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2006: Florida-Bahamas May 26 - May 30 Live Aboard Trip


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#1 ScubaDadMiami

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Posted 09 March 2006 - 09:46 AM

ONLY STANDBY SPOTS LEFT!!!!

****UPDATED 05/18/06****



The Florida Memorial Weekend Trip has a new twist this year: We will be departing from Pompano Beach, Florida but doing our diving in the Bahamas!

We board the MV Ocean Explorer on the evening of May 26, leaving Florida for an overnight run to our first Bahamas destination. After clearing Customs on the morning of the 27th, we will be diving and traveling each day of the 28th and 29th. On the 30th, we get in some more diving, clear customs and return to Florida.

This boat has O2 clean service compressors, carries O2 and Helium, an only takes 8 divers. So, this will be quite the opposite of a cattleboat!

Diving will include pristine reefs, wall dives and, if the weather is right, we might even be able to make the remote blue holes farther South. If tech diving is your thing, this boat has no problems with doubles, rebreathers, scooters or tech diving.

Cost for the trip is $1,400. This includes meals, air and standard Nitrox fills (Helium might be a little extra), single tanks and weights. You are welcome to bring your own gear if you want to use doubles or deco bottles, etc. About the only other thing to bring would be your dive gear, personal items and towels. Also, remember that the Bahamas is a foreign destination, requiring Passports or other acceptable documentation that establishes the bearer’s identity and nationality to enter or re-enter the United States.

For those interested, there will also be the chance to do some Florida based daily dives either before or after the live aboard (as an add on package).

Any questions? Post them here or ask the Wench!

Who's Going:

1. Kamala aka Wreck Wench (pd) - diving single tank 100, some double HP100's,
2. Howard aka ScubaDadMiami (pd) - diving CCR
3. Regulus (pd) - OC, single 100, Nitrox
4. Billy aka Rocky.GA Diver (pd) - OC, doubles, Nitrox
5. John aka DocCrawdad (pd) Nitrox and AOW Class - diving single tank 100, nitrox
6. Manuel aka MannyDib a/k/a Manny (pd) - diving doubles Trimix
7. Bill a/k/a OTWdiver (pd) INSTRUCTOR - Diving trimix and nitrox
8. Ed a/k/a Jocassee Diver - (dep) - Diving Nitrox

Check's in the Mail:


Last minute Waiting List...
1.

Just an FYI, I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel (or maybe it was a National Geographic DVD) the other day with some friends when, on the screen, appeared the same boat we are going on. This boat is used by professional film crews in some of the remote desintations where we will be headed in the Bahamas. So, it is state of the art, and it goes to some real world class dive destinations.

Here is the web site for the boat: http://www.oceanexplorerinc.com/
"The most important thing is not to stop questioning." Albert Einstein

"For the diligent diver, closed circuit rebreathers are actually safer than open circuit scuba." Tom Mount

#2 ScubaDadMiami

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Posted 23 March 2006 - 10:58 AM

Just in case you got the wrong impression, this trip is not just open to Tech Divers. So, if you have been thinking about this trip but felt like it might be above your level, think again. :whistle:
"The most important thing is not to stop questioning." Albert Einstein

"For the diligent diver, closed circuit rebreathers are actually safer than open circuit scuba." Tom Mount

#3 Travelnsj

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Posted 25 March 2006 - 03:00 PM

:D Where in the Bahamas will this be going?....I am interested in New Provance and hitting some of the sites "Into the blue" was filmed in.

Where do I fly into to?

Edited by Travelnsj, 25 March 2006 - 03:00 PM.

You must endeavor to pursue!

#4 Desert_Diver

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Posted 25 March 2006 - 11:17 PM

I'm kinda curious as well. It's probably the first trip I'll be able to go on, the way my move has gone so far (think: multiple goofs and disasters). A couple of days ago is the first time I recall the Bahamas being mentioned... other than the trip they went on 6 or so weeks ago? Memory is foggy at the moment.

#5 finGrabber

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Posted 26 March 2006 - 08:01 PM

SDM,

could you please post more details? I'm curious about dive sites, where I would need to fly into, how many days of diving this trips includes and how much it is total?

Thanks!

#6 Desert_Diver

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Posted 26 March 2006 - 10:32 PM

If I'm not smokin' crack, it looks like Ft. Lauderdale is the closest airport, but it's probably much cheaper to fly into Miami, as it's only 30 miles south of where I'm guessing the boat's taking off from. Cool! When you look around the Pompano Beach area on GoogleMaps, there's about 6 to 10 block deep areas where they have both water AND asphalt roads... there must be a seriously large number of boats in that area.

#7 ScubaDadMiami

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Posted 26 March 2006 - 11:38 PM

As far as flights and things other than the boat trip portion go, I would suggest asking Fingrabber to check out what's available. To put things into perspective, the boat is about 45 minutes from Miami International Airport (MIA), and probably about 20 minutes or so from Fort Lauderdale International (FLL).

The diving destinations vary somewhat depending on weather. However, the likely destinations are somewhere between Walker's Cay and Andros Island, Bahamas. That's roughly spanning the distance from, and parallel to, Northern Palm Beach County, Florida, to the North, and about Marathon Key, in the Florida Keys, to the South.

The Bahamas are made up of several hundred islands. We will not be frequenting the larger ports (such as Nassau) since we could just fly there and hop a tourist cattle boat to reach those kinds of destinations. Instead, we are going to focus on the places where not many people go, and on places that are more remote and pristine. So, even if I knew the names of the diving locations, they would not be the ones that are well known tourist destinations: that's the whole point of the trip. However, the places we are going will be just as, if not more, beautiful but certainly more remote and much less visited than the popular and well-known places.

On past outings, I can tell you that we typically start off the morning with a wall-drift dive after breakfast. Depths on these first dives can be as shallow as 60 to 80 feet at the top of the wall, and going to thousands of feet down the vertical side. Sometimes, newer divers sleep late, skipping the first dive of the day in order to go shallower on the remainder of the daily dives. You are free to decide.

Mid-morning to mid-day, we typically hit a reef that will allow people to stay near the top, which will be shallower, or to go over the edge to the deeper portion. People that opted to skip the first dive might go to the deeper side, or they might pull a long, shallower dive. Some Deco divers that went longer and deeper on the first dive will end out doing some decompression on this second dive. Those that did a shorter deep dive in the morning usually don't have to worry about this on the second dive (make sure you plan your dive!).

In the afternoon, we hit another reef that can be deeper or shallower depending on the earlier profiles and the decision of the group. We might even do another drift if the conditions are right.

Depending on how long each earlier dive was and the length of surface interval, I have been on trips where some people have done another dive or two after this (with the last one depending on whether they feel like ending up the day with a night dive). Other people prefer to relax, offgassing for the next day's diving.

In the end, I have been on trips where some people opt to do four or five dives per day if their profiles allow this. Sometimes, the group opts to do a lower number of dives but to make each dive longer. We have the whole boat for just SD.com. So, we can base a lot of the trip (that is not controlled by weather and location) on what the group wants to do.

If the conditions/weather turn out in our favor, I am hoping that we can hit a blue hole for a dive off of Andros Island during this trip. It all depends on the group, what kind of time we are making, and usually the weather. However, even if we don't make it to the blue holes, places I have been in the Bahamas have been some of the most remote and beautiful in my diving career.

This boat has a nice setup for those who are camera bugs. I intend to bring my video on this trip because I have gotten some pretty amazing footage on past dives to these areas.
"The most important thing is not to stop questioning." Albert Einstein

"For the diligent diver, closed circuit rebreathers are actually safer than open circuit scuba." Tom Mount

#8 ScubaDadMiami

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Posted 03 April 2006 - 10:46 PM

We are getting close to the wire with this one. Please update the head count if you are coming so that we can assign the final spots.

Edited by ScubaDadMiami, 03 April 2006 - 10:46 PM.

"The most important thing is not to stop questioning." Albert Einstein

"For the diligent diver, closed circuit rebreathers are actually safer than open circuit scuba." Tom Mount

#9 Regulus

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Posted 12 April 2006 - 02:30 PM

Hi,

I'm interested in this trip.

Still slot open?

Thanks,

#10 finGrabber

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Posted 12 April 2006 - 02:35 PM

Hi,

I'm interested in this trip.

Still slot open?

Thanks,


there are spots still open!!! and from what I've heard, it will an awesome trip

#11 Regulus

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Posted 13 April 2006 - 08:47 AM

How do I sign up? Call Ocean Explorer Charters or contact ScubaDadMiami or finGrabber?

thanks,

:wavey:

#12 finGrabber

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Posted 13 April 2006 - 09:08 AM

How do I sign up? Call Ocean Explorer Charters or contact ScubaDadMiami or finGrabber?

thanks,

:wavey:


Cool!! I've added you to the "checks in the mail" list

to sign up for any trip, you let us know you want to go, let us know how you want to make your payment, then either pay by paypal, credit card or check

now, for paypal payments, use kamala@singledivers.com as the To address

if you want to pay by check, then mail it to

SingleDivers.com LLC
3957 Gaspar Ste 200
Dallas TX 75220

and we take care of the rest!

#13 Dive_Girl

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Posted 13 April 2006 - 09:53 AM

Hi

:wavey: to SD Regulus!!

:cool2:
It's Winter time - you know you're a diver when you're scraping ice off your windshield INSIDE your vehicle...!

Once in a while, it is good to step back, take a breath, and remember to be humble. You'll never know it all - ScubaDadMiami. If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve - Lao-tzu. One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him - Chinese Proverb.

#14 Regulus

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Posted 13 April 2006 - 11:52 AM

WreckWench or ScubaDadMiami,Is the trip total $1400 or $1750? How about some times for travel planning. Be at the docks at 6 pm to load? When is the last planned dive on the 30th?BTW anyone flying in to FLL that afternoon or out on the 31st perhaps to share a Blue Van ride?Is trip insurance an option?thanks in advance, :wavey: Dive Girl

#15 Dive_Girl

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Posted 13 April 2006 - 01:22 PM

Those are good questions regulus! I have forwarded your questions to SDM and WW offline as well so they can give you a quick response!
It's Winter time - you know you're a diver when you're scraping ice off your windshield INSIDE your vehicle...!

Once in a while, it is good to step back, take a breath, and remember to be humble. You'll never know it all - ScubaDadMiami. If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve - Lao-tzu. One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him - Chinese Proverb.




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