FLORIDA DIVER

RICHARD CONDLYFFE takes it to the bridge and hangs out with the diverse inhabitants that live in its shadow

Blue Heron Bridge and Phil Foster Park, with Singer Island in the background.

ALONG THE LENGTH of Florida’s south-east coast, many bridges span the intracoastal waterway, connecting the mainland to a series of barrier islands.

For the majority, these bridges are merely the means to reach a destination; typically, a beach, hotel or residence looking out to the Atlantic Ocean.

For scuba-divers, however, one of these bridges is the destination. The Jerry Thomas Memorial Bridge, commonly known as the Blue Heron Bridge, connects the Riviera Beach mainland to Singer Island.

In the 1920s Paris Singer, of sewingmachine family fame, planned to build a resort called the Blue Heron Hotel on the island, and a bridge was built to help facilitate the venture.

The hotel was never built, but over time the island was developed for hotels and residences. The current reincarnation of “The Bridge”, as local divers refer to it, was built in 1974.

Beneath the portions of the bridge closest to Singer Island, in only 2-7m of water, lives a treasure-trove of fabulous macro life, some common to Florida and some not.

What enables this shore-dive is the Phil Foster Park, which provides the carparking and beach access that divers need.

IARRIVE AT MYWest Palm Beach hotel. My flight was on schedule and I’m happy because that gives me the time I need to get my gear unpacked and camera ready.

I can make it to the bridge in time for the late-afternoon high tide and a day-one dive I hadn’t been counting on!