Anyone dive Looe Key or the Vandenberg today (May 18)?

[Norrm]

Well that would account for the vis.

We dropped in before Irma and after the prior hurricane that made a close pass the week before. I'm not questioning where the low visibility came from.

As rare as it is to dive an intact wreck(usually an artificial reef), it’s a lot of fun. Get good training, go back and you can find the cool stuff.

It's interesting that you equate my dissatisfaction with the Vberg poor visibility dive with poor training. It's also wrong. I've dived all the large wrecks in the Keys, most of the wrecks in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm, and over a dozen cold water wrecks between NY and NJ including "real" historical wrecks such as the Oregon and the USS San Diego.

I'm no stranger to wreck diving but thanks for the unnecessary advice based on the assumption that somehow my experience and training is lacking otherwise I'd appreciate any wreck dive even if there is literally nothing to see.

 

[Chuckitall]

We dived Mon, Tue, & Wed this week in Summerland Key, west of light 80 to 100 ft and never had more than 10 to 15 Ft of vis and no current most of the time. Reef was basically dead of fish and silted white.

 

[Norrm]

We dived Mon, Tue, & Wed this week in Summerland Key, west of light 80 to 100 ft and never had more than 10 to 15 Ft of vis and no current most of the time. Reef was basically dead of fish and silted white.

Did you enjoy the dive? Because from what I've been told on this thread, if you didn't enjoy it you aren't a "reef diver". Get more training and then you'll see all the good stuff.

 

[tomfcrist]

It's interesting that you equate my dissatisfaction with the Vberg poor visibility dive with poor training.

I can see how you may think it was meant that way...should have maybe separated the two thoughts with paragraphs.

What I meant by it is that penetrating a wreck to any real degree requires training...training that you and your guide probably don’t have. What you got was a view of the weather deck from inside...there are other places to dive in that wreck that wasn’t sanitized for tourists.

 

[Norrm]

I can see how you may think it was meant that way...should have maybe separated the two thoughts with paragraphs.

What I meant by it is that penetrating a wreck to any real degree requires training...training that you and your guide probably don’t have. What you got was a view of the weather deck from inside...there are other places to dive in that wreck that wasn’t sanitized for tourists.

You're still doing it- that thing where you assume that I don't have any significant amount of wreck training. Again despite my unfamiliarity with the Vandenberg and the poor visibility and lack of marine life and resulting dissatisfaction with that particular dive, I've dived wrecks from the tip of Florida to Wreck Valley off NJ, using a wreck reel and getting so far inside of wrecks that one could say to themselves "that guy is deeply penetrating those wrecks and has a pretty good idea of what he's doing in there".

 

[tomfcrist]

You're still doing it- that thing where you assume that I don't have any significant amount of wreck training. Again despite my unfamiliarity with the Vandenberg and the poor visibility and lack of marine life and resulting dissatisfaction with that particular dive, I've dived wrecks from the tip of Florida to Wreck Valley off NJ, using a wreck reel and getting so far inside of wrecks that one could say to themselves "that guy is deeply penetrating those wrecks and has a pretty good idea of what he's doing in there".

Well it’s a fair assumption considering you felt the need for a guide on an OW wreck dive of an artificial reef that is nearly 100% intact...and complain about crap vis (knowing you are between hurricanes), and call it overpriced. I’m just sayin.

Did you enjoy the dive? Because from what I've been told on this thread, if you didn't enjoy it you aren't a "reef diver". Get more training and then you'll see all the good stuff.

Triggered much?

 

[Norrm]

Triggered much?

You sound like my shrink

 

[tomfcrist]

If it’s any consolation, the vis was great in cave country that week.

 

[spoolin01]

We dived Mon, Tue, & Wed this week in Summerland Key, west of light 80 to 100 ft and never had more than 10 to 15 Ft of vis and no current most of the time. Reef was basically dead of fish and silted white.

We did T/W/Th in 20-50 ft just west of there, mostly before the PM outflow, and it was the same. Nice conditions, just really poor visibility. Lots of sand dusting, some signs of coral damage, a lot of surviving soft stuff, no reef snappers or adult groupers to speak of, atypically small hog fish. Smattering of parrot fish, lobster, and smaller fish. Fair number of chubs, cero mackerel, and smaller bar jacks. No barracuda but that could be just not seeing them. We basically dove two localities, so it could have been different elsewhere. Water is reported to be cooler than last year, maybe that's part of it. Fish come and go, it's hard to ascribe it to any causation. Key Largo was apparently hard hit as well and viz and sea life was much better up there for the two spots we hit.

 

[spoolin01]

If it’s any consolation, the vis was great in cave country that week.

Ha ha, if you didn't have viz what would there be!