Things to do when it's chilly.

Hi Folks,
We haven't been in the water this week but there is allot going on around the store. We have an Emergency First Responder course coming up on the 12th of December. This class will train you on basic first Aid, Adult CPR. If you are considering taking the Rescue Diver course next year you will need this course.
We Still may pull a dive off in the next week or so but you will probably want to have a dry suit unless you are brave enough to go in with a we suit.
Also coming up we will be having a Happy Hour dive...OK not really a dive but something fun. look for details on that next week.

Carl went diving

Carl made it offshore yesterday and dove a couple lesser known wrecks but had a blast. He braved the Freezing cold air temps in the morning but the diving made it all worth it.
Visibility was around 10 ft with water temps around 52 degrees top to bottom. All in all it was a great day.

Things you can learn from a 2 yr old.

So i was trying to come up with a Thanksgiving day blog for this year. I was looking back at last years and thought well yea i 'm thankful for good vis ,warm temps blah blah blah, that's a giving.
I was walking on the boardwalk with my daughter this morning and she ask me to take her down to the water so of course i did. When we got down to the edge she looked up and said "thank you daddy" . Then after a while she asked to go up to the playground, we got there and again she says "thank you daddy" after that we went back to the van, dropped her off at grandma's and before I left again she says" thank you daddy" So i thought about it and said you can be thankful for things but how often do we say thank you. makes you wonder. so i will say this.
Thank you to everyone who has taken classes with us this year.
Thank you to my great staff who tries to work hard to make all of our your diving experience safe and fun
Thank you to all of our customers for supporting the store so I can continue to do what I love.
And most of all thank you to my two year old for reminding me to stop and say "hey thanks"

Happy Thanksgiving
Steve D

Bill's St Croix trip

The diving in St. Croix is done mostly along the North shore at Cane Bay. There are a wide variety of sites including the Cane Bay Wall which runs along the entire North shore. Max time by boat is about 15 minutes on very calm water. The Cane Bay Dive Shop has 4 boats with a maximum of 6 divers per boat. Entries are done through a hole in the bow or over the side with doning gear in the water. What's great here is the shore diving possibilities. Unlike many resorts there actually is great shore diving because the Wall is a short swim off the beach.
The coral and sponge life is abundant and very varied.
There are plenty of hiding spots for critters, including eels, lobsters, crabs, octopus, stone fish, and the always enjoyable find sea horses. Fish life is sparse at times but just when you don't expect it, a sea turtle, barracuda, or rays swim by. The Night diving is available every day, except at the pier where they need a minimum of 2 divers.
Boats go out at 9:30, 1:30, and 3:30. Nitrox is available at any mix but the standard mix is 32. Dive time is not limited and you are free to explore on your own. There are only 2 wrecks, one at 110 ft to 70ft, a 100 ft ferry, and a tug boat at about 60 ft. You never have to touch your gear except at setup and break down, the DM's change over and load the gear.
We stayed at Carambola resort about 2 miles away, and the shop will pick you up and drop you off, but we had a car. The rooms at Carambola have a king bed and pull out sofa bed with the largest bathrooms I have seen, and a screened in porch for a natural feel. We had a fridge but I think some rooms didn't.
Right at the dive shop was a bar and restaurant, not pricy but very local, called Full Moon. Down the road a piece was Off the Wall a real local stop where you will see much of the dive staff relaxing after a hard day lugging tanks.

Today's Shark river conditions

Sharon and newly certified Joe Parone braved the chilly temps this morning and jumped in to do Joe's final two dives today. air temp was in the upper 30's. Water temp has now dropped to 54 degrees and the vis was only around 4 feet and turned worse as the tide changed. Weather looks better this week but i don't see the water getting warmer. Oh well

brrrrrrr

So Carl just got out of the bay a few minutes ago, he had 6 ft vis and the water temp has droped to 59 degrees.

Yep we are still diving

Carl was in the bay the other day here is what he had to say:

Water temp 61 degrees, vis 10-15 ft. Fish are moving out, but did see a couple of butterfly fish, a fluke, and zillions of hermit crabs and green crabs.
One whelk slowly digesting a crab, great for Halloween.
George Koutris was treated to the sight of a cormorant diving and swimming underwater.

Carl

Looks like the happy hour will not go tomorrow due to the high wind.