Best Beach Dive in Florida: Blue Heron Bridge

Boasting marine diversity rarely seen elsewhere in south Florida – Blue Heron Bridge is a scuba diver’s dream! Walk right off the beach to explore another world!

Diving Blue Heron Bridge Beach Site:

Widely known as the best beach dive in south Florida, if not the United States, Blue Heron Bridge offers marine diversity found few other places. Sharks, rays, eels, and even seahorses all call the waters home – and luckily for everyone, you typically find something new every time you dive.

This is your complete guide to diving Blue Heron Bridge. By the end of this article you’ll learn:

• An overview of the dive
• Frequently asked questions when diving the area
• Getting to the beach site at Phil Foster Park
• Navigating and layout of your dive

Beach Dives in South Florida: Blue Heron Bridge Overview

Blue Heron Bridge is one of the world’s premier beach diving locations and luckily for you and me, it’s still kind of a secret.

What is Blue Heron Bridge?

The bridge itself connects Singer Island to the mainland in Riviera Beach, Florida – smack dab in the middle of West Palm Beach and Jupiter. Technically, the dive itself is taking place within the intracoastal!

Why is Blue Heron Bridge good for diving?

The ease of getting into the water and a designated scuba diving zone makes the area safe for diving. Not to mention, the clear blue water rushing in from the Atlantic providing incredible visibility. We’re talking 100+ feet some times!

Where do you dive at Blue Heron Bridge?

Access to the water is achieved at Phil Foster Park – the entrance is found on the east end of the bridge. Conveniently, Phil Foster Park is open from sunrise to sunset and parking is free!

Can you snorkel at Phil Foster Park?

Yes! Yes, you can! The park features a snorkel trail filled with coral reef, sunken boats, and enough marine life to keep you entertained for hours!

When can you dive Blue Heron Bridge?

It’s imperative to dive at slack high tide. In other words, enter the water no earlier than one hour before high tide and no later than one hour after high tide! If not, the current can be dangerous and all the nice, clear blue water you were enjoying will be long gone.

Check the tide charts before you go!

Can you dive Blue Heron Bridge at night?

Night diving at Blue Heron Bridge is done by permit only. Pura Vida Divers has a permit and schedules regular group dives to see the dive site at night (highly recommended!).

Safety when diving Blue Heron Bridge

As stated before, only dive Blue Heron Bridge during slack high tide. Additionally, always use a dive flag and stay within the diving zone! You’d hate to stumble into the boat channel! Overall, it is completely safe to dive Blue Heron Bridge.

Navigation and Layout of Blue Heron Bridge:

The dive site is separated into a few different sections: the east end, snorkel trail, and the west end.

The east end backs into some fishing docks and Singer Island but is generally free from boat traffic. Underneath the bridge can be explored in its entirety where you’ll find thousands of fish, some sharks, lobster, eels, and hermit crabs. Enter the water on the easternmost portion of beach at Phil Foster Park and descend at the drop off.

The snorkel trail is straight out from the beach and runs parallel with shore. It’s slightly shallower here (15 feet) but serves as a great place to explore for divers and snorkelers alike.

The west end is a great little area to explore along the underside of the bridge. Many of the seahorses found on this dive like to hang out over here so keep your eyes peeled! Just be cautious here as it does back up to the boat channel. Enter the water on the western edge of Phil Foster Park!

What you may see diving South Florida:

Spotted eagle rays, southern and yellow sting rays, and even manta rays have been known to pass by. As for fish, grunts, parrotfish, damselfish, butterfly and angelfish are all common to the area.

For more on what you might see, check out the articles below:

• Common Sharks Seen While Diving in Florida
• Sea Turtles of Florida
• Coolest Ocean Animals in Florida

Resources for this Dive:

This dive requires a dive flag and a reel (links will take you to Amazon to see an affordable, yet effective option for both).

As far as guides, Reef Smart Guides has a handy book that we use for all of our diving in the area.

Additionally, Laura is a huge fish nerd so we’re always doing fish ID! On any dive, it’s handy to have ID cards so you can learn what you’re looking at! Our favorite are from Fish Cards. Check them out below to see for yourself!

For a more in depth look at Fish ID:

Any Scuba diver’s library isn’t complete without the Reef Series for species identification in Florida, Bahamas, and the Caribbean. These books have taught us a lot about what we find underwater and serves as the source material for a lot of our content! Check them out below!

What Dive Shops are near Blue Heron Bridge?

Just down the street on Singer Island is Pura Vida Divers – the go-to shop for the area. The dive shop even coordinates fantastic night diving events under the bridge!

Additionally, Force-E Scuba is west of the bridge before you get to Phil Foster Park. Either serve as a great place to rent tanks or pick up any forgotten gear items!

Photos and Media:

A little known way to protect our coral reef during your dive

Sunscreen! Shocking, I know! In fact, many popular sunscreen brands contain extremely harmful chemicals to our coral! Specifically, oxybenzone and octinoxate.

We’ve partnered with our favorite brand of reef safe sunscreen, Stream2Sea! We want to get YOU discounts so you can help save our coral reefs with reef safe sunscreen!