2 Nights in Jupiter Florida

There are no beaches in the Keys! People are always surprised when I tell them this but the Keys are made of coral and rock, hence the great diving and complete lack of beaches. There are a few man-made ones and a few small natural ones but I guarantee you they’re not what you picture when you imagine a beach. If you come down here to a place that advertises a “beach” make sure that’s not your main attraction or you will be very disappointed.

After 11 years of living 3 blocks from the beach and going almost daily to say we’re missing the beach is an understatement. We were able to tack a couple extra days onto the Labor Day weekend so it was time to find a beach and some great food.

Jupiter is about 3 hours north of us on the Atlantic. We picked this as the first stop on our trip because the beach looked nice and we wanted to see the annual goliath grouper gathering off the coast. Gary the Goliath even has his own Facebook page!

 

Where we stayed

We picked the Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa for our stay and I was very happy with our choice! The beach is pretty (a little narrow) and it’s rocky to the right but the left is nice and sandy. I’ve never seen so many turtle nests in one area! It’s the only hotel on this strip so it’s nice and peaceful. The hotel supplies lounge chairs, umbrellas and tables. Just go down to the beach and sit anywhere that’s empty. If they’re all full, they’ll set you up anywhere you’d like. There’s coffee in the lobby every morning too. I’m always the first one up so I grabbed a cup and hit the beach with my book. Amy Schumer’s “The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo” was the pick for the weekend – a great read if you haven’t gotten to it yet. The perfect mix of funny & serious.

… and we were lucky enough to see a turtle hatch-ling!! I’m not sure if it was the first one or the last one out of the nest but we only saw the one and no sign of anything moving under the sand.  Good luck kiddo!

 

Tips

• If an ocean front room is in your budget, go for it! They were all sold out since we booked on short notice but the partial ocean view was very nice too.

• There’s a heavily discounted rate for Florida residents but it doesn’t apply on holiday weekends.
• The beach can get pretty crowded during the peak of the afternoon. Check out the adult only hammock area for some peace, quiet & shade!

 

Downsides

There were no major downsides for me. I wish the outdoor restaurant at the pool stayed open past 8pm but I heard someone say they were shutting down early for the baby turtles – if that’s the reason then rock on. I’ll find somewhere else to eat.

Actually, I do have one complaint – they are pouring their draft beers into smaller plastic cups and charging the same price of course. This is a disturbing trend we’ve seen at a few places now. Who wants a tiny $6 beer?

 

Would we stay again?

Definitely!

 

Where we ate

We went to the Craft Bar Kitchen on Saturday night and it was fantastic! They had a great jazz band, the food was amazing and the craft cocktails were all terrific. Bonus – it’s a short walk from the hotel so you can drink up and not worry about getting back. We sat at the bar (as we always do)  – I recommend you do too, it’s fun to watch them make all of the different drinks.

 

Who we dove with

We dove with Jupiter Dive Center. I had high hopes heading out with them & really wanted to like this operation but they fell short of my expectations in so many ways. Maybe they were having an off day but it was off enough that I’ll never go back. If we go back to Jupiter, we’ll be diving with Emerald Dive Charters who our friends in Keys highly recommend. Should have asked them before we went!

The arrival & initial check-in were great. The shop is clean, bright & modern and the owners checked us in and they were both very friendly. This is where the organization and good service ends. The boat crew is grouchy & rude, especially the captain. He just really didn’t seem to want to be there. If you’re not passionate about diving I know for a fact you can more money doing about a zillion other things. For $300 for 2 dives the crew could at least pretend like they’re glad you’re there.

We saw what we came for – about 7 goliaths in all. Some sites had as many as 50, we weren’t that lucky. We also saw a 7ft tiger shark. Maybe we’ll go back next year if we’re still in Florida but we’ll be diving with Emerald.

 

So long Jupiter! Overall a great time!