Vista Park

Florida, USA East
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Viz (last reported 120787h ago)
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Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Vista Park

This is a real nice dive spot. The reef is huge, I spent two hours there and saw less than a quarter of what is there. The coral life is amazing, soft corals, many several feet tall are everywhere Big heads of hard coral some three or more feet tall are not uncommon. In some areas I saw stag horn corals carpeting the ground. While the fish were not as dense as at gulf stream park, they were much more diverse, I saw almost everything I have seen in south Florida, Angelfish, Damsels, wrasses, parrotfish, a small nurse shark, a small stingray, and a whole lot I could not identify. This is seriously one of the best reefs I have seen this close to shore. From I-95 get off on Oakland Park Blvd in Fort Lauderdale follow that east to the A1A. Go south along the A1A until 27th street. Go east on 27th. Then turn left (north) on Atlantic and drive about two blocks, Vista park parking will be on the right. There are cheap meters, 25cents an hour as of Jan 2004. Get into the water anywhere along the beach, the reef starts just after the Buoys
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Omar Paez
Omar Paez
Jun 18, 2010, 12:00 AM
scuba
Dove Vista Park today at 11:30 am with the kids. Parking was for about 20 cars but there were about 10 left. A dollar an hr electronic machine prints receipt and takes credit cards, then leave on dashboard of car. The weather was nice on the beach side and water temp was about 85 degrees at surface and 83 degrees at 15 ft. We saw the reef line started at about 100 yards out, it was two hrs before peak high tide. Current was fine. Saw some nice large French or Gray Angle fish. I posted the pictures below. Nice dive and not crowded.
Originally posted on shorediving.com
Allen
Allen
Jul 5, 2006, 12:00 AM
scuba
First reef is a large flat reef, some coral but mostly sea fans. Parking meters are 0.25/15 min limit 2 hours. An automatic gate opens at 8 am for parking.
Originally posted on shorediving.com
Jesse Rorabaugh
Jesse Rorabaugh
Aug 16, 2004, 12:00 AM
scuba
This was my second favorite dive in the Jan 2004, behind breakers. This might just have been that I dove on a calm day, however the reef here was very extensive, and the coral heads are bigger than most other dives I went on. I also saw what was my second nurse shark, which just swam calmly below me while I was sitting on the surface.
Originally posted on shorediving.com
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