Peanut Island – West Palm Beach, FL
Went snorkeling on Peanut Island in West Palm Beach this past weekend. We had friends docked at the Sailfish Marina for the weekend and after a great lunch, we took their dingy over to Peanut Island. Conditions were perfect. It was a nice sunny day and we hit the water at high tide. We snorkeled on the East side of the island so as the tide rose, the water was nice and clear. Theres a few rock outcroppings on the East side that hold a large assortment of fish. We hung out in a school of about a dozen smaller to medium sized Barricudas, came across some Crabs, Stingrays, Jacks, Doctorfish, Grunts, Parrotfish, Porkfish, Damselfish and even saw a cool Sea Cucumber. I posted some pics of the Barricudas and Sea Cucumber. Will post more shortly.
Coral Cove Park – Tequesta, FL
Tequesta is essentially in, near, part of, really close to Jupiter, FL. The park is located on the North side of the Jupiter Inlet. The park is home to a 2 acre artificial reef project that is easily accessible from the beach. (Going to research the artificial reef project a little more). Either way, it is a great place to snorkel. It is 10 – 15 minutes off I-95 and very easy to access. Parking is free and the beach is a short walk from the parking lot. The beach itself is not a lush white sand beach, but it is still very nice and clean. It is a good place to bring the family with a lot of shell searching for kids, grandparents, etc… There were a lot of shells on the shore to chose from.
Once on the beach, the reef is easy to reach. Basically you go from beach, to smooth rocks that may or may not be covered by water (depending on the tide) to the water and once in, the action is on. I first hopped into the water just after high tide so I went from beach to rocks under water to the water. As always, I brought my camera and started having fun right away. Once in, I saw a bunch of hermit crabs resting in the pools near the shore, a couple of Cocoa Damselfish, a Bandtail Puffer, Parrotfish, a school of Black Margates and a Sheepshead. There is an abundance of Blennies and a lot of Porkfish. One of the cooler things I swam with was a school of 10 – 15 Porkfish. Some of them were even pretty big. Other highlights included a few different types of Angelfish, a nice sized Atlantic Spadefish, some cool West Indian Sea Eggs (Sea Urchin), a Schoolmaster Snapper, a really awesome Molusk – Sea Snail and a really colorful Slippery Dick. A lot of times when I get out of the water I have a favorite thing or fish or creature, etc… I think I had a handful today.
I highly recommend checking out Coral Cove Park. It is a great place to hang out and there is a ton of stuff to see and a lot of room to swim around.
More Cool Fish – Red Reef Park – Boca Raton, FL
It was the Superbowl today so I had to get back in time to watch the game. It actually was a pretty choppy day and visibility was poor. It turned out to be one of the best days I have spent at Red Reef. The waves were rough, visibility was poor, but the reef was really active and there were a lot of aggressive fish swimming around. Nothing dangerous, but I was able to see some larger fish picking on and eating some of the smaller fish. I was hanging around a Bluespotted Cornetfish when all of a sudden it darted about 15 feet in the blink of an eye and ate something hanging around the top of the reef. It then went back to circling and hovering around the reef. I saw the same Porcupinefish again. Today he was under the rocks and kind of poking his head out. Will post pics of him soon. Also saw some Black Margate, Stingray, Porkfish, Seargent Major, Blenny, Crabs, Hermit Crabs (some cool shells), Doctorfish, Damselfish and got a good close up picture of a Silver Porgy. A school of Pompano swam in briefly, but quickly bolted and seemed to be heading South. I took several photos of a small Barracuda that was checking out one of the rock structures. I was hanging out with him for a while and got close several times. I finally left him alone when he turned to look at me and started to move in my direction. Given the fact that they are not afraid of humans, it kind of makes me cautious of them.