1st Dive Since OW

I'm gett'in kind'a antsy... Were leaving for the Keys next Wednesday. When we were last there (2/07) I did SNUBA. Returning north I promptly visited my LDS and signed up for SCUBA. We did our OW last September. I havent dove since then and am anxious to get wet outside a student / instructor situation. We're taking our 8 year old grandson along and plan to stay in Big Pine.

Any suggestions from those who have been there, done that? I'm wide open! I hear Noname Key has great pizza:)

I'll get some visit time in with my cousin. She has worked with NOAA as a marine biologist for 25 years and lives in Marathon. I hear the water is both flatter and warmer in the summer.. good! Sure hope we have good weather.

I'm borrowing a BC & Reg / computer from the LDS. I plan to pack it in a plain luggage case and check it. I'm a bit nervous about the airline loosing it or someone steeling it. The bag will be too big to carry on though.

I'll post a trip report along with a gob of pictures when we return.

Dave

Hall's in Marathon is great for new divers! They often have training classes on their boats so you will feel safe and you can stay shallow! Have fun and dive!

NICE! Have fun. I would surely tell the dive operator your situation so they can put you on the correct boat. You are going to have a great time! Be ready to relax and enjoy!

Do you have time to jump in a pool and re-aquint yourself with the gear...?

Just a thought...

I think I can get a refresher this Monday or Tuesday. I agree I need to re-acquaint myself with the gear.

I'll be sure to check with the dive charters and let them know I'm new. Even shallow has me excited. I may do a dive on the Adolphus Busch. I understand it is a guided dive and may count toward my Advanced Certification.

There are some nice reefs down there, you'll have a lot of fun. As for the Adolphus Busch, don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but when we did it the currents were pretty strong and it sits in about 100ft. Its a great dive, but you may want to save that one until you have a little more experience.

Talk to the dive operators as there are a number of other wreck options down there which may be more suitable.

Whatever you decide to do, have a great trip and we'll look forward to the report and photos.

I like the KISS approach to this trip. Keeping It Simple and straight forward.
Unless I get a special invite I'll stay shallow and get some much needed bubble time in. The reef will keep me entertained enough! Tildens will most likely be my first dive stop. They already know of my recent cert and have suggested some shallow reef locations.

That and I intend to do lots of snorkeling with Ethan, my 8 year old grandson. He's my snorkel buddy out on Lake Erie. Getting to share the reef with him is going to be the highlight of this trip for me!

Lake Erie will be where I do most of my diving locally. I'd love to see some of the wrecks that I've heard about. I've got to invest in a good dry suit for sure!

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aerospot

Lake Erie will be where I do most of my diving locally. I'd love to see some of the wrecks that I've heard about. I've got to invest in a good dry suit for sure!

Dave

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YES! You will most likely want to just save until you can get the dry suit up there in the Great Lakes. Don't get me wrong, it can be done wet, it will just be a short season with short cold dives.

Well, our trip went pretty smoothly. Straight through flight into Miami, shuttle to the rental car and hwy 1 south to Big Pine. We arrived early enough to get settled in and see some of the local area. Key deer refuge, Noname key, blue hole to name a few. We stumbled into the Noname Pub and visited the Kayak Adventure Tour across the street from it. The Pub’s pizza is as advertised, great!
The first four days were lousy for the water with 15 knot winds out of the east keeping the seas 4’ – 6’. We waited until Friday and chanced a snorkel trip to Sombrero Reef. Ethan (8 year old grandson) & I snorkeled about for over an hour before heading back to the boat full of seasick people. Thankfully none of us were afflicted,…this time. We endured this with less enjoyment than we would have had the water been calmer.
Saturday we sopped at Little Duck Key and visited the Veterans Memorial Beach for a picnic lunch. Ethan and I took to the water and had a very nice time snorkeling out along the sand path. It was 4’ – 8’ wide and flanked by sea-grass on either side. Ethan found several hermit crabs, the first by surprise when picking up a small shell. We saw starfish, urchin, and other critters un-named..
Sunday we visited Sombrero beach and though we attempted to snorkel, it wasn’t long before discovering it was futile with all the bodies stirring up the water. My wife was kept company by a couple ‘locals’ who appeared to have been camping nearby. Another reason for me to cut my water time short and we left much sooner than we had planned.
Monday the wind finally subsided. Ethan and I had reserved with Tildens Scuba Center and rode out again to Sombrero Reef. This was my first official SCUBA dive. I stayed close to Ethan and another youth that was dong SNUBA for the 45 minute dive. It was fun to see Ethan as mischievous underwater as he is above it. The instructor gave them sign instructions to stay put while she surfaced to check the air. Ethan would take advantage of this time away from her to throw sand at the other kid. Slow and brief this first dive was just what I wanted. The vis wasn’t great but good enough and many critters were seen about like barracuda, lobsters, small shrimp, angels, parrot fish, hog fish and many other as well as great corals. Ethan remained on the surface snorkeling for our 2nd location (100 yards away) and I joined a couple receiving their OW with their instructor. This was their last skills dive and it wasn’t long before we were shown the reef via an expert tour guide. There is a monument he led us to that was barely visible and he cleared the sand off of it revealing a name and dates. I believe it said “Maggie Brown”. I couldn’t read the rest. He also found some tiny shrimp and managed to coax one out of its hiding for us to see.
Tuesday I drove across the street from the Hotel to “Underseas” and signed up for their morning trip to Looe Key. Conditions remained calmer and the visibility was improving. This dive I joined two couples that were together. It was the first OW for one of the couples so I felt good about diving with them. Again the 2nd location was about 100 yards from the first although this made all the difference at Looe Key. We lost one of our group to sea-sickness. The experienced couple departed us about three-quarters through the dive and we made the cursory one minute underwater search before slowly surfacing in search of them. They were already on the boat enjoying snacks so we submerged and meandered toward the boat. I thought it a bit odd that they would leave us without any signal. Their explanation was that me and the other novice were coupled as buddies and they saw no need to remain with us.
Wednesday I again opted for Looe Key and rode with “Strike Zone” out to the reef. This time I buddied up with a twenty something brother and sister. The brother had experience but his sister and her boyfriend were diving for the first time. Seems to be a trend… Again, two spots on the reef about 100 yards apart. These were the best of my dives. We saw great barracuda, reef sharks, goliath grouper and more. I was feeling much more confident in the water and all my skills training was clicking. I had no embarrassing moments as I feared that I would rather, I witnessed many others who did. One guy we had come upon while underwater had none of his BC straps secured. His tank was 90 degrees off his back and flopped about whenever he swam! Several people lost their tanks out of their BC straps, both on the boat and in the water. I had to turn on one guys tank after he entered the water as he had forgotten to do so on the boat. I helped another guy who couldn’t find his regulator to discover he had it sandwiched between his BC and back behind his tank… I was happy not to have incurred any of these types of mishaps.
Hopefully I will find someone locally who I can buddy up with and do some diving in Lake Erie over the remainder of this summer. I am going to need a good wetsuit or perhaps a dry suit as the lake is no where near as warm as the ocean in the keys was. Better yet, hit the lotto and travel the globe diving all the exotic destinations! Hey, I can dream cant I?
Photos Here
http://borgpics.ulmb.com/2008-6-30%2...eys/index.html

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a pretty good time, despite some weather issues. Sadly, not much you can do about that. Glad you avoided the common novice diver mishaps (they do happen and not always to the novice!) it probably says something about your training and theirs.

Keep on diving, enjoy the lakes and try to keep warm. Wet suit may be OK for the next couple of months, but I suspect the local divers will also be recommending that you go dry. Don't forget to get the appropriate training before jumping in with the dry suit on.

Look forward to hearing more of your adventures.