Dania Beach

1 foot waves, mild current

I snorkeled out to the jacks 7/5/14 2:30pm. It was a nice enjoyable swim. We used a dive flag, once we were at the jacks we saw a dead grunt fish on the benthos. Shorty after a sting ray began inspecting the fish to eat. We also saw a dead eel fish and a dead Angle fish. Now talking about the living. I saw a school of Angel fish as well as a few yellow tail snapper. On the way swimming back in, we saw two nurse sharks. One appeared to be juvenile approx 2 ft in length, the other nurse shark was approximately 5-6 ft in length. The sharks were not spotted together. In all the visibility was ok. The current was ok, just use the jacks as a guide back in to shore. I had a lot of fun with a few friends.

There is no reef around since the jacks are mostly on the sand running west to east, except for the eastern end where the line of jacks turns south near the first patch of rocks. It is about 1/2 mile walk from the Dania Pier parking lot (maybe closer if you pay the $6 entrance fee to John Lloyd park) and the hourly parking rates have increased to offset the city's costs for renovation of the marina. The main shower is another 1/8 mile from the pier. Parking and a long walk make this dive site a bit of a hassle, and is only worth it if conditions are good. I've heard that reports of bad visibility are the norm and you should only go if weather is pristine and the water is calm/flat. I didn't find lobster but did see a small nurse shark. This is an OK dive site, but should be done at least once in your life.

This was our first snorkeling experience without a guide. After we found the jacks on the beach (farther than we thought but ok) we found the row of jacks in the water with ease. Bring a dive flag! We had to get out and go buy one.

It takes a while to swim out to the jacks but once you are there it great. If you go east of the jacks to about 15' there are many types of sea life. We saw a 2' octopus as well as an extremely large and shy puffer fish. Don't leave your sunglasses on the beach...mine were stolen.

I had heard a lot about the EuroJacks, but failed to locate them the first time I dove at this site. There are two jacks on the shore above the beach that mark the location of the jacks. Head North along the beach past the pier and look for those two jacks. Enter the water there and head East to find them.

I dove this site in early summer. The attraction is the EroJacks, jacks like the child's toy but 4 feet tall and made of concrete. There are hundreds of jacks piled in a long groin/jetty running perpendicular to shore. There are quite a lot of small fish and inverts that live inside the reef. I saw a large Tarpon there and a variety of small and school fish. I was there right before the Sport Season and saw several poached lobster shells, as well. The jacks run a few hundred feet our from shore. Find the reef by looking for the single jack on shore. The reef is straight out from it. Offshore, the reef terminates at the first natural reef line (parallel to shore). It's nothing to write home about, but once you're there you may as well check it out if you have the air time (you will). The reefs are less than 20 feet deep. I was there on a good day with 25 feet viz. Another guy there shot a Spanish mackerel - I was not hunting this day.

This is review on the second part of Dania Beach, the one south of the pier. I went here for two reasons: I had heard there were sea turtles here, and I have been told this is an amazing lobster spot. So I swam off the shore a few hundred yards. I was told to expect bad visibility near the shore, and for it to clear up. Well, it never really cleared up as I went out. So I just turned back and went home. I was starting to see a reef, but visibility was too low to be worth staying. I would imagine if I went in summer though it would have gone better. January is a poor time for beach diving in Florida.

There are two areas to dive in Dania Beach. The most popular is off of J.U Lloyd state park and known as the Erojacks. The Erojacks were put in to control beach erosion and have become a popular artificial reef dive site. Angel fish, parrot fish, nurse shark, lobster are permanent residents and snook, tarpon and turtles are occasionally seen. The jacks look like the ones used in the children's game except they are made out of concrete and are four ft high. They are stacked and run from about 100 yds offshore to the first reef line. Directions: Dania Beach is about 5 miles south of Ft Lauderdale. Take Dania Beach Blvd East to the end and follow directions to J U Lloyd Park. Park at the first lot. The Erojacks are located directly offshore of the 2-3 jacks that are sitting on the beach. There are usually boats and divers on the site. It runs east-west. The second area is the south end of the public beach, marked dive area. There are several reef spots along the first rock ledge. Line up with the center line of the first condo and swim east to the ledge. There is a nice little reef on the east side of the ledge at this point.