August Meeting - Snorkel Trip

[ChemStar]

Our August meeting will be a trip to Hollywood Beach (300 Connecticut St, Hollywood, FL 33019) to snorkel on Saturday, August 19.

 

We will meet at the Lowes parking lot in Estero in the Northeast corner at 9:30 AM to carpool and leave no later than 10:00 AM.

 

Bring your own gear.

 

Snorkel gear, sunscreen, towels, beach chairs, etc.

 

We will stop for lunch at Margaritaville (1111 N Ocean Dr, Hollywood, FL 33019). 

 

Please RSVP in this thread so we know who to expect.

 

There may be strong current and strong swimming skills are advised to swim out to snorkel.

 

[jdhuyvetter]

I will be going.  However, I will be leaving from my house in Lehigh.  Faster for me to cut through Immokalee to Alligator Alley. 

[Propagation-Sensation]

Hey y'all, can you share some of what you've found in Hollywood in the past?

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[jdhuyvetter]

I used to live in N. Miami and would hit the Dania/Hollywood beaches on the weekends.  there is a reef line from about the Dade/Broward line running north to WPB.  It actually runs a lot farther, but this stretch is easily accessible from the beach to snorkel or dive.  Depending on location, I have seen sponges, stoney corals, soft corals, sea turtles, nurse sharks and just about all of the reef fish found in Florida.  Not all in the same spot, each one will be unique based on depth, current, etc.  But definitely cool stuff.  Most people just snorkel the first reef line.  there is a second (and occasionally third..depending on location).  The second reef line is shallow enough to snorkel, but it is far enough off of the beach that a lot of people don't want to go out that far and definitely a boating issue.

 

BRING A DIVE FLAG!!!

[GatesoRay]

Gates and Dad (maybe mom) plan on attending as well. 

 

Are there any good beachy restaurants nearby?

[jdhuyvetter]

Lunch will be at Margaritaville.  Address is in the OP.

 

I think they have my lost shaker of salt

[indeep]

Alan & Susan Bakos will be going. Been a long time since we made a meeting! Is anyone spending the night over there? See you all at Lowes.

[jdhuyvetter]

Tomorrow!

[jdhuyvetter]

Charlie and I will be leaving separately from my house in Lehigh.  So, we will meet up with you guys at Margaritaville around noon.

[nottarts23]

How was the snorkeling?  Any good pics?  Anyone collect anything good?

[jdhuyvetter]

Charlie and I went to one of my old spots, but I should have checked my old notes before we left.  We swam right over the first line (buried in the sand) and all the way out to the second line.  Visibility at the first spot was about 20 feet.  Lots of plankton and suspended algae.  Swam about 100 yards south and headed back in.  then we hit the first reef line and found some decent profile.  Saw some angels (French and Blue), reef butterflies, wrasses and the usual assortment of grunts and other tropicals.  Stoney corals have not recovered fully from the  hard freeze a few years back, gorgonians seem to have recovered.

 

Second spot was after lunch with the crew.  Wind had shifted and the winds kicked up a little.  Visibility dropped to 15-18 feet.  Still ok, as the crown of the reef line was about 8 feet and dropping down to about 12 feet.  Same as the first spot, with one shark (nurse, about 4 feet).  Lots of sargassum and Gates and Charlie had fun collecting (and release...most of it).  Charlie's catches will be interesting over time.

 

Took some pics on my new camera.  Will try to download.  Still messing with shutter speed and the light was not charged, so no clue how the pics look.  Will go grab the camera now and figure out how to download.

[jdhuyvetter]

[Adolfo]

Very nice pictures !

Thanks for sharing

[RickO]

Jeff, what camera did you get?  It takes nice photos.  Can you post the location of the beach and what parking lot you used?

 

I was on my way to a week of scuba diving in Belize (and dodging hurricane Harvey) and missed the "meeting".

 

RickO

[jdhuyvetter]

Sealife 2.0 with the macro lens and a detachable strobe. One of the cool features is that you can change the camera settings from land to underwater. 

 

As far as location, first spot was McClellan Drive.  this is all public parking in this section of Dania/Hollywood.  If you park on McClellan, go about 100 yards south and head straight out.  If you head straight out off of McClellan, the first reef line was covered in sand.  We swam all the way out to the second reef line.

 

The group spot was directly behind the Margaritaville resort.  We parked in the parking garage for that one.