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!

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!

In January, Stacy Rothchild and Naomi Levine completed the GUE Recreational Diver Level 1 – Nitrox program with Ed Hayes during a visit to central Florida. The course is designed to develop the essential skills required in all sound diving practice. The course provides the non-diver with an opportunity to develop fundamental diving skills that will support comfort, confidence, and competence in the water.

After completing this comprehensive program, Stacy and Naomi are ready for the PADI Rescue Diver program and plenty of diving adventures. Check out the photo gallery from the Florida trip in January.

Scuba Shack’s next trip to the fresh-water springs in central Florida is scheduled for Feb. 18 – 27, and a second trip is planned for March 26 – April 2.

This year, we’re scheduling three Florida Dive & Drive trips to choose from.

• Jan. 14 – 17
• Feb. 18 – 27
• March 26 – April 2

Check out our picture gallery from a previous Florida Springs training adventure.

We’ll have instructors, staff members and support teams available in Florida, and remember these trips can be customized for your own training or you can just dive with friends. Each trip will include opportunities to complete the GUE Fundamentals program, PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course, specialty training and manatee dives all in the caves and caverns of Florida’s famous springs.

We’re also planning a few trips to the east coast of Florida for some boat diving.

The pricing for this trip is just like any other Drive & Dive adventure. Plan out in advance with us when you will be in Florida, when you’ll be diving and what your goals will be for your trip. We’ll customize the adventure and ensure your trip goes smoothly once you get to Florida.

Contact us soon to discuss options and book your diving days with our team. See you in Florida!

Print Information Sheet

The truck and trailer will be loaded with dive gear and leave Rocky Hill on April 19. Student divers can drive down with us or fly in. We are renting a house for our stay. The trip is for both GUE Fundamentals and GUE Pre-tec divers.

Please contact Ed Hayes at Scuba Shack right away for all the details.

If you’re training for cavern, cave or a more technical level, this trip is for you and will be set up to ensure you’re ready for your next steps in diving education. During the trip, you dive with instructors and those who are cave and tec certified to provide you with a variety of experiences.

Trucks and trailers will be loaded on Jan. 30 to bring gear down. You’re welcome to drive down with the team or fly down and meet us in central Florida. We will be setting up ride sharing and accommodation opportunities at a pre-trip meeting. The house we are renting has limited space available for divers, but other options are available.

If you are interested in taking the GUE Fundamentals program, you’ll need to contact Ed Hayes at Scuba Shack as soon as possible. The class has limited spots available, so if you are interested call today!