khacken
Contributor
Trip Report for Flower Gardens 7/29 - 7/30
Went on the Spree with captain Frank and Melanie. I really had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat. All the stories you have heard are true. This is definately advanced diving, but well worth it.
We went out Friday night into 5 foot waves and had a rollercoaster of a ride. There was more than once where I was pretty much out of the bunk at the crest of a wave. I don't think I slept at all. I should have known we where in for a bumpy ride when the captain came out with a seasickness patch on. A good number of the passengers got really sick. But on the plus side, they attracted many fish around the boat to greet us as we started the dives hehehe.
we did nitrox 32 and were gas limited the whole trip. One note, bring orings and analyze earlier. The nitrox tanks had orings that had been smashed flat and pretty much useless. Also, the line for the analyzer could get long.
The first dive was at West Bank #5. Max depth was 77 feet and you would pretty much have to dig a hole to go deeper. No worries about hitting the 130 foot limit. There was a stiff current and we spent most of the dive swimming into it. It was beautiful though and vis was about 80 foot at the beginning of the dive. Near the end of the dive, the current got stronger and killed the vis. Saw great hard corals and tons of parrotfish.
Dive 2 at the same place. The current changed and was pretty strong so we needed to duck behind coral heads to get some rest and see the sights. There was a great large coral head with huge Napolean wrasses in there. Man barracudas hanging out as well. Max depth was 74 with a bottom time of 34 minutes. My buddy and I got separated in the current when he started to loose buoyancy due to lost weights during the entry, and I could not pick him out from the crowd, but he had a nice sub duck which got me looking the right way. The duck would prove to be invaluable the next day...
Dive 3 at East Bank #7. Hardly any currents here and corals so great it was hard to believe it was real. Schools of barracuda just milling around. Some of the other divers saw a manta ray at the end of the dive, but I missed it. Max depth here was 69 feet for 44 minutes.
Dive 4 at same place. Some of the divers tried out some swimthroughs and one got stuck, but was able to remove his bc and free himself. Max depth was 69 feet for 44 minutes. Again, pretty hard to get deeper and into trouble. This was the easiest dive of the trip.
Dive 5, night dive on #7. Saw slipper lobsters, crabs, and a few shrimp. We were told not to shine our lights on the cudas as they will follow the light and smack you hard. Also, there is some fish that will use your light to hunt, so we were told to watch out for that as well. Max depth 68, for 41 minutes.
We call it a night and hit the sheets. The ride this time was so good that I could sleep and never even knew we moved until our wakeup call.
Dive 6, over to Stetson. The vis here was over 100 feet and the descent was more like a freefall. I loved it!!! The Stetson is different in that not too much coral, but tons of sponges and small damsels and blennies everywhere. We saw some dolphins on the surface, but not during the dive. We hit 100 feet, and could have gone deeper, but rules are rules.
Dive 7. The currents were picking up and my buddy had a hard time getting ready for the dive as he lost an o-ring, then got stressed for the dive. We did a great descent again, but I went directly down from the boat instead of going to the mooring as it was closer to the good stuff. Half way through the dive, my buddy lost his weights when he open his pockets and they dumped out by accident. He quacked at me and I was able to catch him in time and give him my weights. I was able to handle loosing my weights. I guess I was overweighted, but that proved fortunate. We were able to finsih the dive, but he got a little light on the way up, but used the ascent lines and was ok.
Impressions from the trip. Many of the divers got lost and had to be picked up. The DMs do not like having to start the chase boat. It really isn't that hard to not get lost if you stay close to the buoy and swim into the currents. It seems the ones that got lost got too far from the buoy, or let the currents get the best of them.
Another thing is coming up under the boat. Remember that the swimstep can kill if you are in the wrong place. After the safety stop, you really need to free ascend and swim against the current, or go for the side lines.
All in all fantastic diving and I can't wait for the next trip!!!
Went on the Spree with captain Frank and Melanie. I really had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat. All the stories you have heard are true. This is definately advanced diving, but well worth it.
We went out Friday night into 5 foot waves and had a rollercoaster of a ride. There was more than once where I was pretty much out of the bunk at the crest of a wave. I don't think I slept at all. I should have known we where in for a bumpy ride when the captain came out with a seasickness patch on. A good number of the passengers got really sick. But on the plus side, they attracted many fish around the boat to greet us as we started the dives hehehe.
we did nitrox 32 and were gas limited the whole trip. One note, bring orings and analyze earlier. The nitrox tanks had orings that had been smashed flat and pretty much useless. Also, the line for the analyzer could get long.
The first dive was at West Bank #5. Max depth was 77 feet and you would pretty much have to dig a hole to go deeper. No worries about hitting the 130 foot limit. There was a stiff current and we spent most of the dive swimming into it. It was beautiful though and vis was about 80 foot at the beginning of the dive. Near the end of the dive, the current got stronger and killed the vis. Saw great hard corals and tons of parrotfish.
Dive 2 at the same place. The current changed and was pretty strong so we needed to duck behind coral heads to get some rest and see the sights. There was a great large coral head with huge Napolean wrasses in there. Man barracudas hanging out as well. Max depth was 74 with a bottom time of 34 minutes. My buddy and I got separated in the current when he started to loose buoyancy due to lost weights during the entry, and I could not pick him out from the crowd, but he had a nice sub duck which got me looking the right way. The duck would prove to be invaluable the next day...
Dive 3 at East Bank #7. Hardly any currents here and corals so great it was hard to believe it was real. Schools of barracuda just milling around. Some of the other divers saw a manta ray at the end of the dive, but I missed it. Max depth here was 69 feet for 44 minutes.
Dive 4 at same place. Some of the divers tried out some swimthroughs and one got stuck, but was able to remove his bc and free himself. Max depth was 69 feet for 44 minutes. Again, pretty hard to get deeper and into trouble. This was the easiest dive of the trip.
Dive 5, night dive on #7. Saw slipper lobsters, crabs, and a few shrimp. We were told not to shine our lights on the cudas as they will follow the light and smack you hard. Also, there is some fish that will use your light to hunt, so we were told to watch out for that as well. Max depth 68, for 41 minutes.
We call it a night and hit the sheets. The ride this time was so good that I could sleep and never even knew we moved until our wakeup call.
Dive 6, over to Stetson. The vis here was over 100 feet and the descent was more like a freefall. I loved it!!! The Stetson is different in that not too much coral, but tons of sponges and small damsels and blennies everywhere. We saw some dolphins on the surface, but not during the dive. We hit 100 feet, and could have gone deeper, but rules are rules.
Dive 7. The currents were picking up and my buddy had a hard time getting ready for the dive as he lost an o-ring, then got stressed for the dive. We did a great descent again, but I went directly down from the boat instead of going to the mooring as it was closer to the good stuff. Half way through the dive, my buddy lost his weights when he open his pockets and they dumped out by accident. He quacked at me and I was able to catch him in time and give him my weights. I was able to handle loosing my weights. I guess I was overweighted, but that proved fortunate. We were able to finsih the dive, but he got a little light on the way up, but used the ascent lines and was ok.
Impressions from the trip. Many of the divers got lost and had to be picked up. The DMs do not like having to start the chase boat. It really isn't that hard to not get lost if you stay close to the buoy and swim into the currents. It seems the ones that got lost got too far from the buoy, or let the currents get the best of them.
Another thing is coming up under the boat. Remember that the swimstep can kill if you are in the wrong place. After the safety stop, you really need to free ascend and swim against the current, or go for the side lines.
All in all fantastic diving and I can't wait for the next trip!!!
