12 replies to this topic

[Marvel]

OK, gang. The trip thread has gotten waaaay too long & it's well nigh impossible to find all the details so, here's a compilation of all the information in one LOCKED thread. Please take a look at everything, especially Richard's AWESOME spreadsheets & PM me or post to the other thread any updates or comments. If anyone is interested in boat diving on Thursday or Friday AM, please let me know by post or PM & I will get it set up for you. Also, please let me know if you are interested in doing some night beach dives in my side yard.

The Hotel:

Paradise by the Sea
4208 N. Ocean Drive (A1A)
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Florida 33308 USA
954.776.4321
800. 219.3299
Paradise By The Sea

Options:
HO. No hotel needed
H1. Studio 1 dbl/queen bd $65 plus 11% tax (3 rooms avail)
H2. 2 beds no kitchen $65 plus tax (2 rooms avail maybe 3)
H3. 2 beds with kitchen $80 (3 rooms avail)
H4. 2 beds with kitchen in large apt $95 plus tax (1 room available)
Note: extra nights are available before or after our dates.

The Local Dive Shop:

The Scuba School & Dive Center
3331 East Oakland Park Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
954-566-6344
1-877-88SCUBA
Scuba School


THE DIVE PLAN:

Thursday May 26th:

Night dive in Marvel's "side yard"

Friday May 27th:

AM dive with Capt. Tony on Diversity 8:30 am SHOW TIME & 9:00 Departure

PM dive with Captain Tony on the Diversity

1:30 pm SHOW TIME & 2:00 pm Departure

561-368-9952
Sunstar Aquatics

$50 (tax inlcuded) for 2 tank dive
$10/tank- air only
Weights available
No Nitrox available

Wreck/Reef :

Sea Empress
This 90 ft. barge sits in 70 feet of water upside-down, and was loaded with cement conduits which spilled into the sand. This makes great hiding places for lobster, Grouper and tons of tropical fish. It has a resident Goliath groupers who live in the stern area. Large nurse sharks seen here often on night dives as well as lots of friendly stingrays. This is a must see dive.

2nd dive will be a reef drift dive to be determined by conditions that day. Captain Tony promised to take us to an awesome one!


Saturday May 28th:

AM dives with Brownie's Southport Divers
954-524-2112
Brownie's
Brownie's is a South Florida legend in technical diving
The boat will accomodate 32 but they limit the number of divers on board to 14. We have THE WHOLE BOAT!!!!

Dive price: $50 + 6% tax
Trip w/air & weight: $65- Nitrox upgrade $10

Fills for our PM boat:
Air: $7/tank
Nitrox: $12/tank
Tank rental:
$12/air
$16/Nitrox

PM dives with Captain Todd on the American Dream II
954-577-0338
American Dream II
Dive Price: $50 +6% tax

$10/tank- air only
Weights available
No Nitrox available- shop nearby for fills in between dives.

Dive sites to be determined. Possibilities are listed on their Ft Lauderdale dive site page:

Ft Lauderdale Dive Sites

GROUP BBQ TONIGHT!!!

Sunday May 29th:

PM dives Conch Republic Divers
Tavernier on Plantation Key
800- 274-DIVE
305-852-1655
Conch Republic

Dive site: Hog Heaven

Dive Price: $59+ 7.5% tax
Tanks: rental air 80 and lead $8 per tank
Nitrox: Nitrox $5 per tank upgrade
If doing Wreck Dives $5 surcharge

Kamala outdid herself on this one! We've got two choices of dive boats. The bigger boat is scheduled to go to the Duane while the smaller boat will be a reef/reef dive. Here's a link to a description of the wreck (& other Keys wrecks too):
Wrecks of the Keys


Monday May 30th:

AM dives with RJ's Diving VentureBoat docked at Miami Beach Marina
300 Alton Road
Miami Beach, FL 33139
305-861-6277
Cell: 305-915-5810
RJ's Diving Venture

Dive Price: $55+ 6% tax
Tanks: rental air 80 and lead $7.50 per tank
Nitrox: Nitrox upgrade $15
Dive Site: Tenneco Towers Oil Rig

Miami Dive Sites Just click on the link for wrecks on the left.

[RichardB]

Hotel Requirements As of 24 May, 2005

ok I have the following people confirmed in rooms:

H1-Rm 202 Marion check in 5-26 $ check out 5-30am
H2-Rm 108 Randy54 & LA check in 5-26 & check out 5-31am
H5-Rm 208 Todd aka Capt Too check in 5-27 & check out 5-30am
H3-Rm 206 Richardb & Walter(son) check in 5-26 & check out 5-31am
H3-Rm 207 WW,FF,BD,ScubaDiva check in 5-26 & check out 5-31 (note there were no more rooms so we are being cozy!)
H1-Rm222 Ari aka Vettenorlando 5-27 & 28th only
H1-Rm223 Phree337 5-27 & 5-28th only

If your name is not on this list and you need a room...they have one H5 option.

Attached Images

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Edited by WreckWench, 25 May 2005 - 11:23 AM.

[RichardB]

Dive Schedules and Selections As of 24 May 2005

Adding Capt Too to Sat am & pm; Sun pm; Mon am - confirmed by ww

5-25-05 2pm CT Friday pm is FULL; & Sat am is FULL,

We have:
4 of 10 spots avail Friday am
11 of 11 spots avial Friday pm
14 of 14 spots avail Sat am
18 of 20 spots avail Sat pm
12 confirmed ?'s are NOT confirmed spots of 15 avail on Sun pm
10 of 15 spots avail Mon am

Attached Images

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[WreckWench]

Hey gang...I just confirmed rooms again as per the matrix above...with one minro change...and yes they said we could rent a room for just 2 nights vs. the 3 night minimum originally stated.

Rooming Assignments are pretty logical in that they are the natural division of people relative to sex...er...gender!

So...

1. WW, FF, and BD in one large apt with kitchen (3 way split makes the per cost less than on the 2 way split courtesy of BD's number crunching for me.. ) (H3)

2. Randy and LA in hotel styled room with no kitchen 2 beds (H2)

3. Richard and Walter in efficiency 2 beds and kitchen (H3)

4. Ari studio (H1) for 2 nights (see above)

5. Marion studio (H1) for 4 nights (see above)

[WreckWench]

Finalizing Diving....

Ok gang I'm finalizing spots and unless you have an X in a box by your name you DO NOT HAVE A SPOT YET!

Please confirm if you are in the ? category if you are diving those days.


Diversity:

1. We ONLY have 11 spots on Diversity. We currently have 12 divers. If someone was not set on diving that day and does not mind giving up their spot...or wants to dive in the AM instead...then I will have to sit this dive out since we can not go over 11.


American Dream:
1. I need confirmation from Dennis and Donna when you wish to dive. I only signed up for 10 spots in the morning with American Dream and currently we have 11 divers with Dennis and Donna diving in the pm.

2. I have asked for an extra spot and all other extra spots but won't know until Monday if I can get them!

3. We have 20 spots reserved for the pm and I need to fill as many as I can! We have lots of ?'s for the pm dives

Conch Republic:

We are committed to 15 spots on the wreck boat and 5 spots on the reef boat. I can adjust down a little...but not to the number of divers we have right now which is only 12 divers. Soooooooo I need to know who is diving wrecks and who is diving reefs on this one...AND if you know anyone who wants to dive in Key Largo with us we REALLY need them to join us as I need a minimum of 3 more divers!

RJ's Miami:

I committed to 10 spots minimum and we have only 7 confirmed divers. I desparately need some add'l folks to join us diving this day! Thanks!

[WreckWench]

Group Cookout...or 'Gourmet Lite Cookout' by those who know!

I've recently discovered that some of our members are struggling with $25 for the cookout on Saturday (to be held at the group hotel 7pm) and some don't drink, etc. so by making it BYOB and cutting back slightly on the menu, I think we can still deliver a delicious meal (comparable to many restaurant meals) but with the added luxury of not being hurried for a table...plenty of socializing opportunities and perhaps a snack or two for the boat ride the next day! (Yes Ray...we'll save you a few morsels for the boat trip the next day since you can't join us!)

So the price will now be $16 per person and will include 3 of the 4 meat options...steak, pork, chicken or fish all grilled in custom marinades to your specification along with a Vegitarian main course offering and:

Fresh grilled veggies
Potatoe Salad
Cole Slaw
Some chips & dip (I'm a nutritionist so you won't see or miss not having too many of these on the menu )

Non-alcoholic beverages.

For those of you who were at the cookout last year...I won't disappoint...for those of you have not been to a 'gourmet cookout' you are in for a treat!

"The Chef"...aka ww

[WreckWench]

Update on Monday's Dives...

Our dives on Monday are very early so even if you are flying out early on Tuesday you should have plenty of time to achieve an adequate surface interval. DAN now says that you really only need an 18 hour no fly rule...down from the traditional 24 rule we've all been accustomed too. In fact...dehydration and lack of sleep are more prone to cause DCS than the no fly rule.

Also I'm committed to 10 spots on this day...that means I have to pay for them whether people dive or not.

(I'm sure that many of you do not realize this nor how hard it is to know how many people would want to dive each of 4 days with what operators. I'm thrilled we've almost filled out all the spots that I've committed too and I know next year we'll take what works from this trip and do more of it...and delete what doesn't work. In the meantime...I sincerely appreciate your support of this trip and of course of our membership so we have the chance to have not only this trip but others on the calendar as well.)

Please post in the thread confirmation of any dives that RichardB has a ? by your name. Currenty you do NOT have a spot on the boat if you have a ? by your name so pls look and let us know. Thank you, Kamala

[WreckWench]

Above and Beyond...

I just wanted to thank both Marvel and RichardB for going above and beyond to help organize our trip and for helping me during the past few months suffering from my mom's health concerns. I've been here...but I haven't...if you know what I mean. I'm doing better now...and they have helped to recharge my batteries...but I know many of you are concerned that the trip is disorganized and we do not have things worked out.

To the contrary...I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Here is an update summary:

1. The diving is set and after several of you firm up your diving days we can focus on the divesites and we'll all be ready to get wet!!!

2. Tanks...Some of you have made arrangements for borrowing tanks, or getting your tanks locally if you don't already own them. Some of you plan to rent from the boat operator. You are responsible for your own TANKS, however be watching for a post from RichardB who has graciously volunteered to help with his truck to get tanks filled. He'll post a more detailed plan on how it will work but basically if you are renting tanks from the operators you'll have the least amount of worry. If you are diving Nitrox many of the operators do NOT do nitrox fills so you will need to get them filled at one of a number of shops nearby. We'll pick one and help coordinate the transport of tanks. Diving air is going to be the easiest to facilitate with the most options however you can't show up 10 minutes before the dive and expect the dive operator to fill your tank for you and still make the ontime departure. NOTE: Pls let us know if you are renting tanks from the operators so we can be sure they have plenty for us!

3. The cookout...I've just posted a new update on the cook out (being held 7pm at the group hotel) and scaled it back both price and menu so that more members could join in. (See all the details in the thread Marvel started on the trip or look for more details via an evite that Nextariel has so graciously offered to send out for us! )

4. Arrival Times: Rich has done a great job of capturing everyone's arrival times...I hope that you'll join us Thursday for our 'initial' get together and of course Friday for diving at Marvels and Saturday for our great cookout!

5. The fun...hey gang I'm so looking forward to this trip...I don't know about you all but I REALLY NEED TO GET WET!!! Thank you all for participating and for telling others about the trip and I look forward to see you all in a few days! kamala

[WreckWench]

Payments and Costs:

I have contracted with the dive operators and the hotel directly so I am not working on a total for each of you so you can pay me.

Since we are only a few days out from the trip, anyone wishing to paypal me can and those wishing to pay via cash or check may do so in Florida.

Please review your choices for lodging and diving and cookout preferences...if for any reason you need to make changes please do so now as I will counting on you to be on the boat if you've committed to do so.

Nextariel is trying to help us fill the balance of the spots on the boats as well as invite others to join us at our awesome cookout so its important we know how many spots are really available!

[WreckWench]

Note: We omitted the 6% tax requirement on two of the operators above and the 11% tax on several of the hotel room options.

1. The hotel rate has an 11% tax regardless of room configuration (sorry it was left off several of the options.)

2. The dive operators charge 6% tax on the dives...sorry that was left of several of them.

[WreckWench]

Note correction on tax rates (thanks Marvel!)

Friday's Dives have the taxes included
Saturday's Dives are 6%
Sundays's Dives are 7.5%
Monday's Dives are 6%


Sorry for that...and I thought Texas was bad for multiple tax rates!

[WreckWench]

Hey Gang...here is your individual pricing. I hope you understand it. I have everything in a very extensive spreadsheet so if you have any questions about your total just let me know. -Kamala

p.s. if you send your payment via paypal for hotel and/or diving and/or bbq PLEASE print out a reciept of your paypal transaction as I will not have full email access and may not recieve it. And if you are using paypal PLEASE remember to add the 3% paypal processing fee. Thank you!

And if ANYONE has to cancel PLEASE call me at 214-350-7003 so I am not completely left hanging. I have to pay for all the spots spoken for so if you have to cancel than any lead time will allow me a chance to hopefully fill the spots! But hopefully NO ONE has to cancel...otherwise Richardb will have to hunt...er track you down!

Ok...here is your pricing based upon # nights at the hotel divided by number of roommates and # of days of diving plus all applicable taxes. -ww

Attached Files

•  Florida_Memorial_Day_Pricing_Expanded.xls   202.5KB   33 downloads

[WreckWench]

Here is a smaller version of the above pricing matrix!

Attached Files

•  Memorial_Day_Pricing_Doc.doc   62KB   37 downloads