Meeting at the Riviera Beach Marina dock for the dives were Ron & Leslie Anderson, Dan & Eva Maloney, MaryAnn McCampbell, Chris Cross, Brian Chouiniere, Nancy Fuentes and me.  After signing waivers and loading the boat, away we went, eager to look for bugs, shoot some fish and just enjoy a day underwater with friends. 
 
Ocean Quest uses an in water divemaster, but doesn’t require divers to stay with him.  They do not provide dive flags for groups of divers.  In the future, when diving with this operation, I plan to bring my own flag.  In this case, our in water divemaster was Matt.  Matt is 18, but looks about 5 years younger.  I was favorably impressed with Matt.  He wasn’t perfect, but was willing to listen.
 
Our first site was a location called Drifting Spot, a site I first explored in 1984.  Upon entering the water, we were surrounded by blue.  I estimated visibility at about 120 feet.  Dropping down, we followed the ledge, with most folks looking for bugs.  Brian brought up one and I believe Dan and Ron each caught a few.  Egg bearing females were left to provide us with future bounty.  Toward the end of the dive, several of us saw a 7 ft Nurse Shark cruising along the ledge until Brian frightened it away.  Brian never saw the shark.  My maximum depth on this dive was 84 feet.  There was a thermocline on all three dives at about 75 – 80 feet dropping the water temperature from 84° to 78° F.
 
After an hour surface interval, we dropped in at Governor’s Walk, a site with four fairly large shipwrecks, two of which are partially intact.  The wrecks were very interesting and Brian did see a Bull Shark on the first wreck.  He had frightened it off before I got to the wreck, so I didn’t get to see it.  Visibility on this dive was down to about 90 feet and my maximum depth was also 90 feet. 
 
Our final dive of the day was primarily to find bugs, so we went to a seldom dived site called The Hills.  There were small coral heads and bits of wreckage over quite a large area.  Several folks, including Brian, Dan & Eva, and Ron & Leslie brought up lobster, some reaching the legal limit.  Nancy and I watched a Giant Hermit Crab in a large Lightning Welk shell.  Visibility on this dive was similar to that on Governor’s Walk and my maximum depth was 79 feet.
 
The following morning, Brian, MaryAnn, Nancy, and I headed over for almost 2 hours underwater at Blue Heron Bridge.  This wasn’t an official club dive, but it should be on the agenda for next year.  This was the first time diving the bridge for Brian and MaryAnn, but Nancy and I have dived it several times before.  We plan to get in the water about 30 minutes prior to high tide and finish the dive at least 30 minutes after the tide change, depending on current.  This site is famous for it’s diversity of sea life and is extremely popular with photographers.  I’ve seen creatures here I’ve never seen anywhere else.  On this dive, we saw Common Octopus, Sharptail Eels, Spotted Scorpionfish, Yellowhead Jawfish, Mantis Shrimp, Cushion Sea Stars, Spanish Lobster, Juvenile Gray Angelfish, Bristleworms, Red-tipped Fireworms, Medusa Worms, Spiny Lobster, Banded Coral Shrimp, Variegated Urchins, and a teenie tiny Eyed Flounder, just to name a few.  Visibility was about 30 feet and my maximum depth was only 23 feet, but this dive is lots of fun, I never want dives at Blue Heron Bridge to end.