Blue Heron Bridge

in Underwater by Marcelo Krause — July 8, 2010 at 4:32 PM | 1 comment

The dive site is quite simple. The divers enter the water from a beach under the bridge and dive among the bridge pillars and surrounding area. Maximum deep: 20ft. So, one might wonder, what is special about this dive site?

Many consider the Blue Heron Bridge the premier dive site in Florida to see small invertebrates and rare fish. Creatures rarely seen on other dive spots can be found here. Seahorses, frog fish, stargazer, tiny crustaceans, octopus and many more subjects that are a delight to photographers. The bridge is located at Riviera Beach, about one and a half hour drive from Miami and it links Singer Island to the mainland. Phil Foster Park is a small island located just under the bridge and it’s the departure point for the dive. There are two dive areas, the west part of the bridge and the east. The east part is now closed for diving due construction work. The dive on the west is done among the bridge pillars and below the fishing pier. There are also some wrecks and some moorings in front of the beach that worth a closer look. The dive is only done on high slack tide; otherwise there will be too much current. I guess because of the current, there is a lot of food for filter feeders thus marine life encrusted on the pillars is very dense. But be sure to look on the sand and ruble around the bridge, many unique animals live on that environment.

Below are some subjects I found in three dives at the bridge. I am sure more experienced divers to the area can find a lot more! Next time I hope I can do a night dive there…

How to do the dive:

-Just park you car at the Phil Foster Park parking lot, the park opens at sunrise and close at sunset. If you leave your car after hours they can give you a parking fine. Someone said one can get a special parking permit for a night dive, but I could not figure out how.

-Enter the water from the beach under the bridge. All diver’s team must carry a diver flag.

-Avoid diving on the beach swimming area.

-You can only dive on the high slack tide, when there is no current and clear water. Check the tide tables to know when is the best hour.  You should be in the water about 30-45 minutes before high slack tide.

-When the visibility starts to drop and the current kick in, it’s time to leave.

-Avoid the boat channel on the west side of the bridge.

-Avoid going into private marinas.

-Check local news, because sometimes diving is prohibited due to water quality.