Rainbow River 1/2/98
Blue Grotto 1/17/98
Devils Den 2/28/98
Ft. Pierce 4/22/98
West Palm 5/24/98
Keys 7/18&19/98
Blue Grotto & Devils Den 11/14&15/98
West Palm 12/27/98
Trip Report Page
Venture Crew Home Page
Rainbow River 1/2/98
Blue Grotto 1/17/98
Devils Den 2/28/98
Ft. Pierce 4/22/98
West Palm 5/24/98
Keys 7/18&19/98
Blue Grotto & Devils Den 11/14&15/98
West Palm 12/27/98
Trip Report Page
Venture Crew Home Page
Rainbow River - January 2, 1998
13 divers went on the Rainbow River dive trip on January 2nd. We took 3 vehicles to get all the people and their gear to the dive site. We met at PDI at 7:30 AM and were on the road by 8:15. We stopped for brunch at Burger King when we got off the turnpike in Wildwood.
We arrived at K.P. Hole County Park outside of Dunnellon at noon. The pontoon boat from Pro American Divers showed up shortly afterwards. We loaded the boat and headed up the river towards the spring head.
We got off the boat just below the spring head. We did the dive in groups of 4 with about 5 minutes between each group.
The weather was beautiful - sunny and about 70 degrees. The water was also beautiful - clear and about 72 degress. We had unlimited horizontal visibility.
Most divers wore hoods but many of us took them off about half way through the dive.
We saw pop-corn funnels (springs that spit out small seashells), sand boils (small springs bubbling up through the sand), large spring holes with wonderful fresh clean water (I took my reg out and took a big drink to wet my whistle), small mouth bass, large mouth bass, alligator gar fish (lots of these in the deep hole), very large bluegills, sunnys, brim, softshell turtles, and small snapping turtles.
Maximum depth recorded was 22 feet with an average of 15 feet.
The bottom was a combination of sand, rock, and river grass. There is a rather large spring opening towards the end of the dive, but if you don't know exactly where it is, it is easy to miss (like I did :) However, Bob and his group did find it.
We exitted the river back at K.P. Hole. The dive took approximately 1 hour and most of us still had close to 1000 lbs of air left. Some folks found fossils and large snail shells as well as mussels (fresh water clams) All groups were done with the dive by 3:00. We packed up and headed home. We stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner and were home around 8:00 PM.
It was a wonderful dive and great for giving the gear a good fresh water soak.
Cost Breakdown per person:
Not a bad day for under $20.00. Hope to see you on future trips.
Blue Grotto - January 17, 1998
Hello Fellow Divers!
We had a wonderful dive at Blue Grotto on Saturday. 11 divers made the trip. We started our day at 6:00 AM at PDI. We loaded the cars and were on the road shortly after 6:30. We stopped for breakfast at Micky D's in Orlando and then off to Willowston (just west of Ocala) where Blue Grotto is located.
We arrived at Blue Grotto around 10:00 AM. Once there, we checked in at the office, watched an orientation video, and signed our liability waivers. We then started to prepare for our first dive. There were quite a few divers at the spring so we waited until a rather large class exited before we entered. These divers had kicked up a bit of silt so the vis was not as good as we had wished or would expect from a spring. However, I've dove in MUCH worse.
Outside the cavern, we had a good 60 foot of vis. There were many fish outside the cavern - blue gill, cat fish, sunny, and some very interesting koi. They sell fish food at the office and I bought a bag. Joe Smith and I had lots of fun sitting on one of the dive platforms at 20 foot feeding the fish. There are 3 platforms setup outside of the cavern that are used for classes for checkout skills. There are tag lines that start outside the cavern that lead you into the cavern along the ceiling. Once inside the cavern, the vis diminished a bit - partially from silt, partially from darkness. The cavern is lit up with 4 1 million candle-power lights - but the kicked up silt did not allow for the excellent vis that I am used to during a spring dive. The cavern is very large and can accommodate many divers. There wasn't a lot to see in the cavern though.
One very interesting item inside the cavern was the air bell at 30 feet. The bell can comfortably accommodate 4 divers. this is a good place to chat with your buddy during your dive. The main point of this dive is the tunnel that takes you down to 100 feet. The tag lines that start outside the cavern continues down the tunnel. It is a rather eery experience descending in the darkness into the earth. Once at the bottom, if you cover your light, you can still see a faint blue glow from the tunnel which still makes this a cavern dive as opposed to a cave dive. A number of our divers experienced nitrogen narcosis while at the bottom.
We did a total of 2 dives. Between dives, we munched on fresh fruit that Dave brought - yummy pineapple, honeydew, and grapes. We also had 2 pounds of gummy bears that the Explorers devoured!
The air temperature was a bit chilly in the mid to upper 60's depending on if you were in the shade or the sun. The water temperature was a constant 72 degrees. This made getting out of the water harder than getting into it. However, the facility had very hot showers which we all used. The facility also had picnic tables and grills as well as a small store for purchasing chips and drinks.
We finished up and headed back around 4:00 PM. We stopped for dinner at Pizza Hut in Ocala and made it back to PDI by 8:30.
We all had a wonderful time. This was a really neat dive and quite an experience.
Next month - Devil's Den! This will be the last spring dive of the season. We will be heading back to the ocean in March for a beach dive at Vero to catch lobster before the season ends on March 31st. After that, we are planning some boat dives in West Palm and some beach dives off of Ft. Pierce.
Hope to see you at future events!
Devils Den Camping Trip - February 28, 1998
Only the Explorer's opted to go on this dive. You guys missed a REALLY good one.
We had 4 adults and 5 Explorers attend. We met at PDI at 6:30 AM on 2/28 and hit the road a little after 7:00. We headed to Williston stopping at the Turkey Lake Service Plaza on the turnpike for a bite to eat. We got to Devil's Den around 11:00 AM and checked out the dive site.
The site is a grotto that is accessible via a set of stairs that have been cut through the stone. Above ground, there is a boardwalk that goes around the grotto so folks can look down into the hole to the water below. The hole is surrounded by ivy which hangs down into the basin. It is a pretty remarkable site.
We checked in at the office, paid our fee, and signed our waivers. Next, we unpacked the gear and got ready for our first dive. After setting up our gear, we attended a briefing given by a staff member. Diane explained that the water level was up about 10 to 15 feet than normal inside the grotto. She told us about the many swim-throughs and caverns that were accessible inside the den. She also warned us about the cave system which is closed over by bars. These are marked with grim reaper signs and warnings not to try to enter.
We made our first descent into the den. The water was a cool 72 degrees. There were many fish in the grotto waiting for divers to come feed them. I identified blue gill and crappi. There was another fish that looked like a very large shiner, but I'm not sure if that's what it was or not. Visability was good but since this is not a free flowing spring, the silt kicked up by previous divers did not clear as quickly as we would have liked. The vis at 20 foot depth was a good 40 foot horizontally.
We descended into the depths of the grotto. It was like an upside down bowl in the center at a depth of about 20 feet. This slopped off the sides to 60 feet. You cannot make a direct ascent to the surface. You have to go at a 45 degree angle because of the overhanging rocks. At the bottom, you can see the sun shining into the hole. However, the horizontal vis was cut back to about 20 feet due to the kicked up silt.
Once at the bottom, we started to find the swim throughs. These were not simply rocks to swim under. Oh no. Some of these swim throughs went 20 / 30 feet. It was very eiry and dark. I would not do this dive without a light. We found the cave openings and the caverns. It was a very unusual dive. You do not have to swim the swim throughs, though, to make this an exciting dive. There are many fossils and rock formations to check out on the walls of the grotto.
It is best to do this dive starting at the bottom and completing the circle. Then rise about 10 feet and start the circle again. This gives you 4 or 5 rotations and every rotation had something different to see and explore.
After our first dive, we setup camp and had lunch. We were back for our second dive around 5:00. Diane told us to reverse our direction on our second dive and it would be like a completely new dive. She was right.
The facilities were very good. There were many picnic tables and pavilions. It was very clean. The operators of the dive facility just completed building a 2 acre fish pond that has a maximum depth of 30 feet. This pond to be used for open water checkout dives. However, the Explorers found it was fun to throw each other into it. :) The camp sites were very nice and they also have horse back riding.
There was a hot shower in each restroom which came in handy to warm up the wet suit and bring the body temperature back up after the dive.
After the second dive, we went back to camp for dinner.
Unfortunately, it rained all night. However, we were all snug in our sleeping bags in our tents and didn't get TOO soggy.
By morning, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. Bobby walked down to the grotto around 7:00 AM. He reported that the water was crystal clear now. He could see the dive platforms at 15, 25, and 35 feet clearly. Unfortunately, we were not prepared or paid to dive the hole the second day. Next time, I want to be the first in at 7:30 AM.
There was a steady stream of cars entering the facility from 7:30 to 9:00 AM. We figured they must have over 300 people a day on the weekends. But the dive wasn't crowed at all. Many OW and Advanced classes use this facility for check out dives.
We will definitly be scheduling this trip again. However, we are coming up on ocean diving season so a repeat will have to wait until next winter.
Happy Diving!
Ft. Pierce Beach Dive - April 22, 1998
Well, we finally got to do our beach dive.
We had a total of 7 people show up for the dive. We met at 6:15 AM in Melbourne and met up with 3 others at Pepper Park (just north of Ft. Pierce Inlet) for a total of 10 divers.
A few new beach divers had problems with the entry. This was a learning experience for them and I'm sure that they will do better on the next beach dive.
Waves were about 2 feet. The water was a little chilly - around 76 degrees. Vis started out at about 10 feet at the begining of the dive, but by the end of the dive, the tide had turned and the river water was being sucked north out of the inlet. Vis dropped to 0.
Pepper Park has a series of rock reefs. The first 2 reefs are fairly close to the beach. The third reef is a bit farther out. This is an excellant dive for lobster hunting but not much for sight seeing unless you have REALLY good vis. (better in the summer)
It is important to dive this sight considering the tides. High tide was at 8:00 AM which means that by 9:30 AM the river water had ruined the vis. Next time we dive this sight, it will be when high tide is closer to 11:00 AM so we can get a good dive and not have to get up so early. :)
Don't forget, May 24th is the West Palm night dive. I will send out email in a week or so to start getting a head count. We've had a lot of response for this one and boat spots will be on a first come first serve first paid deposit basis. We are going to ask for a $20 deposit to hold a spot. Balance due the day of the dive. (expecting around $35 - but don't have an exact amount yet) I'll let you know as soon as I have all of the info.
Happy Diving!
Kollers Reef Charter Boat Dive - May 24, 1998
For those of you who couldn't make it this weekend - you missed a wonderful dive trip.
We met at the Bell South Mobility parking lot at 3:00 PM on Sunday and 14 folks headed for West Palm by 3:30. We got there by 5:45 which gave us plenty of time to check into our rooms and get dinner before meeting the Koller's Reef boat at 7:20 PM at the Riviera Marina.
We met up with 2 more divers at the dock making a total of 16 people for the night dive. We pulled out of the dock and headed for the dive site around 8:00 PM.
Although we had a number of equipment problems and weight problems, we got everything resolved and everyone had a WONDERFUL dive. The water was warm and the seas were flat.
We saw lots of sleeping fish in their 'sleep cacoons'. There were tiny shrimp everywhere. You wouldn't be able to see them during the day, but at night, when the light hits them, their little eyes glow.
Lobster where out just taking an evening stroll. They really do know when lobster season starts and they knew it wasn't season on Sunday.
Ann Speer won the night dive T-shirt drawing. Way to go, Ann.
After the dive, 7 folks headed home and 9 headed for the motel.
We got up at 7:00 AM on Monday and headed to Shoney's for the breakfast buffet. We were at the dock by 9:15 where we met up with 4 more divers making a total 13 for the day. We were on our way out to the dive site by 10:00 AM.
We broke up into 2 groups and had 3 wonderful dives. Again, the lobster were out in full force. We saw lots and lots and lots of different kinds of fish including French Angles, Queen Angles, BIG grouper, pork fish, hog fish, snapper, and your other typical reef fish. We also saw a couple of rather large barracuda hanging around.
The seas were 1 - 2 foot, the water was warm (surface 80 degrees), and the vis was wonderful (50 feet at least). There was a slight current, less than what I'm used to in West Palm. It was very easy to swim against the current, but who'd want to?
After the second dive, Captain Rodney made us lunch. Subs and chips and pound cake. This gave us about 1 1/2 hours of up time before our last dive.
By the last dive, the tide had turned and was going out. This caused the vis to drop to around 35/40 feet, but it was still beautiful!
On the last dive, group one came upon 5 sea turtles including hawks bill and loggerheads. They are plentiful this time of year in this area since it is egg laying season. Group 1 also saw a couple of large green moray eels and a very large coral crab. Group 2 only saw one turtle on the last dive, but it was HUGE!!!!! A very large hawks bill turtle. Perry got some pictures of the big guy.
Group 2 also found the 7 foot statue of Neptune at the end of the 3rd dive at the north end of Breaker's Reef. You can hardly tell that it is a statue anymore. It has been completely taken over by coral. However, it stands by itself in the sand which makes it obvious that it isn't a natural structure.
Bobby Woodberry won the T-shirt drawing for the day trip. Way to go, Bobby!
We got back to the dock around 4:30 and loaded the cars for the ride home. We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Ft. Pierce for dinner on the way home. We got back to Melbourne around 8:00 PM.
We all had a wonderful time!
Happy Diving!
Keys Trip - July 18 & 19, 1998
To sum up the trip in one word - WONDERFUL!!!!!!
A group of us met at 9:00 AM at Nations Bank parking lot and after a quick run through Burger King for cresants, headed south. Other groups headed out on their own. One group made a stop in Boca to dive Sting Ray City. They said that the dives were awesome. Their first dive was a 70 foot wreck dive with giant sting rays and a monster jew fish. Their second dive was a 40 foot reef dive with beautiful corals. They spotted bunches of lobster here. Of course, the lobster know that it isn't season yet. :-)
Another group went straight to the Keys and did an afternoon dive. They said that their dive was also very good. We met up at the hotel in Florida City. As far as the hotel goes, it wasn't the Ritz, but the rooms were clean and the staff was very polite and helpful.
Our group (the South Brevard SCUBA Explorers) headed into the Keys around 3:30 PM and went to Pennekamp State Park to snorkle and have a picnic dinner. Some of the other folks met at Mrs. Mac's diner. We heard that their dinner was very good. Note, if you go to Mrs. Mac's, take cash - they don't take American Express..... or Master Card, or Visa, or Diner's Club, .........
I went on to the dive shop and got everyone checked in. This was the "It's a Dive" operation out of the Marriot at MM 103.8. We all had waivers filled out ahead of time and I had a copy of everyone's C-card. This really made checkin go extremely smooth. I then joined the other Explorers at Pennekamp Park.
We showed up at the boat for the night dive around 7:00 PM. We had 16 divers and 2 snorklers (yes, night snorkling) We had an additional 5 divers join the trip. Captain George and Mate Doug took us to Molasses Reef. The ride out was a little bumpy (2 foot swells) but the 43 foot pontoon boat, the Sea Star, rode it pretty good. We had LOTS of room on the boat.
The night dive at Molasses Reef was really neat. There were sand channels lined with 6 foot ledges and large patches of coral. All of the divers said that they enjoyed the dive (I was one of the snorklers)
We got back to our rooms around 11:30 PM and hit the beds to get up at 6:30 AM for our day dive.
Up bright and early and checked out of the hotel. Headed for the Keys after a quick drive through for breakfast. We got loaded on the same boat (Sea Star) with 22 divers and 6 snorklers. We still had plenty of room on boat. This boat is really good for a large number of people. We didn't feel packed in. It was very roomy and comfortable.
By 8:30, we were headed out to the first dive site.
We dove French Reef. The first spot was Christmas Tree named for a very large coral formation that looks like a Christmas tree. Directly under it was a swim through that was about 18 feet long and 4 feet high. It was full of hatchet fish. This was a really neat part of the dive. We had a max depth of 40 feet with 50 to 60 foot of horizontal visability.
A few divers in the group came across a sea turtle. As usual, there were many, many fish on the reef. Lots of large grouper and snapper as well as the small tropicals. I did notice that a lot of the coral was dead. However, the reef is making a come back. I've heard that a few years ago, French Reef was completely white from the dead coral. Most of the divers in the group came across a number of good size lobster.
The second dive was at a spot called Jew Fish Ledge - still on French Reef. A couple of the snorklers actually saw the big guy that gives this spot its name. An eagle ray was also spotted here. This area had lots of high ledges with large holes up underneath. We saw a number of lobster and a gigantic stone crab. However, I also noted that a lot of the coral here was also dead. On this dive, we did 45 feet (should have done this dive first) and again had at least 50 foot of hoizontal vis.
The water was warm, the day was sunny and beautiful, the down time was an hour at each spot, and the company was great!
On the ride back in, we had fresh oranges and pinapple to clear the salt from our mouths.
We got back into the dock at 12:45 and everyone started to make there way home. This was a wonderful trip and I'd like to thank all of the divers that were on the trip for their courtesy to the crew, their respect for the reef, and for just being a lot of fun to be with.
Remember, lobster mini-season is July 29 & 30. You need a measuring device, a fishing license, and a crawfish stamp to take lobster. For those not going for lobster, we are having a Descenders Dive Club meeting at STI at 12:00 in the large conference room of the building on Evans Road.
Blue Grotto /
Devils Den Camping Trip - November 14 & 15, 1998
We had a wonderful trip last weekend (11/14, 11/15) to Williston (NW of Ocala).
We had a total of 15 folks (4 OW students, 5 Explorers, 4 Advisors/Instructors/DMs, and 2 campers) We met at 7:00 AM on Saturday, after packing up Friday night. We left Melbourne by 8:00 AM after gassing up and doing a drive by at Burger King.
We arrived in Williston around 11:00 AM and picked up a couple of buckets of chicken for lunch between dives at the Grotto.
For those not familiar with Blue Grotto, it is a hole that drops to around 35 feet. At 30 feet, there is a cavern opening that opens into an overhead environment with the ceiling at 30 feet and the bottom at 50 feet. This is very large cavern and can accommodate many divers. At the ceiling of the cavern is an air bell that has a constent supply of fresh air being pumped into it. It can hold up to 6 divers (tightly). You can scoot up into it and chat with your buddy.
At the back and bottom of the cavern is a tunnel that drops to 100 feet with a tunnel on the other side that brings you back into the cavern. There are guide lines for the entire length of the tunnels.
The Explorers dove the cavern while the OW class did their skills in the non-overhead environment outside of the cavern.
After lunch, the class did their second set of skills while most of the Explorers enjoyed a second dive into the cavern.
Then off to Devil's Den to set up camp.
We had wonderful camping weather - not too hot and not too cold.
Hamburgers on the grill with all the fixin's for dinner and then a lovely evening around the camp fire.
Up bright and early on Sunday morning. The class did their first dive in the Devil's Den lake and their second dive in the open overhead environment of the Den. All 4 students passed with flying colors.
The Explorers did 2 dives in the Den.
Afterwards, we had lunch and tore down camp. Then off to a final dive in the den. This was the classes first official certified dive.
The dive was wonderful. Vis had deminished due to the high traffic in the morning but it was still a wonderful dive. The best time to do this dive is at 8:00 AM before anyone else gets into the hole.
There are many swim throughs and large cavern openings. There are also cave openings, but these have been closed off by bars for safety sake. You definitely need a light for this dive!
After the final dive, we packed up the dive gear and headed home (around 4:00 PM) We stopped in Ocala for dinner at Pizza Hut and got back to Melbourne around 8:30 PM.
Total cost for this trip (including all diving, air fills, camping, transportation, and food) was $80 per person.
Can't wait to do this one again!
Kollers Reef Charter Boat Dive - December 27, 1998
The cold front moved through Saturday evening giving way to a WONDERFUL dive day on Sunday.
We met at 7:30 AM at my house and loaded up Dave's truck with equipment and my van with people. We had 9 in the car pool and met up with 2 at the boat. (the boat also had a walk-on and 2 crew for a grand total of 11 divers, 1 bubble watcher, 2 crew, and the captain.) The boat (Kollers Reef out of Riviera Beach Marina in West Palm) was very roomy. We did a 2 tank dive.
The air temperature was around 80 and so was the water temperature. The seas were a little rolly with 2 to 3 foot waves and an occasional 4 foot swell.
The first dive was at 'Bath and Tennis' dive site. We saw a couple of bugs and one was caught. The depth was 60 foot with top to bottom vis. Horizontal vis was around 50 feet. It was gorgeous! We had an unusual mild south current.
The second dive was at 'The Breakers' dive site. We went in on the north end and drifted south. Not as many bugs here, but one was still caught. We had the same wonderful vis.
After the dives, we stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner before heading home. We got back to Melbourne around 5:00 PM.
This was a GREAT dive day. We were a little worried about the weather, but King Neptune was with us.
Next month, we are scheduling a camping trip to Ginnie Springs on the last weekend of the month. We will head out on the 30th and return on the 31st. If you're interested, let me know.
