soltari675
Contributor
Thank you to the guys at Scuba Gym and at Jupiter Dive Center for some great dives during my spring break. I got to see all sorts of new things. Thanks a ton.
Great Spring Break
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soltari675
Contributor
Some have sent me messages asking me to elaborate on where I went and how it was this week. So here it goes. There were great experiences, and some less than ideal but still good.
Dive Day 1: First time going to the Ocean to dive or being on a boat. I went with Jupiter Dive Center. It had been storming all night and that morning, and was still raining hard. But determined, I went. The water had a lot of big waves and was kinda chaotic. With the wind, rain, and crazy water, I was hesitant to enter the water. We were to jump into the water while the boat was moving, so as not to get smashed back into the boat. I did finally jump in though. I could barely see the other divers past the waves. After a very brief panic at tasting salt water, we descended into blissfully calm underwater. We had 25 foot visibility and around 74 degrees. This dive was more about me learning to handle myself in the ocean with currents, etc and making sure not to touch the reef anymore than I have to. (a finger touch on the rock to push away, etc) The dive was great! I did get some pictures. Saw what I think was a goliath grouper. Lots of little colorful fish. Good dive. Getting back on the boat with the chaos up above was a challenge. Sadly, while we were under, lightening started to get frequent and we called the second dive. The dive master was great and very helpful. I felt completely confident in my dive because of him. Boat captain and deck hand were very nice and helpful. I look forward to calling them again.
Dive Day 2: I did the manatee tour on Crystal River to start. It was fun. We did see a couple manatees despite the time of year. I did the dive after the tour which was also good. It was my first cavern dive, but it was shallow, only 45 feet or so. Was neat to see. Visibility was great. Later that day I did Blue Grotto and Devil's Den. Now... the dives were fun. The DM was.... very nice. But a little reckless I think. I used my gps to get to the sites because the DM drove over 20 mph over the speed limit.
Blue grotto wasn't too deep, but a cavern. It was all very neat to see. Devil's Den was also neat. I liked the swim throughs. My only complaint was when we reached areas that were clearly marked with signs as a cave diver only area, the DM kept trying to get us to go past it. He would swim further and turn around and tell us to follow. He seemed impatient when I refused. (I don't even have 30 dives yet. Only now working on my AOW, let alone cave.) He tried this a few times, each time with me saying no. I was ok with the swim throughs which were open and I knew the exit on both sides. At one point he tried coming out of a swim through and straight past the sign by its side like I would not notice where we were going, which made me grumble a little. But overall the dive was a lot of fun in the places I did go.
Dive Day 3: I went back to Jupiter Dive Center to try again. This time we had a sunny day and the water was very calm. We did 2 dives, with a lot more people. I was with the same DM and captain as before, and had a great time again. Unfortunately, the visibility was only about 15ft this time, but I saw a manta ray and a couple sharks, as well as all sorts of critters on the reef. Captain pulled the boat right up to us every time we surfaced, so no surface swim more than a few feet. Overall I had a great time. I did ascend on my own both dives since the DM was technically my dive buddy and he had to stay down with the group following him. No problem with that. I did however at my safety stop spot something very very big passing under me. The visibility was so low that I couldn't see what it was, just that it was very big. It was kinda surreal... but cool at the same time. I loved the whole trip.
Dive Day 4: This was today. I went to Paradise Springs from The Scuba Gym and had a blast. I reached 130 feet for the first time for a few minutes. The cavern has lots of fossils and such to take pictures of. The tombstone of the diver who died down there in 96 was a reminder why to be careful. The guys were very nice, fun to talk to and dive with, and very helpful. I was never pressured to go deeper than I wanted and was always offered the option to ascend some if I was uncomfortable. I was with a dive master and an instructor, so it's not like I went that deep with anyone. Overall I had a really really good time.
That's it. Not sure I like the shop I did the Devil's Den and Blue Grotto with. I was pressured to go beyond what I was comfortable with and they attempted to trick more money out of me than necessary. (Will explain this more if anyone wants.) However Jupiter and Scuba Gym were both really great and I had a great time.
Dive Day 1: First time going to the Ocean to dive or being on a boat. I went with Jupiter Dive Center. It had been storming all night and that morning, and was still raining hard. But determined, I went. The water had a lot of big waves and was kinda chaotic. With the wind, rain, and crazy water, I was hesitant to enter the water. We were to jump into the water while the boat was moving, so as not to get smashed back into the boat. I did finally jump in though. I could barely see the other divers past the waves. After a very brief panic at tasting salt water, we descended into blissfully calm underwater. We had 25 foot visibility and around 74 degrees. This dive was more about me learning to handle myself in the ocean with currents, etc and making sure not to touch the reef anymore than I have to. (a finger touch on the rock to push away, etc) The dive was great! I did get some pictures. Saw what I think was a goliath grouper. Lots of little colorful fish. Good dive. Getting back on the boat with the chaos up above was a challenge. Sadly, while we were under, lightening started to get frequent and we called the second dive. The dive master was great and very helpful. I felt completely confident in my dive because of him. Boat captain and deck hand were very nice and helpful. I look forward to calling them again.
Dive Day 2: I did the manatee tour on Crystal River to start. It was fun. We did see a couple manatees despite the time of year. I did the dive after the tour which was also good. It was my first cavern dive, but it was shallow, only 45 feet or so. Was neat to see. Visibility was great. Later that day I did Blue Grotto and Devil's Den. Now... the dives were fun. The DM was.... very nice. But a little reckless I think. I used my gps to get to the sites because the DM drove over 20 mph over the speed limit.
Blue grotto wasn't too deep, but a cavern. It was all very neat to see. Devil's Den was also neat. I liked the swim throughs. My only complaint was when we reached areas that were clearly marked with signs as a cave diver only area, the DM kept trying to get us to go past it. He would swim further and turn around and tell us to follow. He seemed impatient when I refused. (I don't even have 30 dives yet. Only now working on my AOW, let alone cave.) He tried this a few times, each time with me saying no. I was ok with the swim throughs which were open and I knew the exit on both sides. At one point he tried coming out of a swim through and straight past the sign by its side like I would not notice where we were going, which made me grumble a little. But overall the dive was a lot of fun in the places I did go. Dive Day 3: I went back to Jupiter Dive Center to try again. This time we had a sunny day and the water was very calm. We did 2 dives, with a lot more people. I was with the same DM and captain as before, and had a great time again. Unfortunately, the visibility was only about 15ft this time, but I saw a manta ray and a couple sharks, as well as all sorts of critters on the reef. Captain pulled the boat right up to us every time we surfaced, so no surface swim more than a few feet. Overall I had a great time. I did ascend on my own both dives since the DM was technically my dive buddy and he had to stay down with the group following him. No problem with that. I did however at my safety stop spot something very very big passing under me. The visibility was so low that I couldn't see what it was, just that it was very big. It was kinda surreal... but cool at the same time. I loved the whole trip.
Dive Day 4: This was today. I went to Paradise Springs from The Scuba Gym and had a blast. I reached 130 feet for the first time for a few minutes. The cavern has lots of fossils and such to take pictures of. The tombstone of the diver who died down there in 96 was a reminder why to be careful. The guys were very nice, fun to talk to and dive with, and very helpful. I was never pressured to go deeper than I wanted and was always offered the option to ascend some if I was uncomfortable. I was with a dive master and an instructor, so it's not like I went that deep with anyone. Overall I had a really really good time.
That's it. Not sure I like the shop I did the Devil's Den and Blue Grotto with. I was pressured to go beyond what I was comfortable with and they attempted to trick more money out of me than necessary. (Will explain this more if anyone wants.) However Jupiter and Scuba Gym were both really great and I had a great time.
Reef_Haven
Contributor
Great report. Thank you.
Cudos for not diving beyond your limits at the Den. The owners really should improve the grating at those areas they want divers to stay out of.
I wouldn't want to out any shop on an open forum, but please do PM me with the other details, as you saw them.
Cudos for not diving beyond your limits at the Den. The owners really should improve the grating at those areas they want divers to stay out of.
I wouldn't want to out any shop on an open forum, but please do PM me with the other details, as you saw them.
It was great to dive with you. I am glad you decided to see Paradise Springs. It is by far my favorite spring in Florida. Please let me know when you are coming back to Florida.
Happy Diving
Happy Diving
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