The reef under the bridge

01The bridge

The Blue Heron Bridge connects Singer Island to the mainland, and beneath it, in the water off Phil Foster Park, is a shore dive that divers travel across the country for. It is shallow, mostly six to twenty feet, and it is famous for the small things: octopus, seahorses, frogfish, batfish, flying gurnards, nudibranchs, and the rays and eagle rays that pass through. A snorkel trail runs close to the beach for the people who stay at the surface.

The catch is the tide. The Lake Worth Inlet is next door, and the current runs hard except at slack high tide, which gives a window of roughly an hour around the top of the tide when the water is clear and still. Plan the whole day around that window. The snorkeling and diving guide explains how to read the tide table, where to park, and what the site asks of you, including the dive flag the county requires.

02Offshore

The Gulf Stream runs closer to shore here than almost anywhere else in Florida, which is why the boat diving off the Palm Beaches is drift diving: the boat drops you at the upcurrent end of a reef and follows your flag while the current carries you along it. The reefs and wrecks off the Lake Worth Inlet are a short run from the Riviera Beach marinas, so a two-tank morning has you back at the residence for lunch.

Charters and the island's dive shop handle tanks, weights and rentals. Book ahead in the winter season and in summer, when the water is warmest and the visibility is often best. Sea turtles are common on the reefs from spring through summer, and the sea turtles guide explains the nesting season on the beach below the residence.

03Gear, rinsing and drying

The residence is a home, not a dive lodge, and the building is a resort with full-time residents, so a little care with gear keeps everyone happy. There is an outdoor shower at the pools for the first rinse. The residence has a stacked washer and dryer for wetsuits and towels, a drying rack, and a balcony the width of the home where gear dries fast in the sea air; keep it tidy, because the balcony is the view from the neighbouring homes as well as yours.

• Rinse at the pool's outdoor shower, then bring gear up in a bag.
• Hang wetsuits on the balcony out of the direct sun, on the drying rack rather than the railing.
• Tanks stay with the shop or the boat. The building's valet parks the car; the trunk is not a fill station.

04A dive week

1. Arrive. Check in from 4:00 PM, gear rinsed and sorted, the tide table for the week on the kitchen island.
2. The bridge at slack high. A morning or evening dive depending on the tide, the pool after.
3. Two tanks offshore. A drift morning from the marina, lunch on the island, the spa's hydrothermal circuit in the afternoon.
4. A surface day. Kayaks at MacArthur Beach State Park or the water taxi to Peanut Island, where the snorkeling lagoon is shallow and easy.
5. The bridge again. The site changes with the tide and the season; a second dive is a different dive.
6. Offshore or the wrecks. Another charter, then the balcony.
7. Rest and leave. No diving the day before you fly. Checkout is 10:00 AM.

05For snorkelers and beginners

You do not need a certification to enjoy this coast. The snorkel trail at the bridge, the lagoon at Peanut Island and the beach at the state park are all shallow, and the reef under the bridge rewards a mask and fins as much as a tank. The island's dive shop runs courses, so a week here is long enough to arrive a snorkeler and leave certified.

Children old enough to snorkel love the bridge at slack tide. The listing's note about the residence not being suitable for infants and small children is about the twelfth-floor balcony, not the water; families with older children have stayed happily.

06When the water is best

Summer brings the warmest water and, often, the clearest, with afternoon storms that rarely trouble a morning dive. Winter cold fronts stir the sea for a day or two at a time and drop the water temperature enough for a thicker suit, but the winter season also brings the best weather on land. Hurricane season runs June to November with its peak in September; watch the forecast, and remember that the residence's Airbnb cancellation policy is the one that applies. The when to visit guide has the month-by-month picture.