Every month – January through May – Scuba Shack is planning trips to Florida. Florida is an easy dive destination to get to, and many divers have been car-pooling and driving in shifts to make it a safe comfortable and inexpensive destination.

During each week, Scuba Shack staff – including instructors – will be on-site to complete pre-arranged Open Water certification dives as well as continuing education programs. What’s great about these trips is you can dive for one or two days, or dive a full week with the professionals at Scuba Shack who are very familiar with the dive sites, hotels and dining establishments in central and south Florida.

This is a large organizational challenge, and watch for a invitation to an early-January meeting to review the destination, schedule and diving opportunities.

• Central Florida invasion to the grottos & springs. Great manatee diving! Jan. 14 – 28
• Florida Keys – Feb. 15 – 22
• Florida Keys – March 14 – 21
• Florida Keys – April 18 – 25
• Florida Keys – May 16 – 23

Additional trips to other destinations are being planned during the next two weeks. We’ll have individual posts on each trip published as soon as we have details.

• Annual Memorial Day Weekend trip to Nassau, Bahamas, Orange Hill and Stuart Cove’s – May 23 – 28
• Back to Coco View Resort in Honduras Aug. 11 – 18 with Nick Civitillo
• Second Annual Labor Day Weekend trip to Turks & Caicos with the Cinciripino’s – Aug. 29 – Sept. 3
• Warm ocean and cavern diving with Dive Adventuras and staying at Catalonia Riviera in Mexico – Oct. 6 – 13
• Second Annual Pirate’s Week Diving Adventure on Grand Cayman with Peter Katz – Nov. 8 – 12

Drive & Dive Local Trips in June, July, August and September. Where are you interested in diving this year? We’re planning our January staff meeting for early in the month and we want to hear from you concerning local diving destinations so we can set a schedule. Let us know what you’re interested in!

Cobalt Coast is a well maintained dedicated diver resort, located in West Bay beyond Seven Mile Beach and not far from the turtle farm. It is extremely well run, yet laid back where you can hang by the pool, or lounge on the beach. It is very comfortable for non-divers who may decide to accompany divers. Our trip included daily breakfast buffet, lunch and dinner were also available. The quality and variety of the meals was remarkable, the first night some of us dined on lionfish, prepared fresh from local waters.

Diving was provided by Dive Tech the onsite dive operation. Our trip included three days of two tank boat dives and unlimited shore diving on boat dive days. Unfortunately, there was a strong northeast wind that prevented us from diving in front of Cobalt Coast but more of shore diving later. The dive staff at Dive Tech was extremely friendly and attentive. Emma and Christian, to name just a couple, provided us with excellent dive briefings (the turtles were found exactly where they were drawn in relation to the boat) as well as generous bottom times (60 minutes). Diving was typical Cayman, 82 degree water with 80+ feet of visibility, walls, swim throughs, wrecks and reefs.

One of the highlights was the treasure hunt shore dive. In conjunction with Pirates Week, Dive Tech and Cobalt Coast sponsor an underwater treasure hunt as a charity fund raiser. Participation is an extra $25, Dive Tech provided us with transportation to Light House Point, their second shore dive site, as well as nitrox and weights. Approximately 70 divers participated, searching for metal disks with numbers written on them that ended up corresponding to prizes. This was shore diving at its finest, no need to trudge across sand and rocks. Benches under a protective covering provided a stable area to set up our gear and access to the water was via a giant stride from a concrete pier. Exiting the water was no problem due to the large, stable ladder provided at the end of the pier. The dive was in 30-60 feet of water to a mini wall where I was more distracted by the variety of sea life than the task of finding the prize disks. We were allowed to take two disks each thereby allowing others to also reap rewards. Needless to say, there were many more disks than divers/snorkelers and those of us who collected more than the allotted two were more than willing to share with those who couldn’t find any. The treasure hunt ended up at Cobalt Coast with the awarding of the prizes, no disappointments, everyone was a winner.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the pirate activities. On Friday night, my band of marauders, dressed in our pirate/wench garb, went into Georgetown to participate in the street festival/firework display. Much to our surprise, we were not the only pirates in town. Actually, we felt underdressed since some of the people we met spent a great deal of time and effort in getting the pirate/pirate wench costume just right. The fireworks display was first rate, much to our amazement. Food vendors were in abundance with a variety of palate pleasing offerings at a reasonable price. There were bands, singing contests and wenches strolling the street. It was quite a night! Not to be outdone, Saturday afternoon the pirates attacked Georgetown with two ships and the requisite cannonade. The governor and the red coats were taken captive and all spectators and participants cheered! Immediately following the enactment, the parade started. It was a wonderful afternoon.

What would a trip be without some terrific restaurants? We were fortunate to stumble upon a delightful beachfront place, The Tiki Bar, on Seven Mile Beach that provided us with a couple of evenings of relaxation and quality libations. The Calypso Grill, although conjuring up images of fried fish and chips, was anything but. A beautiful setting in Morgan’s Harbour, an extensive menu, and a well stocked wine cellar made it the surprise hit of the trip. Of course a trip to Grand Cayman would not be complete without an evening dining under the stars at The Wharf, a premier dining establishment.

Our weekend was jam packed with fun activities and all too soon came to an end. Divers and non-divers alike agreed that it was an exciting time and vowed to return next year for Pirates Week, although, next year we would invest more effort in our pirate/wench costumes so we could compete with the “regulars”.

Looking for a totally different date night idea? How about dinner and scuba instead of dinner and a movie! Couples can pre-register for the experience and meet with their own private instructor for a totally unique date that will include at least one hour of diving in the pool.

How about bachelor and bachelorette parties? Before you head to the bar, your group can meet us at the pool and we’ll provide all the gear you need to try scuba diving and you’ll have a group of dive professionals who can show you the ropes.

Scuba Shack can also arrange Discover Scuba experiences for co-workers, groups of friends, families and birthday parties for teens and adults.

What do you need?

It’s really simple, bring a bathing suit and plan to have a fun time! Although scuba diving can be a bit frightening for those trying it for the first time - oh my … you’re breathing underwater! - the activity is completely safe, and the indoor pool has great visibility and is comfortable.

One think you will need to do is complete a medical statement and liability release. If you answer YES to any of the questions, you’ll need to check with your personal physician prior to trying scuba diving.

Read more about the Discover Scuba experience right here.

How do I arrange the experience?

Give us a call at (860) 563-0119 or contact us through the online form below.

Again this year, you’ll need to pre-qualify as an Open Water Diver who has taken Scuba Shack’s Buoyancy & Control program, the PADI Enriched Air Nitrox class (or equivalent) and the Advanced Open Water Diver course.

This package – which must be purchased in advanced to realize the cost savings – includes the PADI Rescue Diver and Divemaster classes, plus the Emergency First Responder (EFR) first aid and CPR program, Scuba Shack’s Buoyancy 2, and the GUE Fundamentals class. Although the program must be purchased in advance, payment plans are available.

These programs – individually priced at up to $2,000 – will be offered at a great discount, and we can customize your package depending on the qualifications you currently have.

Want to join in? We have an Advanced Open Water Diver class starting Tuesday, Sept. 6, that will help you meet the pre-requisites, and we’ll have an EFR class scheduled soon. Program enrollment will be limited to ensure your success. For more information on the package and pricing, set up an training counseling session – which is required – with Ed Hayes by calling Scuba Shack at (860) 563-0119.

If your looking to add a couple of tanks to your collection or if you’re looking for your first tank, this is a great opportunity to save some money. Each tank will have acurrent hydro and visual inspection and include a used valve with new o-rings and burst disc.

These tanks will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Process

1. Come in and pick out your tank and valve. Pay for your purchase.
2. The tank will then by hydro-statically tested, and visually inspected.
3. You’ll pick up the tank about two weeks after your purchase.

The process is set up to ensure you receive an up-to-date tank. It’s rare for a tank to fail inspection, but if one does fail, you’ll be given the opportunity to select a new, used tank.

Stop in soon to ensure you’re able to pick the best from our selection of used tanks!

Easy fix – head over to the new Scuba Shack Facebook site and “Like” us there, or just click on the “Like” button below.

Very sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your support!

Check out the photo album from the trip!

Tuesday bright and early, we met at the dive shop, picked up six sets of double aluminimum 80’s and six aluminum 40 cf deco bottles and headed off to Jules Undersea Dive Lagoon for the start of training for GUE Recreational Diver Level 3 – Trimix Diver. Ed was the Instructor, Forest was our Divemaster and took care of videography, Tracy stayed home and fished, while the rest of us started our journey of mastering the following skills and goals:

• Enhanced personal and team capacity
• Increased situational awareness
• Develop the capacity for using diving equipment suitable for deeper recreational diving
• Develop the capacity to conduct a safe and efficient ascent
• Develop the ability to safely plan dives

The dive sessions are divided into eight dives designed to build diver capacity by gradually increasing depth and complexity. Gradually is underlined because when the four divers hit the water at Jules we immediately showed the skills of an entry level student diver entering the water for dive one. But to Ed’s credit, he massaged the ‘gradual’ to his advantage and improvement showed immediately and continually throughout the week. Gary, Nick, Jeff and Tim all realized that Ed had confidence in our abilities and so it should not be in our own minds any other way. Everyone’s realization of confidence enhanced the learning experience by taking any lack of self-confidence out of the equation. Now it was time for the students to learn, experience and acquire the increased skill sets necessary to complete the dives. Tuesday afternoon we left for the first of many boat rides at 3:30 pm and it ended as a dusk-dive. Dinner was at Gilbert’s Resort and the food was fulfilling.

Wednesday we all met again, bright and early for another long training day. Dives three through six gradually increased depths and complexities as promised and all students were pushed to new levels. Wednesday evening the rest of the divers arrived, Dave Blackwell and daughter, Mary Claire for Buoyancy One (accompanied by our bubblewatcher, Mrs. Kathy Blackwell), and Jim Epperson, Guy Bolduc and son Aaron for Advanced Open Water Diver. Dinner for 13 at DiGiorgio’s was delicious but a bit long. All the divers who logged four training dives today chose bed over dessert when the time came.

Thursday morning called for two deep experience dives on the Spiegel Grove for the GUE Rec-3 divers. Two dives to 120 feet breathing normoxic trimix (21/35) with 13 minutes of decompression obligation on Nitrox 32 planned for each dive. That was the end of the Rec-3 training dives and Gary, Tim and Nick successfully completed their dives and are one step closer to completion.

Thursday afternoon, the Buoyancy One and Advanced Open Water divers got wet for their first experiences on the reefs of the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary, part of the third largest barrier reef in the world. One of the best parts of the job at Scuba Shack is to train divers in New England, then be able to participate in their first experience in tropical waters. Although it’s still winter and the water temperature is only 72 degrees, it’s nice to be able to dive this warm blue water after only diving in New England beforehand. Smiles were definitely in abundance. And if the new dive experience wasn’t enough, we all had dinner at Rib Daddy’s and had probably the best meal, service, and atmosphere of the whole week. We’re not done with that restaurant yet!

Friday morning was another two experience dives for the Buoyancy One and Advanced Open Water Divers before the Blackwells had to leave to return to Orlando. Friday afternoon gave everyone a chance to off-gas and dry their gear in natural light for a change. Everyone was on their own for dinner.

Saturday morning Ed, Nick and Forest took Jim, Guy and Aaron for their first deep dive experience on the Spiegel Grove. All three had a nice dive but the first dive was the platform for an even better dive back on the Spiegel Grove for the second dive. All three students showed improvement in buoyancy, gas consumption, awareness and basic team skills. Saturday night, we couldn’t break our promise to visit Rib Daddy’s again and Daddy didn’t disappoint. We were met at the restaurant by Paul and Elena, owners of Scubaboard.com and had a great evening with them.

Sunday was our last dive day of the trip and we took the students to Jules Undersea Lagoon for all their navigation and mapping skills. Jim, Guy and Aaron all got worked to the max as they gathered data and took notes underwater in preparation for submitting a detailed map of their dive. At the end of dive two we got to wash and dry our gear for the flight home. We can’t afford to carry any water weight in our checked luggage.

Our last night in Key Largo; Ed, Forest, Nick and Tracy ate at the Fish House and Sushi Bar, while Jim, Guy and Aaron headed south to Key West for the ‘sunset party’.

Thanks to Ed Hayes and Forest Rothchild for all their leadership, experience, assistance and patience throughout the entire week. Gary, Tim and Nick are a final exam away from completing GUE Rec-3, Jeff is now accomplished in descents, ascents, gas strategies and other specialty skills, Dave and Mary-Claire are a pool session away from completing Buoyancy One and Jim, Guy and Aaron are a map and a debrief session away from their Advanced Open Water Diver certification. A special thanks goes to Captain Zach and Mate Madison who took great care of us all week.

In spite of Tracy wrenching her back, which prevented her from diving, she had the most relaxing time fishing and trying so hard all week to catch enough Red Snappers to feed the whole crew. The week was a complete success for Scuba Shack. Ed, Forest and Nick all logged 18 dives while the rest of the divers completed between six and eight dives each. The Florida weather cooperated, the restaurants were all fantastic and everyone had too much fun!