Trip report
Snorkeling Peanut Island's coral reef
Swim/Sunbathe DATE: 06/28/2014 - 06/28/2014
Trip/Event Location: West Palm Beach, FL
US
Trip Leader(s): JPHiker
Max # People: 8
Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money
Difficulty Level: Easy
Peanut Island was made famous during the Cold War when it was turned into a Fallout shelter/bunker for President John F. Kennedy, who used to spend time in the Kennedy compound in nearby Palm Beach. &
...We will meet at 8:30 a.m. at Captain Joe's Water Taxi in Riviera Beach, FL. This is a first-come-first-served system, so try to be there on time, in order to get on the first boat at 9:00 a.m. If you miss it, you can always get a later boat, but check with us in order to know where to find us on the island. The Water Taxi is located at the Riviera Beach Marina. To get there from I-95, take the Blue Heron Blvd. exit, and go east to US 1 (also known as Broadway in Riviera Beach), Go south on US 1, and at the first traffic light (13th Street), go east, about a block, towards the water. This street dead-ends in the marina. You will see the sign for Captain Joe's, right next to the Tiki Bar/Restaurant. Parking is free. The water taxi costs $10.00 round trip, and you pay the captain on the boat. Apparently he prefers cash.
Trip Report/Photos
Six GO members, Jerry, Bob, Killian, Roland, Matthew, and Carlos; and Cindy an invited guest, spent a very hot South Florida summer day snorkeling in the cool waters of Palm Beach's Peanut Island. This island was made famous during the Cold War when a bunker/fallout shelter was secretely built in the 1960's to safeguard then President Kennedy, who used to vacation frequently in nearby Palm Beach. The island went into disuse and being in a prime spot for development, it was in danger of being lost to high rise condominiums. However, thanks to its historic bunker, it was preserved, and eventually Palm Beach County developed it and turned it into a very popular county park. The county turned the old bunker into a museum, and it restored wetlands on much of the island. It has great beaches for swimming, a camping site, and most importantly for out GO outing, the county also created a fairly extensive artificial reef on the side of the island facing the great mansions on Palm Beach island. A whole array of tropical fish found this reef quite hospitable, and have turned it into an underwater marvel. Checking the tide charts, this GO trip was ideally timed to coincide with high tide. This not only allowed for higher water, which made it easier to swim, but it also made for high visibility, and the GO participants were not disappointed with the sights. The reefs were full of all sorts of tropical fish, including a school of yellowtail snapper, and the occasional solitary barracuda. The water was so refreshing, that a group of us just simply sat on the shallow end, after snorkeling, and socialized for hours, until we all turned into proverbial "prunes." Peanut island is only accessible by boat, so as lunch time arrived, we all took the water taxi back to the mainland and a great lunch at the always popular Tiki Bar/Restaurant on the Riviera Beach marina. The restaurant, we sadly found out, will soon close its doors forever. The reef, however, will still be there for years to come, allowing for future GO trips to this underwater jewel, ideally set within the great urban area that is South Florida.
- The Trip Has No Photos -
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