Coral Cove Park | Jupiter Island | Snorkling Adventure

When most people think of Jupiter Island, they think of the wealthiest homes and condos in the United States. A Who’s Who in golf, including Gary Player, Tiger Woods, Nick Price, Greg Norman, former Miami Dolphin Bob Griese, celebrities such as Burt Reynolds, Celine Dion, Alan Jackson, Olivia Newton John, and business tycoons such as Bill Gates, Richard Fuld (former CEO of Lehman) all call Jupiter Island home.

Between June and August the weather conditions can be picture perfect for snorkeling in the Jupiter area. My favorite spot is Coral Cove Park in Jupiter Island. Natural Limestone rock formations make beautiful sunset family photos off the beach and great scenery for laying out, but are even more breathtaking once you dip into the ocean. In spots the ocean floor goes down 15 to 20 feet almost immediately and you enter a world of nature and beauty in a matter of seconds. My son Sam and I did our first day of snorkeling on Saturday, June 5th, 2010, and were not disappointed in the least.

This was also my first attempt at underwater photography. While I missed so many good photos of stingrays, a purple eel, barracuda, lots of tropical fish, we did get some good shots.

We also took videos. The first was of 2 separate nurse sharks we saw on the north side of Coral Cove. Here is a photo and the video we took of the first nurse shark.

The other fun photo was of a baby loggerhead turtle. Notice the barnacle lodged on his back shell. They are majestic and fantastic swimmers.

A couple of more mundane photos were of these Sargeant Majors. My favorite was a trio I captured here.

There were lots of porkfish. They move fast and my clumsy hands at least captured this one.

Not sure what type of fish this one was, but he was a cooperative sort who stayed still as I came in for a close-up.

Bottom dwellers like this are everywhere. Here is a spiny sea urchin.

The scenery and vegetation were also gorgeous.

Another was this darker angelfish.

There were some fantastic blue angels, but they were too fast for me. Schools of fish are all around. Some blend in with the scenery, so you have to pay attention.

Coral Cove is just off of U.S. Highway 1. Go over the Jupiter Island Bridge and then it is about a mile further north on the right-hand side. Don’t miss it!