Ft Lauderdale HP EAN fills... Sea XP?

[chuck34gboro]

I'm planning a trip to Ft. Lauderdale in March 2012 and I'm hoping to do 3 days and 1 night dive while I'm there. I'm pretty set on using Sea XP based on my research here. I called them a few days ago and inquired about their boat accomodating an 8" diameter tank and about their dive time/intervals. I understand they can accomodate larger tanks and they really don't limit their dive times but generally the first dive is a wreck and the second is a shallow reef. I'm thinking of taking an HP 130 with maybe 30% for the first dive and an AL 80 with maybe 36% for the second dive.

I searched the Sea XP website but couldn't find any info on prices for air fills. I'm assuming they have fills if they will rent a tank. Anybody know how much their fills are or somewhere in the area I can get fills?

And if anyone is interested, I'll be there from Thursday March 29th - Monday April 2nd without a buddy. I'm diving Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings and hopefully a night dive sat or sun night.

 

[jet126]

Sea XP is a great boat! A local favorite.

You can expect to pay around $10 a tank for fills - Maybe a little more for Nitrox unless you take them to Fill Express where you pay the same amount regardless of O2%. Fill Express also charges by cubic foot vs. tank.

As far as dive time. Most boats will recommend you limit your dive to x-amount of time, depending on site. Listen to the briefing and be considerate of your fellow divers. Nothing worse than sitting on the boat waiting for that guy, especially in March/April when air temps can still be nippy.

 

[fdarden]

I highly recommend Fill Express. Its worth getting your tanks filled there, just to see the operation. I doubt you will ever again see an operation quite like theirs. It truly is worth a drive up from Lauderdale to see if you never have been there before. They have banked 32 and 36, Oxygen, Helium, and custom blend. I fill my HP130's there all the time. I try to drop them off the day before I need them, so they can cool and be topped off in the AM before I get there. Friendly, knowledgeable staff, and great prices. One caution however is that they open at 10:00am so that can be a show stopper for some.

 

[chuck34gboro]

Dropping them off over night wont work for me. If they do at Sea XP and can fill for me and bring back on the boat the following day, that'd be great. I know I should always verify an EAN fill in person. Would/do they bring an analyzer to the boat pre-dive?

 

[glock17girl]

i wouldn't trust sea xp to have your tanks filled as requested for multiple dive days...i left mine there, after specifically asking if they could have them refilled for the next morning dives with them, and that if not, was no biggie to stop off at fill express on way home but it would save me time while i had guests...was assured NO PROBLEM...guess what BIG PROBLEM next morning when i showed up with 4 other guest divers and my tanks had NOT been filled...take the time & do business with fill express, they specialize in diving gas....as far as diving with sea xp, you typically do a 70' wreck with max bottom time of 55 mins for 1st dive & a shallow(20-30")reef "drift dive" for 60 mins max 2nd dive

 

[glock17girl]

Dropping them off over night wont work for me. If they do at Sea XP and can fill for me and bring back on the boat the following day, that'd be great. I know I should always verify an EAN fill in person. Would/do they bring an analyzer to the boat pre-dive?

fill express will fill while you wait.....go look at the goodyear blimp hangar across the road to kill some time while waiting for cool down & top off

 

[Tom Winters]

A quick fieldstrip of a Glock 17 while you are in the shop will also jump you ahead of any waiting treehuggers. Sadly, those golden glorious days of 4500 psi fills in my late but unlamented LP125's will never be here again.

 

[fdarden]

Yeah didnt mean to imply that you HAD to drop them off. They will fill while you wait. Fill Express is a sure thing no matter what your dive gas needs are.

 

[LowVizWiz]

I dive 8" thanks and dive with SeaXP all the time, so yes they can accommodate your tanks.
Unless you really really want to dive your tanks I'd recommend just renting tanks from them. They can get you nitrox tanks for all your dives as long as they now ahead of time.

If you mind is totally set and you're absolutely bringing your tanks, you can get Nitrox at Fill Express (Highly Recommended) but sort of out of the way from SeaExp. I get my tanks filled there after diving. If you are on the morning boat, you can have your tanks filled while you wait and your tanks will be filled correctly even after they cool off .

You can also get Nitrox at Divers Direct in Dania. Closer to SeaExp., but not so highly recommended. YMMV, but I no longer get Nitrox fills there. You can have any mix as long as it's 32% which will be fine for most of the wrecks hit by SeaExp. Wait times for fills may be an issue however.

You can analyze your tanks at the shop or the boat! But if you're bringing your own tanks you will be analyzing them wherever you get them filled.

 

[bilsant]

I use Fill Express almost exclusively for EAN fills, but if you're looking for something closer to SeaXP, I've also used Scuba School by Oakland Park Blvd and AIA.


Scuba School Dive Shop

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