Got2Dive Goliath Grouper Aggregation

Scuba Diving South Florida

    It was a warm, balmy Saturday evening with a beautiful full moon hanging low in the night sky. We boarded the boat charter with excitement and anticipation with our SCUBA dive buddies Mark, Robbin, Scott and Dale. We had the awesome opportunity to meet and dive with the “Grouper Whisperer” herself, Sarah Frias-Torres, PhD. Dr. Frias-Torres is an independent researcher, scientist and SCUBA diver here in Florida studying the Goliath Grouper Aggregation.      

We had heard so much about the goliath grouper and their awesome spawning that occurs during the months of July through October. As we headed out to some wrecks off of Jupiter Florida, Dr. Frias-Torres briefed us on the naturally occurring event she called, goliath groupers on their honeymoon. This honeymoon, or spawning, occurs in late summer as the goliath grouper congregate at several diving locations in Jupiter.

The dive plan was to dive the Jupiter wrecks where large numbers of goliath grouper have been known to congregate. We learned that the gender of these grouper is evidenced by their color, with the light tan groupers being female and the darker groupers the males. The male grouper will try to impress and court the females by what Dr. Frias-Torres describes as a synchronized ballet dance under the moonlit ocean. The females will choose who will fertilize her eggs, as the male does his best to astound her with his underwater ballet. Once the female chooses her mate, she will release her eggs to be fertilized externally. And according to Dr. Frias-Torres, Florida is the only place in the world for SCUBA divers to witness the spawning of large amounts of goliath grouper during their spawning aggregation season.

Although we didn’t get the chance to capture on video the release and fertilization of the goliath grouper eggs, we were able to capture a wonderful display of underwater courtship. The incredible amount and size of this fish was astounding. I also experienced a deep booming sound, a defensive bark made by the goliath grouper that I felt vibrate through my body, indicating that a diver approached the giant fish too closely. The Goliath Grouper Aggregation was an amazing SCUBA diving experience and is a definite must to add to your Got2Dive plan. Stay salty my friends!

To find out more about Dr. Sarah Frias-Torres and her goliath grouper research and how you can help, E-mail: sfriastorres@gmail.com

How To Scuba Dive Florida - Dayo Dive Club

Clubbin' With Dayo Dive Club

DDC Volunteer Board Members

Got2Dive has not been at the surface much! We have been so busy with our scuba diving adventures these past few months with a new and local scuba diving club in our area.  A volunteer group of scuba divers have been working diligently to form this new dive club.  Dayo Scuba Training Center of Winter Park/Orlando Florida are the gracious sponsors of a  newly formed dive club. 

Who Are They?

• They are a  nonprofit recreational dive club consisting of SCUBA diving fin-addicts who get together in the name of fun and diving!
• They are from all walks of life and levels of experience, from beginners to advanced open water, technical and cave divers. 
• They are purely a social crowd that loves to explore the Florida local waters together and do their part to keep the Florida reefs and other recreational dive spots preserved for future generations.

Dive Club Requirements: 

• Sense of adventure
• A passion for the water
• A healthy respect for the environment. 

Dayo Dive Club is committed to the support and enjoyment of safe recreational diving, while conserving and protecting the marine environment.We here at Got2Dive like that! 

This past weekend a group of  DDC members had their first shore diving adventure at the Blue Heron Bridge and all I can say is WOW! We had an awesome scuba diving experience!  There is so much to see at the Blue Heron Dive site! I recommend you add this dive site to you Got2Dive plan and don't forget check out Dayo Dive Club on Facebook.

 TEAM USA!

GO FOR THE GOLD!

Got2Dive Wishing All Our Athletes 

In London the Best!  

Going With The Flow 

                        

Plan The Dive Dive The Plan

Our scuba buddies from Connecticut called Got2Dive and said  they would be in Jupiter Florida for the Fourth of July week and wanted to scuba dive, no let me correct that,  they "needed" to get salty since it had been about a year since they were in the  warm Florida water! Our scuba diving conditions were awesome!  

• Sunny 90 °  air temp 
• Water temperature a delicious 84 °  
• Current moving at about one to one and a half knots 

The Wreck Plan

Our dive plan was to scuba dive into Jupiter's wrecks known as the West Palm Wreck Trek. One of the  most popular wrecks in the trek is the Mizpah an intentionally sunk ship wreck. Located near the Mizpah is the Princess Anne, Amaryllis  and Murphy's barge. All of these wrecks are in close proximity of each other. The current makes it possible and easy to see all these wrecks resting on the ocean floor at 90'. As we entered the first wreck we saw a pair of big beautiful Goliath groupers just chillin' and hanging out. As the scuba divers penetrate the wreck the Goliath Groupers quickly swim out of sight! In the photo is our Connecticut scuba buddies exploring the wreck.

The Reef Plan

One of the Reef's we drifted over was 

 Breakers Reef. This particular reef is known by the local scuba divers as one of the prettiest scuba diving reefs in 40 to 60 feet of water. The drift dives were wonderful and ridiculous with marine traffic! Turtles sleeping and hanging out everywhere! Spotted Eagle Rays whizzing by and a bull shark muscling his way through the water traffic! Scuba Diver's even eradicated a few of the predatory lionfish that they came across hiding under the ledges of  Paul's Reef and Breakers Reefs. Oh and did I mention the corals, sponges and swaying sea fans beautifully decorating the ledges?! Our Connecticut scuba diving buddies were treated to a couple of beautiful sunny days of going with the flow in Florida.  Got2Dive was there to "Capture the Depth of Mark and Robbins Memories! Scuba Diving Palm Beach County wreck and reef drift dives should be on your next Got2Dive plan! 

                                                                                                          

Got2Dive With Our  Disabled Veterans

HSA Scuba Dive Buddy 

Got2Dive was apart of the HSA Dive Buddy Scuba Diving Program this past weekend! We met up with scuba diving instructors Michael & Felicia Berg of Good Roll Model located in Palm Harbor Florida.  The Berg's teach Adaptability Scuba for the Disabled. This past weekend the scuba instructors  had six disabled Veterans who wanted to learn to scuba dive.  The dive site was Hudson Grotto in Hudson Florida. 

Scuba Diving Buddies & Veterans

We here at Got2Dive are HSA certified able bodied scuba buddies.  As a Scuba Dive buddy we are responsible for the preparation of:

• Suiting up our disabled scuba diver 
• assembling our own scuba gear and our buddies if needed
• and assisting in the scuba dive itself

Scuba Diving Class

In this scuba class three of the disabled veterans were para scuba divers. A para diver does not have use of their legs so the  para divers use their arms for propulsion using special webbed gloves to push through the water. A para scuba diver has the use of their upper body and they are able to perform the basic dive skills required for scuba diving such as:

• inflate and deflate their BCD
• clear their ears and mask
• check their gauges
• and communicate to the other scuba divers assisting.  

The HSA "Dive Buddy Program"  offers able bodied scuba divers the opportunity to expand the underwater world to include sharing it with a disabled partner especially our disabled veterans. It was an honor and a privilege to spend the weekend scuba diving with our newly certified dive buddies our American Heroes: Alex G., Dustin M., Gil D., Jim M., Jimmy G. and Patrick C.  And a special Thank You also to Michael and  Felicia of Good Roll Model for inviting us again to participate in their SCUBILITY BUDDY/HSA BUDDY/DIVE HEART BUDDY Class. We had a fin-tastic time hanging out with you all over the weekend at Hudson Grotto! Got2Dive again real soon! 

Neptune Memorial Reef

Got2Dive The Neptune Memorial Reef

 

Our Got2Dive scuba diving adventure started in Miami before heading down to the Florida Keys for a week of scuba diving.  We booked our dive with Paradise Divers located in Crandon Marina. Omar and the crew were awesome.  They loaded up our scuba equipment and then with a fifteen minute boat ride we reached our destination. Our first scuba dive spot was The Neptune Memorial Reef located in Key Biscayne Florida. We geared up and jumped into the delicious warm eighty degree waters of Key Biscayne.

The Neptune Memorial Reef is also referred to as the “Lost City of Atlantis” that was built by Poseidon so the old urban legend goes.  The Neptune Memorial Reef was open in 2007 and was actually built as a cremation burial option for those loved ones that enjoyed the sea so much that their remains could be buried at the memorial park. The Neptune Memorial Reef is a unique undersea cemetery and is the largest manmade reef ever and covers over 600,000 square feet of ocean floor.

As we scuba dive down to fifty feet in warm green colored saltwater a dark colossal silhouette appears. Two very large sturdy encrusted lion monuments become visible as we get closer to the underwater cemetery dive site. The majestic lions standing at the gate entrance give the impression that they are keeping watch over this unique watery grave where loved ones are interred.  As we drift over and through the center known as the “Welcome Feature” of the underwater graveyard we count over forty large Roman like columns that surround the Neptune statues, archways, pathways and bench area all covered in five years of aquatic growth. There are plaques and concrete starfish with engraved names of loved ones resting in peace. 

The Neptune Memorial Reef is a flourishing ecosystem that is abundant with a variety of colorful marine inhabitants such as eels, fish and sting rays. All living and thriving in this underwater memorial park. This is truly a distinctive way to memorialize loved ones and a one of a kind underwater cemetery in addition to being a unique scuba dive site that I have seen. I am looking forward to watching the blossoming growth of the marine life in the years to come.  I recommend adding this special scuba dive site to your Got2Dive scuba plan!

Blue Springs State Park

Blue Springs State Park located at 2100 W. French Avenue, Orange City Florida. Got2Dive Blue Springs early! On Sunday May 6, 2012 we arrived at 9:00 a.m. at Blue Springs and we where among last group of divers to get in the park early. 

The Park opens up at 8:00 a.m. and scuba divers as well as scuba instructors with their students are already lined up waiting to get into the Park. The State Park limits the amount of divers in the spring head. A group of forty  consisting of six divers or less per group is the maximum. When the  maximum group of divers is met no more scuba divers are allowed to dive until the other groups pick up their certification cards and leave the park. This park system continues through out the day. Blue Springs will not allow scuba divers in the water no later than 3:00 p.m. and all Scuba Divers must be out of the Spring head by 5:00p.m. 

Scuba Diving season in Blue Springs is not year round due to the West Indies manatee season which begins around mid-November through March. Towards the beginning and end of the manatee season it is possible to see them there in the springs while diving.

This shore dive has you walking about 500 yards from the parking lot to the entrance of the water. It is quite a walk in my 5mm wet suit and all my gear on my back. So what I like to do is bring a garden utility cart and pull my gear already assembled to the water entrance and lock it up during our dive. This is a great way to get your gear to the waters edge and not get over heated or exhausted in the Florida heat.  


Besides one of Florida's unique fresh water dives. It is a fresh water shore dive, a cavern and cave and it is one of the most inexpensive scuba dive sites around! The Park charges $3.00 dollars per diver to dive the spring head. It's the BEST deal to try out some new scuba gear,  camera or to just get wet in between salt water dives. 

It is a must! Add this to your Got2Dive plan...Blue Springs!

 Got2Dive Plan for Today!

How To Scuba Dive and Camp Florida

Our Base Camp was Devil's Den located at 5390 NE 180th Ave, in Williston Florida.  Depending on your camping needs Devil’s Den has everything from very simple cabins with a double bed, island to eat at, mini fridge, 2 stove burners, kitchen sink, bathroom, and spiral staircase leading to the loft upstairs with another double bed. 

The view from the Cabins

As for Got2Dive we opted to try tent camping and scuba diving for the first time ever.  Devil's Den camp site has a different area for tents and even RV's with  picnic tables and outside grills. There are clean bathroom facilities with hot showers for those tenting at the Den. With all these camping options available there is something for every type of camper.

So you say not all your family or friends are scuba divers. No worries there are other things to do for those non certified Scuba Divers. Devil's Den is also a great place to snorkel or to just visit the cave. The huge oculus in the ceiling above dripping with the green leafy vines is an awesome site. It is really a cool geological formation with the honeycomb limestone walls and fresh crystal clear water makes it an amazing  place to check out, snorkel or Scuba Dive. There is also a swimming pool at Devil's Den and right next door there is horseback riding at Two Hawk Hammock that offers trail rides.

                                                                                                

Inside the Cave 

Devil's Den is the perfect scuba diving base camp  to the other local  fresh watering holes such as Blue Grotto, Ginnie Springs, Manatee Springs and Paradise Springs just to name a few. Our group of divers wanted to hit 40 Fathom Grotto as our second dive destination while camping in Williston.






Devil's Den is a reasonably priced Scuba Diving Camping mini weekend escape for the entire family, friends and scuba diver. Got2Dive and Camp!


                                           Camping Diving Video Highlights

40 Fathom Grotto

Got2Dive This Florida Sinkhole

40 Fathom Grotto Dive Video Log

In this video: Good Roll Model  & SeaDragon Girls Scuba Club 

 Our Scuba friends, Scuba Diving instructors Felicia and Michael Berg from Good Roll Model invited us to scuba dive along their guided "40 Fathom Grotto" tour with the SeaDragon Scuba Girls, an all female Scuba Dive Club from Rockledge Florida.

Forty Fathom Grotto is a very unique scuba dive site located in beautiful Ocala Florida. First of all you just can't show up and Scuba Dive 40 Fathom Grotto because it is a private training facility and is not open to the general diving public. You must have a Grotto qualified scuba diving guide such as Good Roll Model, Inc.

What is a Fathom you might ask, well the term fathom is a form of measuring depth or length. There are six feet in one fathom (6 fathom's x 40 = 240). So the name "40 Fathom Grotto" is actually the total depth of the Grotto measured in fathom's, 240 feet of fresh water crazy deep!

A bottle of rum wedged on a ledge in the Grotto

Got2Dive This Unique Sink

Forty Fathom Grotto is considered the ultimate
training facility in the eastern U.S. for Advanced
Open Water Scuba Diving certification and Deep Scuba Diver specialty training courses.

The Grotto is a 240 foot deep "naturally" formed limestone sinkhole. The Fathom sink  like all sinkholes is a part of a slow, natural process of erosion in Florida's limestone when the ground above collapses from the flow of water underneath creating a sinkhole.

40 Fathom Grotto's limestone walls are embedded with fossils, sea biscuits, sand dollars and shells that experts say are from 30 million years ago! 

Back in the day before 40 Fathom Grotto became a  Scuba Dive Training Facility, and was cleaned out, it was commonly used as a trash dump. Not all the trash has been removed from the sinkhole. During our scuba dive exploration of the Grotto we saw boats at 111' to 142', some vintage cars such as a 1955 Chevy,  a 1965 Vette  and a 1969 Pontiac. Also an airplane and Satellite Dish at 99 feet.

Baby Blue 55 Chevy at 115' 

Water temperature in the Grotto can range from a seasonal low of  65° to a high of 72°. The day we were diving the Grotto Saturday January 15th 2012 the morning air temperature was 57° and the water temperature was 71°.  It is recommended to wear a 7mm wetsuit. I actually wore my 5mm wetsuit with a hooded vest and I was very comfortable even at my maximum depth of 125' feet in the Grotto I never got cold during our dive.

Suzuki Motorcycle at 42' makes a great photo opp.

You won't find pristine visibility in 40 Fathom Grotto. The visibility in the Grotto is subject to local rain fall, algae bloom and surface duck weed that prevents sunlight from penetrating the Grotto water. And it is all apart of the uniqueness of this fresh water dive experience. 

What is so awesome is that you are descending and all of a sudden a satellite dish and an airplane seems to come from out of no where at 99'. Or as you are swimming along the limestone walls a Suzuki motorcycle suspended by cables just appears in front of you. This is what makes 40 Fathom Grotto fun and unique to explore! We had a fun-tastic two tank dive with Good Roll Model and the SeaDragon Scuba Girls!

Fire Truck being gutted of electrical to be submerged in the Grotto

I highly recommend that you add 40 Fathom Grotto to your Got2Dive fresh water dive plan. You won't be disappointed!

How to Scuba Dive Florida and Maintain Your Scuba Diving Passion During Off Season

Say It Isn’t So! Got2Dive Season is over?! Alright scuba playa’s now that Scuba Diving Florida has slowed down it is time to look at how you can sharpen, feed and maintain your passion of Scuba Diving and be ready for the summer of 2012!
So what makes Scuba diving such a life long passion? The shear joy, excitement and anticipation of the next wreck, reef or lobster dive. Or how about a planned scuba diving adventure in an exotic dive destination that is on your dive plan for the new summer ahead.

Scuba Dive in Florida Planning Tips for the next season

Increase Scuba Diving Skills

First a great way to keep feeding your enthusiasm for scuba diving is to increase your scuba skills. This is a good time to call your local dive shop and inquire about the classes that are available. Mastering a new dive skill will increase your scuba experience and expertise. Certifications such as Advanced, Enriched Air, Tech Diver, Rescue Diver, Cavern and Cave certifications are just a few of the many scuba diving classes available. To keep my scuba skills sharp I just completed my HSA certification this month. This certification allows me as an able-bodied diver the opportunity to expand my underwater world to include sharing it with a handicap partner.

Enlist a Recruit

Another way to keep sharp and excited about scuba diving is to enlist a new recruit. People say they want to learn to scuba dive…call their bluff! You can be apart of the initiation by offering to bring them to your local dive shop and introduce them to the world of scuba diving. I was able to experience this first hand when my family became certified scuba divers. Watching them turn onto what I love changed my perspective and recharged my excitement for scuba diving!

Scuba Dive Gear

This is also a good time of year for Scuba Gear Maintenance. When was the last time you had your regulator, tank, scuba dive computer, BCD, etc. serviced? It is a good time to look into the manufactures’ maintenance guide and follow the manufacture’s instruction on your scuba dive equipment.

Marine Life

Another suggestion is to improve your knowledge of marine life. There are books, fish identification cards and websites available to help increase your knowledge of the marine species.

Plan the Dive and Dive the Plan

Last but not least Plan the Dive and Dive the Plan for 2012. Take this time to make a bucket list of trips you would like to dive. Experience a new scuba dive site, or if it is in your budget plan for a fantasy scuba dive destination to some exotic place. It is always fun to take veteran scuba divers and newly certified scuba divers to my favorite tried and true scuba dive sites whether it is fresh or salt water and rediscover these dive sites all over again with a buddy who has never been there.

Conclusion - Get excited to Scuba Dive in Florida in 2012

During this down time it is important as scuba divers to stay fit and healthy so stay active during the off season of scuba diving. All this will help keep scuba playa’s scuba savvy, active and excited and ready for the 2012 Scuba diving season! Remember to always dive safe.

HSA Certification Course

HSA Dive Buddy

The HSA was founded in 1981 by Jim Gatacre and is now the world's leading authority on recreational diving for people with disabilities. The HSA "Dive Buddy Program" offers able-bodied divers this opportunity to expand their underwater world to include sharing it with a handicapped partner. An HSA certified Dive Buddy receives nearly as much information and skill training as an instructor, except the training focuses on recreation, not instruction.

Instructor Berg of Good Roll Model, Inc. Demonstrating body positioning   

 The first day of class was jam packed with instructional and video material of amazing disabled divers such as paraplegic and blind divers. Our studies included health and dive considerations of a variety of illnesses, injuries and conditions. Discussions on adaptations, meeting performance requirements and different diver credentials/levels depending on the divers ability. 

Simulation: Able-bodied diver assists blind diver.

Our second day was a full day all day in the pool. We simulated being a blind diver, paraplegic and quadriplegic diver. Then we reversed the role and were the able-bodied divers assisting the disabled diver.  Simulating a blind diver I found the experience to be peaceful and relaxing. We used tactile signals such as stop, up, down, air, time and depth, etc. I swam the pool perimeter with my able-bodied diver both of us communicating to each other using our tactile signals. I found myself quickly developing a sense of trust with my able-bodied diver. 

Simulation: Able-bodied divers suit up a quad diver

Simulating a para diver I was amazed to find out  how my legs float without fins and the importance of having the proper weight on my ankles to maintain a horizontal position. A para diver has use of  their upper body. They are able to perform the basic dive skills required for scuba diving such as: inflate and deflate BCD, clear ears and mask, check their gauges and communicate to the other divers. The Para Scuba Diver  does not have the use of their legs so they use their arms for propulsion through the water. I was amazed at how different and tiresome it is to swim and push my body through the water just using your arms. 

Simulation: Two Divers assist a Quad Diver


Simulating a Quadriplegic diver for me was the most humbling and trust-invoking experience. Three able-bodied divers, a primary and secondary are required to assist a quad during a dive then a third is a buddy for the divers assisting the quad.

 The able-bodied diver’s are responsible for the preparation and assisting the disabled diver for the entire dive: Suiting up, gear assembly and the dive itself.  

The able-bodied diver’s have to multi-task all the basic dive skills on himself as well as for the quadriplegic diver. Once geared up properly and in the water there is a series of challenging skills that must be performed. The primary diver deflates his BC, then deflates the quad’s BC, clear quad’s ears, then clear own ears, adjust buoyancy while continually communicating with the quad diver as the Quad and primary and secondary able-bodied divers descend. This task is repeated all the way to the bottom. This is an amazing task load for a simple procedure.  Once down you have to be careful not to put the quad diver into an uncomfortable position so they don’t get inadvertently injured.

Once everything is ok then it is time to dive. The secondary assistant helps with leg positioning, then we did the circuit in the pool with our simulation quad. We swim, swim, adjust our BCD to descend, then adjust quad’s BCD, clear quad’s ears, then our own ears, swim, swim inflate our BCD, then inflate quad’s BCD all the while watching quad’s face for signs of issues or problems. Continually communicating to the quad diver “OKAY”? With nods, shrugs and blinking we continue our pool dive.   The primary diver is holding on to the quad’s tank secondary diver is helping with legs and watching for dragging of the feet so not to injure any toes.  This is a very busy process. 

Open Water HSA certification in Hudson Grotto

The third and last day of our HSA class for the completion of HSA Training  was in the Hudson Grotto to review and execute our skills we had done in the pool as mentioned above.

I loved taking this class!  The volume of learning in the three days was phenomenal! The instructors Michael and Felicia Berg of Good Roll Model, Inc were amazing instructors! I can not recommend enough the the value of this training! We are looking forward to using our HSA skills December 17 & 18th 2011 in Weeki Wachee Springs and assisting the disabled. There is Freedom in Diving.

Scuba-ween Underwater Pumpkin Carving

Dayo Scuba Divers, Good Roll Model and SeaDragon Scuba Girls get together for underwater pumpkin carving at the Blue heron Bridge.

Scuba Dive Florida....In this Video you will see why Hudson Grotto is such a unique dive site and a must to add to your dive plan!