The ADA 2017 Caribbean Dive Trip to Grenada July 8-15, 2017 is ready for booking!

--by Daryl Johnson

Gre·na·da
[?r??n?d?]

DEFINITION:

1. A country in the southern Windward Islands, in the Caribbean Sea, that consists of the island of Grenada and the southern Grenadine Islands; pop. 90,700 (est. 2009); capital, St. George's; languages, English (official) and English Creole.

2. A great place to dive!!!

Every year Dan and I look for a place that we have not been to, or one that we love and then search the DEMA deals for the best wholesale prices for the club. This year, we will be going to Grenada, West Indies and staying at the True Blue Boutique resort which has rave reviews on Trip Advisor and diving with Aquanauts.

Here's what the package includes:

Seven nights accommodations, airport round trip transfer, continental breakfast, Free Rum punch party, Free use of non-motorized water sports, Free shuttle to Grand Anse Beach, Free Nitrox 30%, Free Après Dive Rum punch, Free Wi-Fi access, all taxes and service charges. Dive packages include tanks & weights for 5 days of two tank diving, Free Nitrox (30%) & Marine Park fees.  All of this for $1399 per person, double occupancy (single room is higher and we will try to match single divers up to share rooms where possible).

Flights (Not included) are running anywhere from $560 to $750  out of Miami as of this writing, and American Airlines has a direct flight from Miami. These will likely go on sale in the March to April timeframe.

So get ready for another amazing ADA dive trip by clicking on the PayPal button at right to put down your $100 deposit now! Final payment will be due April 1, 2017 and must be made by check.

See you there!

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Orientation to Underwater Archaeology for Sport Divers Series - Part 2

--by Juliana and Lenora Bach

On Sunday, 9/11/2016, ADA members met for a 2 tank dive on the Spanish Galleon wreck “El Infante” off  Tavernier, FL.  We left Florida Keys Divers with the GPS Coordinates.  Safety Officers were Lon Von Lintel and Lee Wood.

The first dive was an observation of the entire site.  Evidence of ballast stones are skewed across the bottom of the reef, however, locating the timbers was not easy.   The shallow water and surge is not the easiest to maneuver. We intentionally went a little negative to stay put and care was taken not to disturb the site with unintentional touching.

The second dive consisted of using the skills we previously learned to draw a site survey of the remaining visible wreck.  We learned that most of what had been visible in 2004 had been silted in.  The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) divers located the baseline of El Infante and set the measuring tape along the keel.  Divers buddied-up in pairs and were given a section to map and measure.  Afterwards, we all compared notes and observations.  We also received a certificate of completion of Level 1 Marine Heritage Awareness from SSEAS. (This will soon become a PADI specialty).

This was a  fun educational experience, well worth the cost and time.   All of the ADA members present agreed that we should continue to explore the Marine Heritage Trail of Key Biscayne Park.  Part of our training is to spread the word about our underwater archaeology resources and how to participate in monitoring historical sites as citizen scientists.

Special thanks to Dr. Della Scott-Ireton, Associate Director of FPAN and Nicole Grinnan, Public Archaeologist.

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It's Time To Renew For Discounted Rates

--by Dr. Dan Baeza

The clock is counting down and we are nearing the last chance to renew at a reduced rate. Renew before March 31, 2017 and your membership fee is only $35 for a calendar year of discounts and diving news. After March 31, your annual membership renewal fee is $45.

Your membership includes periodic eNews emails about club activities as well as electronic access to The Mouthpiece monthly newsletter. You may pay by check or online. Go to http://activedivers.org/Membership-Renewal.html to renew your membership online. To pay by check, mail a check made out to "Active Divers Association"  with the appropriate amount to:

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In 2006, Daryl Johnson and I decided to put together a trip to the Pacific side of Costa Rica aboard the Okeanos Aggressor. No strangers to the Pacific, we knew the temperatures would be well below the warm, Caribbean and sub-tropical waters we are accustomed to diving. Years earlier, I owned a scuba retail outlet and purchased wetsuits to use in my rental equipment inventory from a local company called Wetwear, located in Hallandale.

Well, to make a long story short, we decided to buy custom-made wetsuits from Wetwear for our upcoming trip to Costa Rica. Ten years and hundreds of dives later, my wetsuit is still going strong. Neoprene has a limited life, so my wetsuit is near the end of its practical functionality for cold water diving. It can still function as basic protection in Spring and Fall weather conditions. Augmented with its custom-fitted hood and shorty, it still keeps me warm in Florida and Caribbean waters.

Daryl has decided to treat himself to a new wetsuit for the 2017 season, and has contracted with Wetwear for a custom-taylored wetsuit. While discussing the merits of getting a new wetsuit, Daryl and I naturally started talking about Active Divers Association with Connie, who runs the day-to-day operation at Wetwear. We asked whether the company would offer our members a discount and Connie put together the deal on their EZ-ON 3 mm Jumpsuit described in the blue box on the right:

Wetwear is located at 2930 SW 30th Avenue, Suite A, in Hallandale. Telephone 800-771-8081.

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Diving the Towers and Tunnels of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas Out Islands

--by Connie Crowther

On a dive out of Treasure Cay, Abaco, I was the first to do my giant stride into the water. As I hit the water on the dive site, I saw two Caribbean reef sharks swimming straight toward me. As we met, they split up and one swam quickly past on either side of me. We all surprised one another that day in the clear, aquamarine waters of the Abaco barrier reef.

On that dive, we went on to explore one section of the world’s third longest barrier reef, off the northeastern coast of Abaco, Bahamas. Reefs towered over us. Below we could see sharks, turtles, eagle rays and other larger animals swimming along the deep ledges, totally ignoring us as we blew bubbles above them. Reef fish were plentiful and colorful, and the corals were surprisingly healthy.

Two major dive operations, Brendal’s Dive Center in Green Turtle Cay and Dive Abaco in Marsh Harbour, offer diving on all the popular sites, such as The Towers, Wayne’s World, The Cathedral and Grouper Alley. Abaco diving is known for its maze of swim-throughs and caverns, nestled under towering reef structures. Most dives are relatively shallow, 60 feet or less.

The Abacos have always been a favorite destination for sailors and divers. The 120-mile-long island chain is perfectly situated for exploration, with one large island, Great Abaco, and a string of tropical islands offshore, on the Atlantic-facing barrier reef. The islands, covering 650 square miles, were a destination for Americans remaining loyal to the British crown after the Revolutionary War.

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ADA Dive Cruise 2016

--by Rachel Davis

Nine ADA divers set sail from Fort Lauderdale on November 13th for a wonderful six-night cruise aboard the Caribbean Princess. The 2016 ADA Dive Cruise was chosen for its ports of call: three world-class diving destinations: Roatan, Belize and Cozumel.

In Roatan, our first port of call, we loaded into the cozy bus complete with jump seats for the half-hour ride through the jungle in the pouring rain. We rode bumpily past many houses depicting how the locals live and reminding us that we were indeed in Honduras. We loaded into the dive boat at Anthony's Key Resort and set off into 2-4 foot seas, which quickly became 3-5 footers. Our 45-minute journey took us to the opposite side of the island, ironically back to where we started from, near the cruise ship dock. Suddenly the seas became blissfully calm for our first dive site called Key Hole, a wonderful 100 foot wall dive in 84 degree water. We saw a huge eel and stands of healthy elkhorn coral.

The surface interval was very rainy and cold and returning to the warm water for the second dive on Marilyn's Back Porch was like jumping into a heavenly warm jacuzzi.

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