The Blue Heron Bridge

How would you like to dive in the ocean without getting in a boat, staying at a dive resort and be able to park your car close to the water's edge?  Such is diving under the Blue Heron Bridge.

Of course it's in Florida, that's where I live.  What can I tell you except it's such an unusual dive location that even people from out of state come for the experience.

Located on the East Coast of Florida, the Blue Heron Bridge is part of the causeway between Riviera Beach and Palm Beach Shores.

Halfway across the bridge there is an entrance into what is known as Phil Foster Park, named after the comedian who was best known playing the father on the TV program Laverne and Shirley. 

Before you travel to this area it is a must that you check the local tide tables.  There are times when the visibility can be lessened due to the way the tide and current flows.  The best time is half an hour before high slack tide or two hours before high tide.  Due to the depth varying between 4 and 20 feet, it gives the diver a good two hours of dive time.

No matter what the conditions are out in the ocean, the Blue Heron Bridge location will always be calm.  Because the good dive times are limited, you can expect the area to be crowded during these times and even more so on the weekends.

In the parking area there are picnic tables where divers can prepare their equipment for the dive.  Once you are fully equipped it is only a short walk to the water's edge.  There are two routes you can take, one takes you West under the bridge itself and has the largest variety of life to view but be aware of  lines due to the people fishing from the bridge.  The second dive area takes you out to the South and East where you can follow a preplanned route to view some man-made obstacles that may house small critters.  This area is also popular with snorkelers.

The main item you better be carrying is a dive float and flag and be sure not to wander out of the dive area into the active boat lanes.  This is for your own safety as well as not getting a ticket from the marine patrol who frequent the area.

On one trip under the bridge, my son took quite a bit of movie footage with his newly acquired GoPro camera and put together the following movie that I thought was great seeing it was his initial use of the camera.

 Some of the characters in order of their appearance were,

                 Chromis                            Starfish

                 Parrot Fish                        Lobsters

                 Arrow Crabs                      Yellow Grunts

                 Striped Dottyback           Octopus

                 Sergeant Major                Brown Crawler

                 Brassy Chub                      Sea Urchin

                 Gray Angle                        Banded Coral Shrimp

                 Spadefish                          Scorpion fish

                 Grunt                                 Crab

                 Coney Wrasse                 Pipe Fish

                 Centipede                         Moray Eel

                 Small Bump Nose            Leopard Sea Robin

                 Butterfly Fish                    Barracuda

Father Father & Son

The park is open from sunrise to sunset and there are two freshwater showers along with bathroom facilities.  If you require more information on the area don't hesitate to check on-line for the Blue Heron Bridge diving.  There are also local dive shops that rent equipment, have guide suggestions and even give out free tide charts for the area.  Some will even take you on a night dive which require special permits that they can acquire.

 It's different, yet similar to ocean diving, but with a lot less preparation.  Have fun!

George