Posts Tagged ‘SCUBA Network’
2.21.10 – Blue Grotto Cavern and Cave Dive
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Hello everyone!
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,
The Video Dude
Tags: Blue Grotto, cave dive, cavern dive, diving bell, guide line, Peace Rock, rebreather, SCUBA Network, Vide Dude, Williston
Posted in Trip Reports, Video Projects | No Comments »
2.20.10 – Crystal River Manatee Encounter
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Hello everyone!
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,
The Video Dude
Tags: baby manatee, Blue Crab, Blue Grotto, cave dive, cavern dive, Crystal River, King Spring, King's Bay, manatee, manatees, Mullet, SCUBA Network, Three Sisters Springs, Video Dude
Posted in Trip Reports, Video Projects | No Comments »
11.14.09 – JBL Spearguns Equipment Demo Day
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Hello everyone!
Saturday, November 14th finds the Video Dude shooting video aboard South Florida Diving Headquarters‘ “Coral Princess” for an equipment demo day. JBL Spearguns, Oceanic Dive Computers and SCUBA Network (Deerfield and Fort Lauderdale) put the whole event together and divers got to pay a discounted rate for their seats on the boat in return for the opportunity to try out the various spearguns and computers (including Oceanic’s Datamask!).
After getting everyone set up with the gear they wanted to try, Captain Shane and DM Matt took us out to Hillsboro Ledge and turned everyone loose to play with the new toys. I swam along with the speargun group on the first dive getting some footage of them using the guns (and keeping my eyes open for stray shafts!). The dive went well and everyone who tried the guns enjoyed the experience.
After our surface interval was done, we headed over to Lighthouse Ledge for more playtime. Everyone was able to switch and try something else if they wanted. This time I dove with the divers trying out the Oceanic Datamasks and wrist-mounted computers. Lots of reef to see and everyone was thrilled with the various computers.
So, next time you’re on a boat and you see a JBL speargun or Oceanic dive computer, that might be someone who participated in the Demo Day!
Playing with new toys and friends in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Coral Princess, DataMask, Hillsboro Ledge, JBL Spearguns, Lighthouse Ledge, Oceanic Dive Computers, SCUBA Network, South Florida Diving Headquarters, speargun, Video Dude
Posted in Video Projects | No Comments »
