Underwater Video Services for your next scuba diving vacation in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Boynton Beach, Hollywood, the Florida Keys and the Caribbean.
Sunday, 2.21.10 finds the Video Dude joined once again by Roberta, DJ and John LaFlair of Scuba Network at the Blue Grotto, located in Williston, FL. This is a natural spring that is large enough to be used as a dive facility. You can enter the Grotto by either a giant stride entry off of a platform, or walk down a set of stairs. There are dive platforms at various depths for students to practice skills, underwater lighting, and even a diving bell you can stick your head inside and breathe air! There were lots of students there working with their Instructors, and a few rebreather divers doing checkouts as well.
After getting our gear set up, we splash into the water and head down to one of the dive platforms so I can get some video of John and DJ pretending to be Instructor and student doing some skills. Then we head over to the diving bell and check it out a bit before heading down to about 65ft to an area known as “Peace Rock”. This is the final point for divers who are not Advanced Open Water certified to go. As we dropped over the side of Peace Rock and into the cave portion of the dive, we followed the guide line in a loop around the bottom of the grotto and back to the cavern area. It was really cool! I went back around a second time to get more video footage, then we all headed over to one of the dive platforms to do our safety stops and get ready to exit the Grotto. It was very cool experience and if you get the chance to go, you should definitely do it!
Another great first experience for me here in Paradise,
Saturday, 2.20.10 finds the Video Dude, along with Roberta, DJ and John LaFLair of Scuba Network on our rented boat headed out to King’s Bay in Crystal River to shoot video of the manatees. This area is a major congregation point for the manatees in the cold weather, as the water is warmer than the ocean and they can huddle together for warmth. Almost immediately upon setting out, we see signs of manatees swimming in the shallow water. We head over to a side canal that leads to Three Sisters Springs and I jump in to begin the adventure of capturing video of these amazing creatures. Visibility is a little murky here, but I was able to get close enough to most of the manatees to get good video. John was able to rub a few manatee backs and get them to play a bit before they swam away.
After staying in that spot for a while, we headed over to Three Sisters Springs, where we discovered the water was much clearer and there were probably close to 200 manatees in various areas around the springs. The water in the springs is only about 3-4ft deep in places, so getting nice “up-close and personal” video of the manatees was fairly easy. Most of the manatees here were sleeping on the bottom, huddled together for warmth, but there were a few that were swimming around and enjoying the attention they were getting. After staying in the springs for over an hour, we headed back to our boat (docked outside the channel into the springs) where I encountered a baby manatee (if you can call a 6ft-long manatee a “baby”) who was very happy to come over and check out my camera and give me some great video moments. Probably the best stuff I shot all day! After that encounter, we motored back to the marina and got some lunch before setting off towards King Spring for our afternoon dive.
Lunch all done and back on the boat, we head over to King Spring inside of King’s Bay just across from our hotel. Unlike our manatee encounters of the morning (which was all done on snorkels), we get to strap on our SCUBA gear and dive into the spring. The water in the top of the spring was a little brackish and green-tinted, but once we dropped down below the point where all the Open Water students were hanging out, it cleared up quite a bit. This was my first cavern/cave dive ever and it was awesome!! We found some Blue Crabs hanging out amid the rocks, John found a Mullet, and we dove around the perimeter of the spring until we came across an exit point and had to come up. What a great dive! After that, we get back on the boat to discover that the wind has picked up a bit, so we do our best to get out of our wet stuff and stay warm while we cruise around the bay a bit more before heading back to the marina.
Tomorrow it’s off to Blue Grotto for some more cavern and cave diving!
A great day of freshwater diving and having new adventures here in Paradise,
Saturday February 13th finds the Video Dude, along with 5 other very brave souls, out for a morning of diving, underwater hunting, and shooting video aboard a private boat. The air temp was in the low 50s with wind-chills down in the 40s, but the ocean was flat and water temps ran in the low 70s. I learned a new term for this kind of diving - “Viking Diving”- and the phrase definitely fit!
We were all guests aboard South Florida Spearfishing Club member Tom Campbell’s private boat for the morning, as we got all our gear stowed and began heading out for our first of two drift dives. Being as it is a private boat (and one of the six divers was the captain), we rotated through the first dive so that everyone got to dive. We were on a reef called “Pine Tree” just north of the Hillsboro Inlet and fairly shallow at about 40fsw. I was buddied up with Pat, a friend of Heather (one of my dive buddies), and off we went - he was in search of something to spear or snare, I was in search of good video. We managed to get two Lobsters - the second one put up quite a fight! - and that was about it. We had a couple of very curious Gray Triggerfish following us around for most of the dive, and I saw a school of Spadefish, two Pufferfish and 2 Burrfish.
After coming up from our dive, Captain Tom informed us that since the air temps were dropping, we were canceling our second dive. That was OK with us since, after we got out of the water, the wind was cutting through our wetsuits and chilling us to the bone! So we had a short morning of it, but everyone had a good time. The total catch was 15 Lobsters and one Mutton Snapper, so it wasn’t a total wash. Of course, on the way back into the Inlet, we get stopped by a Florida Fish & Wildlife officer who wanted to inspect our boat and our catch of the day. He was very friendly (and cold like us) and probably bored as we were one of maybe two boats out with divers aboard in this “viking” weather. We are released without a fine and head back to the dock - and a hot tub! - at Tom’s house.
Shootin’ video and making new friends here in Paradise,
Saturday, February 6th finds the Video Dude aboard the “Island Magic” with members of the South Florida Spearfishing Club heading out on a beautiful day to do some spearfishing and hunting for lobsters (except me - I was shooting video of course!). “Island Magic” is a wonderful boat carrying 6 divers with plenty of space, a covered cabin, shower and marine head, and even a couple of berths down below. Captain Jim is very laid back and makes everyone feel at home. Check out their website at: http://island-magic.com/boatchrt.php
After leaving the dock, we have about a 20 minute ride up the Intracoastal Waterway, then another 15-20 minutes to our first dive site, a reef called “The Mounds”. I am buddied up with Lance, one of the club members, and we jump in and head down to about 90ft looking for stuff to hunt/video. As soon as we hit the bottom, Lance is circled by 3 Remoras checking him out closely. Meanwhile, I am looking for their ‘ride’ in case they were attached to something big that might be sneaking up on us! We drift along the reef without seeing very much for either of us to shoot, so we’re relaxing and having a good time. Then it’s up to do safety stops and back on the boat, where we discover that one of our group, Maureen, has speared about a 13-14lb Mutton Snapper! She was VERY happy about that.
During our surface interval, Captain Jim takes us in towards shore to a calmer area so we can all relax and swap stories a bit. After about an hour or so, we head off to our next dive site, the “Pompano Trench”. I have never done this site before, so it was pretty cool to see all the stuff down there. Lance and I came across 3 Lobsters (he caught 2 of them) and a Lionfish just before hitting the Trench, then we entered the Trench itself and followed it for a while. I felt like a bug in the Grand Canyon it was so huge. There was a nice Anenome on the bottom, and in one section, there were old cement trucks (the round part that carried the cement) that had been placed on the bottom with holes cut in them for reefs. Lots of Glassy Sweepers inside most of them and supposedly there were Goliath Grouper as well, but we didn’t see them. There also a lot of tires on the bottom, not deliberately placed there, that apparently drifted over from other areas. Soon we have to come up to our safety stops again, and back on the boat.
Lots of fun on a new boat with friends and good times here in Paradise.
Starting the New Year right by doing a dive trip, the Video Dude finds himself aboard Parrot Island Scuba’s “Fathoms O’ Fun” , along with a group from ScubaBoard, headed out to the “Captain Dan” and “Grouper Bend” Reef. A great day to be out on the water and though the air was a bit chilly, the sun was out.
Captain Jerry and Divemaster Keith get us underway and off to our first dive site with their usual skill, and in no time we are there. After Keith jumps in and ties off the descent line and comes back with a report on conditions, we all jump in and head down the line. Visibility at the bottom was about 50ft, but it was a bit dark at 110fsw. Had to use my video lights for most of the dive. Lots of divers were doing penetrations and looking for Goliath Groupers and there were lots of the usual fish types on the wreck. After a 35 minute bottom time, it’s time to head back to the line, our safety stops, and ultimately the boat.
After gear changeover and our surface interval, we arrive at our second dive site and jump in to start our drift dive of the reef. Most of the group were hunting for Lobster and I, of course, was shooting video. I found a large King Helmet shell, and the rest of the group caught about 2-3 Lobster each. Grouper Bend is always an interesting reef and today was no different. With the sun out, the colors really “popped”.
A great day of diving with friends here in Paradise!
Monday, November 11th finds the Video Dude, along with Faboo dive buddy “Hall of Famous” Joanie, aboard Scubatyme III heading out to the ever-popular wreck of the “Sea Emperor” for a relaxing morning of diving. Captain Bob is at the helm and Divemaster Goddess Amanda is assisting everyone on deck as we head out on flat seas to our destination. Along the way we see a pod of Dolphins cavorting and jumping our wake. Captain Bob makes a couple of circles so we can see the dolphins and to give them a nice wake to play in. It was a great start to the morning and a good omen of things to come!
We arrive at the “Sea Emperor” and after Amanda ties off the descent line, Joanie and I head for the bottom. I nearly landed on the resident Stingray, who was out and about already. I had several face-to-face encounters, with the stingray occasionally brushing my camera and once even hitting it head-on! I always love to watch the grace of a “flying” stingray, they make it look so effortless! Captain Bob gave me some crackers to feed to the fish, so I went over to the sand and started feeding them so everyone could get pictures. We also found one of the resident Green Morays, and I found a 6ft Nurse Shark over amongst the pipes next to the wreck. We also came across a sick-looking Midnight Parrotfish who seemed to be having trouble just moving it’s fins to stay in one spot.
After our surface interval, we head over to Abbey Too Reef. Visibility on the bottom was much improved from the day before, but the east/west surge was stronger. We did see about 7 Lobsters all total though. No other critters besides the usual Grunts, Squirrelfish and Chromis.
So that’s about it. Good seas, Faboo dive buddy, better visibility and still warm water temps, plus a cool stingray encounter and a fish-feeding made for a great morning!
Still diving in Paradise (even in November!),
The Video Dude
Saturday, October 24 finds the Video Dude and dive buddies Paul and Thora, on the RJ Diving Ventures boat heading out to dive on the Neptune Memorial. I’ve been wanting to do this dive for months now and the schedule finally worked out. For those of you who don’t know, the Neptune Memorial is an underwater memorial garden (aka cemetary) designed in an artist’s concept of Atlantis. It sits at about 40 ft, and takes up about an acre of bottom. Captain Mike and Divemaster Georgia get us out to the site on an off-and-on sunny afternoon and we all get ready to jump in. Paul, Thora and I roll off the side of the boat, ahead of a large group of students, in order to get some video before the viz gets bad.
As it turns out, the viz was kinda murky anyway. It made for challenging video conditions for sure, but I managed to get about 19 or 20 minutes of video. There are some still frames included in this posting below:
The site was amazing to see and interesting to video. I definitely want to make some repeat trips here so I can catch the site on a clear viz and sunny day!
Tuesday, October 20th finds the Video Dude out to shoot video along with Faboo dive buddy “Hall of Famous” Joanie. We’re off to visit the “Ancient Mariner” and “Abbey Too” Reef. The gang at Scubatyme Charters made us feel right at home and, as we head out into 4-6ft seas and rainy conditions, we wondered if this was a good idea today. We both agreed it was better than being in a cubicle, so we made the best of it.
Shortly after we break the Hillsboro Inlet, we arrive at dive site #1, The “Ancient Mariner”. Conditions on the surface made tying off to the descent line a bit scary, so we jump in and drift over to the descent line and make our way to the bottom. Once we reach the wreck we notice a pretty good south current blowing and we use the wreck as a shield for a bit. We got a visit from a Southern Stingray who circled us for about 8 minutes and performed some interesting maneuvers before leaving to play with the other divers. We also spent some time looking for an octopus we were told inhabits the wreck, but couldn’t find it. We did one swim-through of the wreck, then headed back for the ascent line and ultimately the dive boat.
Back onboard, we do our best to change over our gear in the “sporty” conditions and talk about our next dive on “Abbey Too”. Joanie has gone out on a limb and made some predictions of what we will see again, and we get ready to jump back in. After reaching the bottom, we notice a little East/West surge in the current and begin to make our way over to the drop-off of the reef. Visibility is only about 40ft, but still good enough to check out all the schools of Grunts, Margates, Squirrelfish and Juvenile Hogfish. We also saw one Lobster but no Eels, Turtles or Sharks. Well, if we saw them on EVERY dive we’d be too spoiled, right?
October 11th finds the Video Dude out to shoot video with his Faboo dive buddy, “Hall of Famous” Joanie aboard Parrot Island Scuba’s “Fish Food”. The weather was perfect and the seas were calm and, although we heard rumors of fast currents, we were still excited to be out diving! Due to the currents we were forced to change our first dive destination (which was to be a wreck) and ended up with 2 drift dives instead. Captain George and Divemaster Dale got us all situated onboard and we headed out to the reefs.
Dive #1 was on “Sunkist Reef”, a very pretty reef I have been on many times before but seems to always be different each time. Joanie and I dropped down to the reef and, although the current wasn’t nearly as swift as advertised, it was still good enough for us not to have to kick very much. We saw lots of schooling fish like Grunts and Porkfish as well as Blue Chromis, and we came across a MONSTER Rainbow Parrotfish that we both determined had to be 4 1/2ft long and about 2ft high! We had never seen one that huge before. It was tucked under a ledge just chillin’ and even had a 2ft Remora attached to it’s belly!! Additionally we saw a Stone Crab, Hogfish, lots of French Angels and 2 Squid. All too soon our bottom time is over and we have to head for our safety stop and then the surface.
Back on the boat, we change over our gear for the next dive, talk about what we saw, and I ask Joanie for predictions on what we’ll see on dive #2. She replies, “a Turtle, a Shark and an Eel!”. So, once we arrive at dive site #2 which is the ever-popular “Lighthouse Ledge”, we hit the water and drop down to the reef. Still a moderate current and, wouldn’t you know it, we almost immediately see a Hawksbill Turtle! Not long after we find a Green Moray, a Stone Crab getting cleaned by a Damselfish, and the final part of the prediction, a 7ft Nurse Shark!! Just in time too, cause our bottom time was up and we had to head back to the boat! Overall a Freakin’ Awesome day of diving with my favorite buddy! Next time I’ll get her to predict a Whale Shark and a Manta Ray too!!
Divin’ the day away here in Paradise!!
The Video Dude
Here are some still frames from the video (which is now available for purchase, see link below!):
September 29th finds the Video Dude in Sint Maarten, Netherland Antilles to dive with Scuba Fun Dive Center. It was a glorious day weather-wise and the seas were running about 2-4ft. Aboard our boat, the “Coral Palm”, Captain Jarvis and Divemasters Kelly, Guillaume, Nichole and Michelle were getting all our gear situated in preparation for our upcoming dives. We are scheduled to do a Wreck/Reef combo called “Proselyte Reef” (where a ship was wrecked in 1801) and another reef called “Shark Attack Reef”.
In great spirits for the day, we all arrive at “Proselyte Reef” for our first dive. Depth on this dive was @60ft and the coral canyons were amazing. Coral heads nearly reached the surface from our 60ft depth, and there were good spots with Lobsters, Trunkfish, Trumpetfish, Grunts and more. Also on this reef are the remains of a wooden ship called “The Proselyte”, which sank so many years ago that the only thing left are the anchors and cannons (and even they are really overgrown with coral!). Soon this dive is over and we have to head back for our safety stop and then the boat.
Back onboard, we get our gear changed over and get ready for dive #2 on “Shark Attack Reef”. As soon as we dive in the water with our divemaster Michelle and get to the bottom, I notice 2 Caribbean Reef Sharks swimming parallel to us about 100ft off to the side. I signaled Michelle I was heading over to get some video, and swam along side the sharks for a bit. About that time we found an area that another dive operator had set up for feeding the sharks, so we all swam over to that spot and sat down on the bottom waiting for the rest of the sharks to appear. Ultimately, they start to come over one at a time, circling us and waiting to see if we had food. One or two sharks got a little braver and swam in between some of the divers and myself. Was really amazing to watch the grace and fluid motion of these animals! Although I would have been happy staying with the sharks, we did have to go check out the rest of the reef, so off we went. Again beautiful coral heads/canyons and schools of juvenile tropicals of all species. Then it’s off to the boat again and get ready to head back to the dive shop.
Thanks again to Scuba Fun Dive Center. Antoine and the staff there are first-rate!!
The Video Dude
Below are some still frames from the video which is now available for sale (see link at bottom of posting!):
September 20th finds the Video Dude diving in Jupiter, FL with some of the gang from ScubaBoard. We’re diving with Jupiter Dive Center and heading out to catch the Goliath Grouper Aggregation. Captain Mike and Divemaster Chris get us all settled aboard the “Republic IV” and we head out in search of some of the largest fish around. Skies were beautiful, seas were calm and there was a great deal of excitement aboard the boat. I was diving with a couple of friends of mine, Paul and Thora, and everyone was looking forward to the dives.
In very short time, Captain Mike has us all out on “Bonnie’s Reef” where many Goliath Grouper have been recently spotted. We get geared up and ready to jump in with Divemaster Chris leading the way. Almost immediately, we see a big Green Moray who thrilled us all by free-swimming along with us for most of the dive. Additionally, during the combination of both dives we came across a Lionfish, a huge Hawksbill Turtle, several more Green Morays, a giant Burrfish and ultimately our goal for the day, the Goliath Grouper. Although the number wasn’t quite what we wanted, there were 5 or 6 swimming around together, each surrounded by their own “bait ball” of fish. It was an awesome sight to watch!
All too soon the dives were done and we had to retreat back to our dive boat. Everyone was in full chatter mode on the way back to the dock, marveling at everything we saw today. It truly was a spectacular day of diving! Thanks to Jupiter Dive Center, Captain Mike, Divemaster Chris and my dive buddies Paul and Thora for a great day of diving here in Paradise!!
The Video Dude
Below are some still shots from the video, which is now available for purchase (see link at bottom of post).
Monday June 8th finds the Video Dude and dive buddy “Hall of Famous” Joanie diving under Blue Heron Bridge. This is my 500th (non-teaching) dive and Joanie is working on her photography skills for her upcoming trip to Indonesia (lucky duck!). The weather was very cooperative and high tide was scheduled for 9:10am. We arrived at the bridge @8:30am and began setting up our gear. After our final buddy checks, we head for the shoreline and make our way into the water to finish getting our fins on and any last-second final adjustments.
Then it’s off to the pilings on the west side to see what we can see. Visibility turned out to not be so great, maybe 10ft or so, so we had to stick close together. We right away found lots of Starfish and the ever-present Sea Urchins with their shell camouflage. We actually saw an urchin using a plastic cough syrup bottle for camouflage! I haven’t laughed like that in a while! Zig-zagging around the pilings we also came across a Batfish, Arrow Crabs the size of Frisbees, Banded Shrimp, Barracuda, Spadefish, Hermit Crabs, Lobsters, Sheepshead and Hogfish. It was definitely a full-variety day to be sure!
After close to 80 minutes underwater, we decide to head back to the beach. It was a nice leisurely swim back and we finally bumped into another couple that were just heading over to the bridge. We basically had the whole place to ourselves until then! It was a great spot for my 500th dive and having a great dive buddy along made it even better!
Saturday, January 17th finds the Video Dude doing a solo dive at Blue Heron Bridge. Scuba Goddess Terri has a head cold today, so I am off to brave the chilly air temps and 70 degree water at Blue Heron. Once I arrive and get geared up, I carry my dive flag, camera and fins to the water’s edge and finish getting ready to get in. Once I am underwater, I drift with what little current is left just before slack tide, and see that visibility will only be about 10ft today. Well that’s OK because I now get to practice my “muck diving” skills and look for the little stuff that sometimes gets missed.
Several Starfish are about, along with hundreds of Sea Urchins - one had a small Crab skeleton attached as camouflage! There was also a small Flounder trying to hide from my camera, a Red Batfish, a couple of Lobster, lots of very large Arrow Crabs, and an Octopus that had made a “garden” from empty bottles. He actually tried to hang onto his “favorite” bottle while I was shooting video. It was kinda funny.
Click to play the video:
After about an hour and a half bottom time, I started to get chilly and started making my way back to the beach to get out and head back to my car. There were a few scuba classes going on and I chatted with a few people about shooting video, then dropped my gear at my car, changed clothes and headed home.
It was a great day of diving and I was glad I could shoot video so my sick dive buddy (and others) could see it. It was a little eerie not having a dive buddy nearby, but I am glad I had the experience.
Hello everyone. Sunday, January 11th finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri once again aboard “ScubaTyme III” heading out to dive a wreck and a reef. Enzo, Captain Dave and Amanda welcome everyone aboard and get us situated on the boat before heading out. It’s another beautiful day on the water under sunny skies and with very little wave action. We’re a little crowded today as the boat is full (a good sign for the local dive industry), but everyone is happy to be out diving and, a good omen for the day, on the way out to our first dive site we get a pod of about 20 Dolphins riding our wake and jumping out of the water!! Way cool!!
Captain Dave gets us out to Dive site #1 - “The Tracy” fairly quickly and DM Amanda jumps in to tie off our descent line. She comes back up to report a bit of a current on the bottom and nice visibility. Terri and I jump in first since we will be penetrating this wreck and I need to get some video footage before the crowd shows up. We get down to the wreck and head inside, poking around in various areas, shooting video along the way, then we head outside the wreck for a tour around the exterior. This is where I find the Spotted Eel just sitting there posing for my camera. Very cool!! Then it’s back up to the boat and get ready for the next dive.
Dive #2 is on “Sunkist Reef” - a beautiful reef we have been on many times. It always has something amazing every time we’re on it though, so it never gets old. Almost immediately after reaching the bottom, Terri finds a nice-sized Cowrie shell, and a few moments later a lobster snare. She was relieved to find that because she had just lost mine the day before and was gonna have to buy me a new one. The one she found was in new condition, so it is now mine!! I also found a deep-sea fishing reel in decent condition and along the drift dive we saw a free-swimming Green Moray, White-spotted Filefish, and a Giant Anenome. Then it was time to get picked up by the boat and head back to the dock.
Yet another in a series of beautiful dive days here in Paradise!
