Sunny skies, warm water, free burritos and Goliath grouper were only part of the fun during Submerge with SCUBAPRO at Jupiter Dive Center, Sunday, May 6. The inaugural event, one of five to take place this month at Florida’s top dive locations, offered divers a chance to test SCUBAPRO’s latest equipment, including Meridian and Galileo Luna dive computers, A700 and C300 regs, GO BCs and Seawing Nova and Gorilla fins. Discounted 1-tank dives, equipment seminars (including a presentation by ScubaLab director John Brumm), free food and t-shirts, live music and free-flowing camaraderie rounded out the attractions topside — and the underwater action proved equally exciting, as you can see for yourself in the video.

With three of Jupiter Dive Center’s boats in action during the daylong event, dozens of participants enjoyed the exclusive gear testing at the region’s top sites in 78-degree water with 50- to 60-foot visibility. At Loggerhead, one of the site’s namesake turtles greeted divers the moment they hit the shallow patch reef. The giant reptile cruised amongst the group for a few minutes before bolting into the blue, leaving the divers to a lazy drift over plentiful ledges where they spotted a napping nurse shark, a thick school of French grunts and a pair of fast-moving reef sharks. Later, at a favorite local site named Tunnels, Goliath groupers wowed the crowd with their impressive girth and casual demeanor. The giants seemed to be waiting at regular intervals during the drift dive, as if to make sure the divers remained on track and in bounds. Other noteworthy encounters included a big group of Atlantic spadefish, fat lobsters lurking in cracks and a few more reef shark fly-bys.

The tour continued May 9 in Pompano with a stop at Pompano Dive Center. For more info, visit scubapro.com.

CONTACT: Jupiter Dive Center, 1001 North Hwy. A1A Alternate, Jupiter, Florida (561-745-7807; jupiterdivecenter.com).