25 Mar 2026
I have not been sleeping well here- the road noise definitely keeps me awake. Last night, it sounded like a motorcycle gang was doing circles up and down the bridge in front of my hotel until almost midnight. Then a firetruck came through around 5am.
Ugh.
Probably going to be taking another nap later today, but for now, it’s time to pick up a fresh tank and get some breakfast. I call this Bagels on the Beach:
Chocolate chip bagel with honey walnut cream cheese. Not too bad and very filling so I saved the other half for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Now, I just have to kill 4 hours until it’s time to dive. I mean, I’m glad I don’t have to get up crazy early to dive, but maybe I should have looked into a morning boat dive, especially since tomorrow’s high tide is yet another hour later and I just got the official call that tonight’s Blackwater dive is also cancelled.
Bummer.
I ended up hanging out on our pier with some of the other divers and spotted some little squid! One of them even inked when a fish charged at it! We tried to get a video using their GoPro on a stick, but didn’t have any luck, so the first thing I did when it was finally dive time was go get a picture of them:
well, one of them anyway. I didn’t want to start my dive here or waste my air, so I just stayed at the surface like a snorkeler. That may have been a mistake, should have just dove down and gotten a better shot- it was really hard to track them in the sunlight!
This scorpionfish was very well hidden, I almost swam right past him!
I didn’t realize just how red that file clam was when I took this picture of an arrow shrimp:
Bearded fireworm:
I couldn’t quite tell what this was when I saw it, so I snapped a picture hoping it was a nudibranch, or that I could at least figure out what I was looking at once it was blown up on my computer:
But I really have no idea what to make of it.
French angelfish:
Gray angelfish:
(there are actually 2 of them, but this area was quite silty, so it was hard to get good pictures)
Bandtail puffer:
These guys always seem strangely elongated to me.
The tiniest! fireworm:
He was just under an inch long- so little!
Juvenile porkfish:
Not sure why he has that funny divot on his back…
This little green mantis shrimp was running around (and running away from my camera):
But one of the main reasons I came to this grassy area was to try and find a sea horse- success!!!
He was super-shallow, like in 4′ of water, but stood out from the otherwise spindly grass.
I didn’t do a good job reeling my float in as I moved though the shallows and the free line kept trying to wrap around my camera, so I headed back deeper and found this juvenile High hat hiding under a ledge:
I’m also trying out a new spot light (with a green laser that seems like it could come in handy for pointing out nudibranchs and other small critters), but I’m not sold on it- it’s got a very obvious hot spot right in the middle, which, if I leave it on, messes with my pictures:
This ended up being a stellar ledge- I also found little ray:
and 2 partially buried scorpionfish (though I didn’t see the second one until I loaded up this picture)!
Wee fishy on a bottle- no idea why those shell pieces are in that pattern:
BATFISH!!!
this is one of the fish I was hoping to see here, but didn’t think I’d actually find! But as I was swimming past, I wondered why this log had an appendage…
Look at that grumpy face and weird mouth!
and strange pectoral fin legs:
AHHH!!! absolutely made my dive!
Barracuda being cleaned by a juvenile angelfish:
Lantern bass:
Flounder!
Arrow crab eating:
Banded coral shrimp:
This is a terrible picture, but that grunt on the left kept doing this weird mouth thing- I managed to catch him with it partially open:
Pinfish having a meal:
And one last barracuda for the road:
I did start to get chilly on this dive too, but even with my warmer on high, I couldn’t really feel it. Maybe I need to turn it on sooner, before I start to get cold? But I rotated it 90º so one pad was on my belly and one was on my side, and that felt better on my ribs, so I do think I’ll make my own belt to keep them where they’re more comfortable.
When my shop called to cancel, they did offer the option to join their regular night dive- conditions at their southern location seem to be improving, but that boat leaves an hour earlier and it’s twice as far away, which, while doable, would be a very tight turnaround after my bridge dive.
So, I think I’ll just settle in for the night, get caught up on pictures, and hopefully call it an early night.
(quick story: as I was settling in, the owner stopped by and asked if I wanted to switch rooms- apparently mine is next to be renovated and they’ve got a bigger room they could upgrade me to, and as nice as that sounds, I really don’t want to pack up all my gear tonight and move it, just to have to pack it again tomorrow since I fly out Friday. I mean, yes, my room could definitely use some love, and I haven’t figured out why I don’t have hot water, I’ve just been showering on the deck after my dives, but it’s served me well so far- I’m content.)
Goodnight, Palm Beach!