cream:
This might end poorly later, but was a pretty tasty way to end today.
And this sunset?!
A beautiful way to end a rather disappointing day.