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Old 05-23-2015, 06:29 AM
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ricki ricki is offline
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Arrow Dive Spot - Free Diving Circuit North of Commerical Pier



I grew up doing this free diving run. Motivated people might scuba dive it with higher capacity tanks, even dive scooters or just towing along gear on kayaks, etc.. Still, I find it more relaxing just to free dive it myself. Whatever you do, dive within your abilities as you can get into trouble on long dive runs (short ones too at times).

You get to see quite a lot of reef and these days, two small artificial reefs, some wreck debris to the south, WWII concrete dummy bombs (maybe or perhaps just barge ballast), a variety of low profile patch reef, more prominent reef terraces both east and west facing, twin ledge sections, a prominent sugarloaf reef section (the outer second reef where the mooring buoys are in the southern area) complete with over 12 ft. west facing ledge in areas, east facing ledges and large pothole features.


An exposure of the inner second reef and an anchor on the Copanhagen. Shot from the "2012 Gold Coast Underwater Grand Prix," more at: http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=9965



A diagram of the debris field of the Copanhagen



https://vimeo.com/46361684
You can do a quick tour of the Copanhagen and the inner second reef in this video from the race.

It is enjoyable but best saved for light wave days with a north to no current. There are some weather planning resources along with a live cam on the Windjammer Resort located just south of the Commerical Pier at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=6734 Kitesurfers like wind, divers far less so, the site works for both activities. There is a great dive shop nearby, Gold Coast Scuba with a super active meet up group if you are looking for dives and/or buddies at: Gold Coast Scuba Meetup Group. They also have weather resources at the last link. They know the reefs off here extremely well and can help out with gear, dives and details.


Avoiding heavy wave days can be easy, predicting current conditions can be less reliable. An incoming tide "may" be associated with a north running current to Hillsboro Inlet. Although a gyre spinning off the Florida Current may create short term southerly current flows. If conditions bring the axis of the Florida Current closer to shore and stronger, northerly current may govern along with perhaps nice clear blue water conditions. These later conditions may happen periodically in the cooler months of frontal season with a light NW to NE wind flow. Sometimes you get brown tannin stained water flowing out of Hillsboro Inlet down here. Low tide will bring it as will those gyres I mentioned at times. Depending on conditions, it may be a surface layer or extend to the bottom messing up the ambience and complicating free diving drops on and locating bottom features. Scuba divers may find this to be less of an issue, once they have found those bottom features.

There can be a LOT of boat traffic so make sure you have a good, visible dive flag(s) and stay alert. There have been more than a few tragic cases of boats striking both free and scuba divers off our shores. Also, when I free dive I always listen for engine noises. If I hear one I pop up and find out the location, course, speed and apparent state of sanity/control of the operator. If they are converging, I watch them and start to send up large vertical splashes at intervals if they seem to not being taking notice of my flag. If they are going fast, like with cigarettes, by the time you hear them they may be quite close. Even wave runners can do this at times.

Sound propagation is best in calm water with the more waves present degrading and potentially delaying detection, but not always. This might be called "defensive diving," but without defensive weapons unfortunately, (ha ... well, lots have thought about it). There are too many inconsiderate, incompetent and even impaired boat operators out there, as many of us know all too well, so take appropriate steps to try to protect yourself. There always have been in almost the 45 years I've been off here. So, use your head, think ahead and have a care.

This article started with an annotated map but I decided to throw more details in. I will dig up some more photos of various features from my archives and will embed them into this as soon as I can.

p.s. - if you just want to take a boat to the Copanhagen, South Florida Diving Headquarters runs out there all the time.

Good diving!


© RG Iossi fksa.org 2015
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Last edited by ricki; 05-24-2015 at 06:17 AM.
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