scubasteve98
New
Hello fellow divers! I had a fantastic diving experience at the Bonne Terre Mines this weekend that I wanted to take a moment to share. I must admit that although I have lived in St. Louis, MO most of my life, this was the first dive I had done at the mines. I guess I had figured I was too spoiled from living and diving as an instructor in TCI, HI, Malaysia, and the Bahamas to really enjoy much MO had to offer... That perception has definately changed!! I just want to take a moment and recapture the event of Saturday's treasure hunt at the Bonne Terre Mines.
The day for my group started at 7:00 AM for our dive briefing. Dive master Steve had giving us the basics: that we would all be givin a bag and the object of course is to get the most poker chips so that we could win the bid for some of the $30,000 worth of prizes! The black chips were the hardest to spot and were worth $500. The green coins were also hard to spot and were worth $100. Followed by blue coins ($50) and miscellaneous ($25). He ended with "get ready divers, we will be entering the mines in 25 minutes!"
When we entered the mines there was a short walk down to where the water does. The inside of those caves is very cool and gives such a neat, peaceful experience that is just a break from the real world in itself. We we got to the small dock area we geared up and there were excellent dive masters on dock there to assist and keep everything rolling smoothly as there were quite a few dive groups. When we entered the water we followed a lead who was in a kayak and there were 2 divemasters in our group that were in the water keeping us safe while on the hunt. There were a total of two entries into the water and 4 15 min hunt dives. When we got to the site the dive master gave the final briefing then said "Divers are you ready? Descend!!" Then it was free for all! Down you went and hunting as fast as you could for coins. The adrenaline rush was definately eminent as you searched for the coins. It was very exciting to be searching along and then spot that hidden black coin (I found a total of 6 of these)! I remember saying to myself, "here is black gold!" The dives would end with the divemaster flashing the light to signal it was time to surface.
After the dive the divemaster would clip the bags shut and we had to take our bags of "gold" to a dive banker to count them up. This helped prevent any unfair actions. The dive banker gave us our final count after the second hunt and let us know what we had to bid on the fabulous prizes.
After that it was chill time! Divers sat around having some drinks and sharing past dive experiences as we awaited in excitement for the bidding to begin. They served a delicious BBQ for all the participants just prior to the big bid. The bidding was an exciting event led by Steve, who is a real character! This guy was jut made for this! The bidding process was alot of fun. I ended winning a 3 day all dive included stay at the Plaza Resort Bonaire!! I am so excited, as Bonaire is at the very top of my list of places I want to go. There were alot of different travel packages up for the bid along with gear prizes and a ton of free, cool little giveaways they would throw out in between the big bids to help out those that were not winning the big deals. The key point here is that EVERYONE was laughing, and having a good time.
The Bonne Terre Mines are just so neat and unique. It is really cool what Doug (the owner) and his crew have done with the place. They have really turned it in to a unique town I can best describe as an "old western dive town." I am planning on coming back EVERY year for this treasure hunt, and am planning on doing many dive tours through these mines. I can truly say that the Bonne Terre Mines has a top notch crew and a dive atmosphere not to be found anywhere else in the world. Doug and every single one of his crew are friendly and professional. These guys know how to have a good time and keep everyone safe. I look forward to being a much bigger part of the Bonne Terre Mines in the future!
The day for my group started at 7:00 AM for our dive briefing. Dive master Steve had giving us the basics: that we would all be givin a bag and the object of course is to get the most poker chips so that we could win the bid for some of the $30,000 worth of prizes! The black chips were the hardest to spot and were worth $500. The green coins were also hard to spot and were worth $100. Followed by blue coins ($50) and miscellaneous ($25). He ended with "get ready divers, we will be entering the mines in 25 minutes!"
When we entered the mines there was a short walk down to where the water does. The inside of those caves is very cool and gives such a neat, peaceful experience that is just a break from the real world in itself. We we got to the small dock area we geared up and there were excellent dive masters on dock there to assist and keep everything rolling smoothly as there were quite a few dive groups. When we entered the water we followed a lead who was in a kayak and there were 2 divemasters in our group that were in the water keeping us safe while on the hunt. There were a total of two entries into the water and 4 15 min hunt dives. When we got to the site the dive master gave the final briefing then said "Divers are you ready? Descend!!" Then it was free for all! Down you went and hunting as fast as you could for coins. The adrenaline rush was definately eminent as you searched for the coins. It was very exciting to be searching along and then spot that hidden black coin (I found a total of 6 of these)! I remember saying to myself, "here is black gold!" The dives would end with the divemaster flashing the light to signal it was time to surface.
After the dive the divemaster would clip the bags shut and we had to take our bags of "gold" to a dive banker to count them up. This helped prevent any unfair actions. The dive banker gave us our final count after the second hunt and let us know what we had to bid on the fabulous prizes.
After that it was chill time! Divers sat around having some drinks and sharing past dive experiences as we awaited in excitement for the bidding to begin. They served a delicious BBQ for all the participants just prior to the big bid. The bidding was an exciting event led by Steve, who is a real character! This guy was jut made for this! The bidding process was alot of fun. I ended winning a 3 day all dive included stay at the Plaza Resort Bonaire!! I am so excited, as Bonaire is at the very top of my list of places I want to go. There were alot of different travel packages up for the bid along with gear prizes and a ton of free, cool little giveaways they would throw out in between the big bids to help out those that were not winning the big deals. The key point here is that EVERYONE was laughing, and having a good time.
The Bonne Terre Mines are just so neat and unique. It is really cool what Doug (the owner) and his crew have done with the place. They have really turned it in to a unique town I can best describe as an "old western dive town." I am planning on coming back EVERY year for this treasure hunt, and am planning on doing many dive tours through these mines. I can truly say that the Bonne Terre Mines has a top notch crew and a dive atmosphere not to be found anywhere else in the world. Doug and every single one of his crew are friendly and professional. These guys know how to have a good time and keep everyone safe. I look forward to being a much bigger part of the Bonne Terre Mines in the future!
