Scuba Outfitters of Naples, Naples Dive Center, Florida

Scuba Outfitters Devils Den Post

September 24^th and 25^th was a great weekend of diving.  The seas were calm all weekend and the vis was great.  There were only a few jelly fish as compared to other weekends and John was still stung.  Someday, he may learn to swim away from the jellyfish.

We dove a number of great spots.  Saturday afternoon everyone was able to explore Pickles Reef and Pillar Reef.  That night we ventured over to Snappers Ledge and had a great time losing count of all the trumpetfish hanging around.  Connor saw a turtle and a nurse shark.  It was an awesome dive and the Huge brain coral there looked very healthy.   At the end of the dive, we had a squid visit.

On Sunday Morning, the shallow boat visited Benwood and French Reef.  The Open Water Class with Mike really enjoyed diving on the wreck and swimming through the swim throughs.

The Sunday morning deep dives on Spiegel Grove had just enough current to make it interesting.  We had very good visibility and plenty of fish.  The private charter, 5 divers, with Capt. Carl was a lot of fun.

Mike had a great Open Water class.  Heather was a little apprehensive about the mask clearing, but she had no problem during her dive.  All five of Mike’s students were diving like pros by the last dive on Sunday.  Congratulations to Chris, JT, Heather, Jeri, and Gary for passing earning their PADI Open Water Certification.

John had a very easy Advanced class.  “Catfish” Mike was a great diver and really enjoyed his private class.  The dives on Spiegel Sunday morning were fantastic with just enough current to make a good training dive and plenty of fish life and visibility.

We also had a number of divers tagging along just for fun.  Tristan really enjoyed his dives as his dad was getting certified.  It was great to dive with Cameron again.  Lundy had a great time diving without her boys.  We want to welcome the Branham family to our little group of divers.

What a great weekend to go diving! First off Congratulations to our new Open Water Divers: Forest, Cameron, Chris, and Carlos; and our new Advanced Open Water Diver: Herb. Without all the cold fronts go through the water had warmed up to 72 degrees. I know, that is still cold for a lot of divers, but it could have been worse.

Saturday was a great afternoon dive. The divers saw a Southern Stingray on the first dive and a medium loggerhead turtle on the second dive. Also, some of the sport divers got real close and personal with some groupers and a few nurse sharks.

The night dive was phenomenal. The sunset was gorgeous. All the parrot fish were tucked in the beds. The best part was the bioluminescence. With the lights off it was like looking at the stars in the night sky.

Sunday shallow wreck dives were great. Jaime’s open water class went to the City of Washington. They saw a Hammerhead shark, Nurse Sharks, Jewfish, Grey Grouper, Nassau Grouper, and a green Morey Eel. On the second dive, they hit Mike’s Wreck.

The Advanced Dive went to Spiegle Grove. There were two Volkswagen sized jewfish hanging out the entire dive.

This was a great weekend to be diving in the Keys. John Blake spent Saturday in the “Emerald Lagoon” conducting a Rescue Class for Robyn. Tom, Teri, and Rudy were also there refreshing their rescue skills. After we finished the Rescue Scenarios, we spent time exploring Jules. Since we were the only ones diving in the lagoon the visibility was fantastic (for Jules). We saw plenty of lobster as well as a number of Gobies and Snappers.

On Sunday, Dana and Christine joined John, Robyn, Teri, and Tom for spectacular dive on Eagle. This is one of John’s favorite wrecks from his time working at Tavernier Dive Center. The second site was a very healthy patch reef. The circular patch was covered with corals. Robyn took a great picture of a Moray and Christine almost stepped on a Nurse Shark.

John Blake had a great day of diving off the American Dream II in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. The seas were very calm with visibility over 50 feet on all four dives. The Hedges Family, Lundy, Evans, and Malone, completed their PADI Advanced dives on the morning dives and Rachel Linden finished her Open Water Dives during the afternoon trip. Connor Sorrick was along on the afternoon trip and had a great time helping John catch some lobster.

Check out the Teen only programs this summer here at Scuba Outfitters!!

Youth Programs

It was a great wekend in the Keys. Flat calm seas, no wind, and unlimited visibility, best conditions I’ve seen since October. The air temp was in the upper 70′s both days which made up for the balmy 69 degree water temp. Nothing an extra layer of neoprene couldn’t solve.

Every kind of creature imaginable was out including several nurse sharks, Goliath Grouper, large schools of various tropical fish, several large rays, and a few turtles, even one with a gimpy arm (awwe) that was quite friendly. A little baby turtle swam away from us on the City of Washington and I swear looked just like Crush (from Disney/Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”)

We have 3 newly certified PADI Open Water Scuba Diver’s in the world and a new PADI Underwater Navigator as a result.

Scuba Outfitters is celebrating our First Anniversay on Jan 30th from Noon to 6. Click here for the Schedule of Events

Mike, John, and Jamie are fresh back from DEMA (Dive Equipment & Marketing Association) Show 2009 in Orlando. The world’s largest dive and snorkel trade show.

We have some cool new gear that will be in the store within a week or so, just in time for the Holidays.
Scuba Outfitters also has some amazing travel opportunities and deals for 2010.

Also, Scuba Outfitters is now your exclusive dealer for Blackbeard’s Cruises, Aqua Cat Cruises in the Bahamas, as well as your gateway to the Aggressor Fleet!

We will be announcing our 2010 Travel Calender by week’s end and it will first be announced on the community website, Scubaout.com.