Fantastic Endeavors SCUBA Newsletter May 2006
Greetings from Key Largo. May was an extremely busy month for travel abroad and diving here in the Keys. The month started out with daily wreck dives on the US Coast Cutters Duane and the U.S.S. Spiegel Grove. I took a break from the daily wreck dive routine in Mid-May to join the Wind Dancer and Peter Hughes Diving for an exploration trip of Grenada and The Grenadines in the Eastern Caribbean. The month ended up with guiding and entertaining groups of divers from northeast dive shops who visited Key Largo for the Memorial Day weekend. Empire Divers from New York City and Indian Valley SCUBA from Hawleysville, PA both had large groups of great divers and fun people in the Keys for the holiday weekend. I had fantastic dives with both groups on famous local dive sites such as Molasses Reef, French Reef, The Elbow, The City of Washington and the U.S.S. Spiegel Grove. The Spiegel dives were especially memorable as we explored new rooms inside the ship such as the machine shop, the oven room and the command center. I expect to see groups of divers from both dive shops back to the Keys in the very near future.
The Bow of the Spiegel Goliath Groupers Spotted Eagle Ray Gold Spotted Moray Eel
Grenada-The Grenadines Exploration Trip aboard the Wind Dancer May 9-15, 2006
Grenada is a small island in the Eastern Caribbean just north of Trinidad and Tobago that is more known for spices and for a brief American "invasion/liberation" in 1983 than it is for the island's diving. The Grenadines are small group of islands between Grenada and St. Vincent that offer safe havens to sailboats and are home to some of the more prolific coral reefs in the Caribbean. Grenada, St. Vincent, The Grenadines and some other nearby island countries make up the Windward Islands that are most famous for the consistent south-easterly winds that attract sailboats from around the world. Cruising the aboard the Wind Dancer through The Grenadines, was a majestic experience. Everyday our group had calm water, sunny weather and gorgeous sunsets. Every night the Wind Dancer anchored in a safe harbor tucked in a behind a different uninhabited or lightly inhabited island. There are only a handful of local island operators who dive the Grenadines so most dive sites are close to uncharted territory for most divers with pristine coral and abundant aquatic life. Spotted Eagle Rays, Black Tip Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks, Spotted Moray Eels, Sea Turtles, Coral Banded Shrimp, Slippery and Spiny Lobsters, Decorator Crabs and more were spotted on almost every dive. On one dive, I saw more Spotted Moray Eels than I see in a whole season of diving other destinations in the Caribbean. The diving varied a bit from the different islands of the Grenadines that we explored during our trip. Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, The Tobago Cays, Sail Rock, Carriacou, and Isle da Ronde all offered unique topography underwater with sloping shelves of mountainous hard and soft corals of vibrant colors and schools of fish floating in the water column. The more northern islands of the Grenadines offered rock outcroppings, mini-caves and channels with hard corals while the southern islands consisted mostly of gently slope terraces with jungles of soft corals. The abundance of aquatic life was consistent throughout the trip and there was never a dull moment on our dives from the Wind Dancer.
Divemaster Lynne & File Fish Spotted Moray Eel Porcupine Fish Find the Scorpion Fish
The Wind Dancer is a 128 foot luxury yacht designed solely for dive charters. The Wind Dancer is the same boat I toured Tobago with in January 2005 and is the yacht that our group is chartering for our return to Tobago in December of this year. The Wind Dancer is setup perfect for divers. There are two 25 foot tenders that get you to the best spots for entering dive sites and pick you up after a long drift dive. You get 1 tank to start your trip and that is all you need because the tanks are filled right on the tender during deco stops with all your gear still attached. Enriched Air/Nitrox and standard air refills are both available from the Wind Dancer. The only time you handle your dive gear is when you pack up your equipment before your trip home. After every dive aboard the Wind Dancer, each diver is greeted to a hot snack, warm showers and hot towels to enjoy the surface interval while the crew fills the dive tanks. On night dives, the ship hostess greets you with hot chocolate mixed with Bailey's Irish Cream. The Wind Dancer crew is extremely professional and excel at customer service. All meals and alcoholic beverages are included when staying on the Wind Dancer. The food is fantastic and the accommodations comfortable. There is always time to catch a few rays of sun on the Lido deck in between dives. The bottom line is that Wind Dancer and Peter Hughes Diving make diving easy!
Please email me at dave@fantatsicendeavors.com for more information about our trip to on The Wind Dancer to Grenada and the The Grenadines with the divers from the Miami Ski Club in September 2007.
The Wind Dancer Night Out In Grenada Spacious Lido Deck Dive Tender at Sunset
Congratulations: New SCUBA Certifications Cards on the Way
Michael Robin arrived a few days early from Seattle, Washington to get Open Water certified to join his friends from Empire Divers on their Memorial Day dive weekend. Michael did a great job and continued his training all weekend with Cliff the owner of Empire Divers to achieve his Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certifications. Now that's a fast start to your SCUBA career. Magnus Lundstrom took a different route to complete his Advanced Open Water cert card. Magnus came in from Chicago last weekend to finish his last two dives for Advanced Open Water for a class he started in November after being a certified diver for 13 years. Regina Forsythe came down from Virginia Beach in early May to continue her SCUBA education by taking the PADI Wreck Diver course. Regina did two dives on the U.S.S. Spiegel Grove one dive on the US Coast Cutter Duane to complete her Wreck certification. I want to thank Ocean Divers in Key Largo for referring these students and for providing prompt professional service on our dive charters.
SCUBA Bulletin Board: Upcoming Events
Mark Your Calendar: Island Sun Splash: June 12-16, 2006, Key Largo, Florida
Join us for a week of fun filled family adventure in the beautiful Florida Keys. Whether you want to experience a Discover Scuba class, a snorkel adventure or dive our shipwreck trail, this week will have something for everyone. Please click on our web site link for more information. www.divecapital.org
Sinking of the Oriskany May 17, 2006: A Veteran of Two Wars, Ship Surrenders to Sea
The Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, was sunk 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., on May 17 (ironically on the 4th anniversary of the sinking of the Spiegel Grove) to form an artificial reef. The sinking of the 888-foot ship took 37 minutes to a depth of 212 feet. The Oriskany is so tall that parts of the ship will be within recreational dive limits. To read more about the Orinskany and see some very cool photos of the sinking, click here: Oriskany Article