The next day we encountered a woman who cackled like a monkey at lunch. Never seen that before.

That afternoon (Saturday) we drove to near Ocala, and Paradise Springs. This spring is literally in a guy’s front yard, and the opening to the surface is only about 10-12 feet in diameter. Once inside we descended through the main cavern into a second cavern which led us to a depth of about 90 feet. Our guide, Quinn, took us down the line to the bottom of where the spring can be dove recreationally. In the caverns were fossils, and the artwork of other divers. The second dive was also in the cavern, but in the first chamber. Chris loved the caverns.

After Paradise we drove back toward Crystal River to the town of Dunnellen and had a great dinner, before heading to the boat and up river for our Night Drift Dive down Rainbow River. This was Gary’s favorite dive, as Rainbow River produces over 60,000,000 gallons of water per day and is the fourth largest spring in the State of Florida. We drifted about a mile in the darkness with our lights spotting bass, perch, garr fish, turtles, etc.

Sunday morning came early as we set out for King’s Bay in Crystal River at 7 a.m. in search of Manatees. Though we only swam with one manatee, we encountered many different kinds of wildlife from birds to fish.

Our diving ended with one final dive…a cavern in King’s Bay, which was a little narrower than the cavern from the previous day.

Everyone who ent is looking forward to going back next year and playinng in more springs. For those who missed out keep your eyes here for details of next years Spring in the Springs trip.

We had another great weekend diving in Key Largo. First, Congratulations to Sandy and Stephen for completing their PADI Open Water Diver. Second, Good Job to Gary and Hugh for finishing their PADI Advanced Open Water Diver. Additionally, Tim and Tristan both completed their Boat and Night Diver certifications. They are well are their way to earning their Master Scuba Diver Ratings. Well, Tristan will earn his Jr. Master Scuba Diver. In fact, he will be Scuba Outfitters first Jr Master Diver. Page and Tristan have almost finished their Digital Photography certification.  We also wanted to welcome Mary and Amy as well as the Cornforth family to Scuba Outfitters.

The only downside if the summer season is ending, time to break out the wetsuits again. The water temperature is starting to cool off, but there is still plenty to see. The dives last weekend were great. There was plenty of fish Saturday Afternoon on French Reef. Saturday night’s Night dive was great at Snappers Ledge. Besides seeing a lot of fish, there was a large Green Moray Eel, a five foot Nurse Shark, and a large Southern Sting Ray.

On Sunday morning, the shallow boat went to Benwood and back to another spot on French Reef. At Benwood, there was a large Green Moray hidden under parts of the hull. Unfortunately, it was to far in for Tristan to get a picture of it. The deep boat did two dives on the Duane, we were the only dive boat on the Duane, so we had our run of the ship. Gary, Hugh, Tim, Lundy, Kevin and Jamie braved the moderate current to go down the short line tied to the stack. The second dive on the Duane we descended on the bow drifted the Duane at a depth of about 99 feet the ascended up the stern line. What an amazing drift!!

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.

First we had a number of volunteers helping at the Dive into Ocean Days at Rookery Bay on April 28th, 29th, and 30th. During those three days we invited over 300 people, most of them middle school students, to dive in the DEMA Pool. A special thank you goes out to Laurens, Austin, Dave, Scott, Gabi, and Kyle for volunteering.  Here is the link to the pool pictures.

The Pool party Last Weekend was a lot of fun. There were a lot of people jumping into the pool to wash the cobwebs off their dive skills and gear to get ready for the 2011 Dive Season. Congratulations to Julia for winning the Camera Raffle and to Karen for winning the Atomic B2!!

May 21st and 22nd are looking to be a great opening to the 2011 Dive Season. There are a few spots left on the Saturday afternoon dives before our Big Barbeque at Horizon Divers.

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.

The wind on Saturday was S/SE at 25 knots. No boats were running in Key Largo, so we went to Jules Undersea Lodge.

Robyn completed one of her Divemaster swims before my students showed up. When my students arrived we set up our gear, chased away all the penguins, and jumped into the “refreshing” (cold 64°F) water. Herb, Tommy, and Trevor performed all their skills very well.

The hot showers back at Ocean Pointe felt great after the “refreshing dive” in Jules. We met Herb at Snappers for happy hour. After great conversation and a few cervices at Snappers it was off to Sushi Nami. For those that enjoy sushi this place is a must. Don’t let your eyes get bigger than your stomach though. We ordered a “boat for 3” and the three of us were not able to finish it. Sorry John no doggy bag either.

As for the rest of Saturday evening, “What Happens On the Island Stays on The Island!” All I’ll say is that there was this amazingly gorgeous DJ that had a fascination with volcanoes and roaches.

A cold front moved thru Saturday afternoon, which meant North winds for Sunday. Aimee and Kim joined us in Key Largo to dive for their first dives since being certified. We had one foot seas and the water was 74 degrees with 60 feet of visibility. Everyone had a great time, my students did very well, and they all can’t wait to dive again.

Congratulations to Herb, Tommy, and Trevor on completing their Open Water Certification. I look forward to diving with you in the future.

Cheers,

Mike

Remember the Scuba Outfitters Christmas Party is on December 17th at 7:00 pm.  Please RSVP on scubaout.com