Article Author:

Captain D.J.
Master Instructor

Howdy folks! We’ve had a busy week and we haven’t gotten a chance to post to the blog in a few days, sorry about that! The hottest news is our IDC has graduated more brand new PADI Instructors. Congrats to Paul, Venson, Lindsey, Seth and Tom B. for completing the Instructor Exam held in the Key Largo this weekend. Also want to congratulate Kim, Jill and Joel on participating in our IDC this week and achieving their IDC Staff Instructor rating. Once again, we couldn’t do it without Tom Witmer our Platinum PADI Course Director!  (He’s not actually a Course Director, but he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night).  As usual our candidates were from all over - places like Washington, D.C., Ohio, Hawaii, etc.. It was another enjoyable week spent with some great folks who will certainly go on to be great Instructors and we will certainly miss them! Good luck gang!

For those of you who don’t know, an IDC (Instructor Development Course) takes about 8 days of intensive training on how to become a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor, which culminates in a 2 day exam by a PADI Instructor Examiner (we had Gary Cruea from PADI HQ this weekend) taken at Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo. Not just anyone can take the 8 day class, you must be a certified PADI Divemaster (or equivalent) with at least 100 dives to enter and IDC and become an Instructor. If you’d like to know more about it, visit our IDC website located HERE.

Let’s not forget diving out on the Reef!! We had another nice weekend of dive conditions. Not really any current, nice visibility and no waves at all until today (Sunday) when they picked up a little bit. We had another group from Sea Ventures in with us this weekend, along with our usual suspects from Team Divers. Overall another great weekend of diving the beautiful Florida Keys! 

Article Author:

Captain D.J.
Master Instructor

What a busy weekend! Where do I start? All four of our boats were out all day Saturday and Sunday and we were really lucky with the weather. Almost no wind, only a few showers here and there, no waves, and nice visibility. Wetsuits? I think not, the water is 86 degrees. We had some current at some of the sites in Key Largo, but Islamorada was current free. Some of the locations we visited over the weekend: Pickles Reef, Pillar Coral, Winch Hole, Fire Coral Cave, The Benwood, French Reef, Christmas Tree Cave, The Spiegel Grove, the Duane, The Bibb were all up in Key Largo. We stopped at The Eagle, Davey Crocker, Hammerhead, Aquarium, Crocker Reef and Davis Ledge down in Islamorada.

We’d like to say a big hello from all of us at Rainbow Reef to the Reef Rakers. They were down for a visit this weekend to do some diving. So hello to Martin, Elizabeth, Brittany, Janet, Eric, Jacob, Georgeann, and J.T.!! Make sure to check out the video if you’d like to see them in action. Even if you don’t want to see them in action, you’ll want to watch it because one of the Goliath Groupers at Fire Coral Cave got very friendly with the divers! This is a new development, the two or three big guys that live there are generally not that interested in divers. Thanks again for diving with us and we will see you in October!

Overall, it was another great September weekend in the Florida Keys. It wasn’t the first time we’ve heard the words “Best dive I’ve ever been on…Ever…”, and we hope it won’t be the last. If you weren’t here, We wish you were. Enjoy the pictures and video and be sure to visit http://www.reefrakers.org.

Click here for the VIDEO of the DAY! (requires Flash)

Article Author:

Captain D.J.
Master Instructor

Hello fellow bubble buddies,

Yes, the weather here is beautiful and we had a fantastic dive trip yesterday.  It certainly is great when I get a chance to blow buddies with the guests that I booked dives for.  Captain Neal took us to Snapper Ledge for our first dive of the day.  I’m thinking that we could have called it either Snapper Ledge or French Grunt Ledge as both species were abundant.  We had good viz and very little current as we meandered along, peering into holes looking for marine life.  We found a sleeping nurse shark, cleaner shrimp, lobster and a few morays. 

Our next stop was Pillar Coral.  It was my first time to dive the site and I was thrilled to see all of the coral heads.  A juvenile spotted eagle ray posed for pictures while he lounged in the sand.  Most of the divers had their cameras with them and have promised to email me their photos for my scrapbook.

Congratulations to Julie and Denise for completing their first dives since certifying this summer.  Michaelynn and I can’t wait for you two to come back so that we can all dive together again.  

Bill and Denise, I will be looking for both of you on the high seas one day in the future.  Thanks for stopping back to say goodbye.  You made me feel very special.

Marty and Audra, it was great to meet you both and hope to see you some time in the future.  I think it is great that you got some time to yourselves to recharge your batteries.  Being parents of small ones can be tiring to say the least.

Gerry and Wesly, I didn’t get to hear about your last dives in Islamorada, but I know from experience that the pristine reefs and abundant marine life down there were enough to keep your shutters jumping and hearts racing.

Well, another picture postcard weekend is forecasted here in the Keys and it must be bike week, as I have been hearing them cruising down Route 1 all day.  So, to all of you that I have been lucky enough to share a few bubbles with and to those of you still to come.  I say ciao for now!

Georgia

Article Author:

Captain Rob
Master Scuba Diver Trainer

We don’t exclusively dive here at Rainbow Reef. We have about 100 divers for every one snorkeler that comes through. Even though it’s a Dive Center, we still try to accommodate families who have some members who are not yet divers. The typical case is Dad and 1 of the kids is a certified diver, and Mom and one of the other kids are not. On our shallow trips to places like Molasses Reef, when we have a family like this, we take the non-certified divers along so they can snorkel while the rest of the family dives. Of course, they are always welcome to take the Discover Scuba class and try diving, but as hard as it is to admit, belive it or not, diving is not for everyone?! So our snorkelers/non-divers enjoy the fish and the reef from the surface.

Overall, today was a nice day. No seas or waves, no current and very light winds. Visibility was good, but not great. Everyone had a great time as you can see from the pictures, and many of our snorkelers were so busy in the water, they were worn out for the ride home! The snorkelers got to see lots of critters and when a chocolate chip cookie accidentally fell over board, the snorkelers were treated to s fish feeding frenzy that featured Bermuda Chubs and Sargeant Majors. Thanks for coming out with us, and we hope you enjoy your pictures.

Article Author:

Captain Bill
Master Scuba Diver Trainer

What a nice weekend! We had nice weather, nice customers, and great dives! This is an update from yesterday in the sense that we want to congratulate Rainbow Reef’s newest Jr. Open Water Diver, and his name is Matt Lewin. Matt was in the class, and his Dad (Stan) was there supporting him and diving with him all the way. They flew down from Chicago for the weekend to get Matt’s checkout dives done. Not only did Matt get them done, he did an awesome job!

Team divers was also on board the Tropical Voyager with us today. George and Mel were finishing Open Water certifications for some students and also a couple of Advanced Open Water certifications with help from one of the Team Divers Divemaster candidates. We went out the the Wreck of the Benwood first, and then on to Fire Coral Cave for the second stop. Visibility was OK, about 35 feet at the wreck and 45 feet at Fire Coral Cave. Not much wind, so if the boat was rocking, it was from boat wake, and there was no current. For your enjoyment we shot some video today. If you were not diving with us today, hopefully you’ll enjoy sharing the experiences of Matt, Stan, Mel, George and everyone else on board with us today.

Click here for the VIDEO of the DAY! (requires Flash)

Article Author:

Captain Rob
Master Scuba Diver Trainer

Hello from Molasses Reef on board the Tropical Voyager!

We’ve got some nice conditions out here today. No current, almost no wind, which of course makes for flat seas, and the visibility continues to rebound after that near miss by Hurricane Ernesto. We had our friends from Team Divers (George and Mel Yates, along with Mike Pemberton) out with us again this weekend. As usual they were conducting some open water classes, but they also had some DiveMasters doing some training. The DiveMaster candidates had the pleasure of doing a half mile swim from outside the reef back to where we parked the boat! I was tired just watching. We had a Jr. Open water diver doing some checkout dives today with Instructor Bill. He’s doing a great job and we’ll pass on some congratulations tomorrow when he’s officially certified.

If you didn’t know, September is a great time of year to dive. It’s the beginning of the off-season, so the hotel rates drop like a rock, and the crowds on the boats and in town really thin out. A lot of people are afraid of the hurricane season and don’t come down here in September and October. For the ones willing to take the risk, they are rewarded with some of the best conditions we get all year. The air cools off so it’s not super summer hot, and the water still stays about 83 degrees. The news stations pretty much sensationalize hurricanes with the coverage, but overall, the chances of one directly hitting us while you are here are pretty low.

As you can see from the pictures below, it’s September and the diving is great! Hope to see you on board soon!

Article Author:

Captain D.J.
Master Instructor

Hi Everyone,

We had a visit from Ranger Rick Scuba today at our Key Largo dive center. They visited Christmas Tree Cave and Sandbottom Cave in the morning, and then went out to Snapper Ledge and Pillar Coral for the afternoon trip. Visibility was ok, no current, and nearly flat seas.  

If you happened to be listening to Sirius Satellite Radio (I’m not sure which channel it was) today, you may have heard Rick’s live report from the Tropical Explorer out on Snapper Ledge. He called it in right from the boat, it was pretty neat. They were also on the hunt for some Lobster. The lobster won the battle at Snapper Ledge, but many were spotted at Pillar Coral. You’ll notice the big catch in one of the photos. Anyway, they are a great group and we are thrilled to have them. They will be diving with us again tomorrow so look for another report from the Florida Keys!

Until next time!

Article Author:

Captain D.J.
Master Instructor

Hey gang,

Did you hear that noise? It was the end of the “season” sound. Our busy season runs from March until today (Labor Day). It’s been a successful season for all of us at Rainbow Reef and we’d like to thank all of our guests for coming and diving with us. Of course, we don’t just close up shop at the end of the season, but it’s nice to get a little break from our normal 24/7 schedule we have had since March. We are still open and go diving every day, but the crowds thin out a bit. If we didn’t get a little break, how else would we get ready for next season?!

Our friends from Sea Ventures left on the bus back to Atlanta a few hours ago. I’ve been hard at work putting together this video for them. We had a lot of current out on the Duane today, so it was a “two handed” dive, and I figured it was better help out and keep an eye on the teams of divers than it was to video them on the wreck today. We’d like to thank Becky for another smooth trip (thanks to Tara too, she was helping Becky). The usual suspects of Mark P., Mark C. and Jeff J.(the Instructors), it was nice working with you again. Big congratulations must go out to the new certified divers : Linda, Ray, Todd, Heather and Abigail – GREAT JOB!! You guys look like pros already. We also want to say thanks to all of the other folks on the trip. We hope you have a safe, comfortable ride home.

Hope you all like today’s video. All the underwater footage is from Snapper Ledge, The Winch hole, Fire Coral Cave, and Molasses Reef. We’ll get you some video of the wreck next time! Thanks to the close call with Ernesto, it kinda made visibility below average, and the current was a little stronger than usual, but all things considered, we were thrilled that we could get you out there diving in decent conditions. The lower visibility made it a little hard to have an outstanding video, but it should be a decent representation of your trip. Hope you enjoy it! And we look forward to hosting you again. It is certainly our pleasure. If you live in or near Atlanta, be sure to stop in for a visit with Sea Ventures and you’ll see why you will want to make them your local dive center of choice. Tell them the crew from Rainbow Reef said Hi!

Click here -> to view the video! (requires Flash)

Article Author:

Captain Rob
Master Scuba Diver Trainer

Hello everyone!

We have the Sea Ventures Dive Center group with us all weekend and we’ve been so busy, this is the first chance to update you, live (well, sort of) from the Spiegel Grove. They had 6 divers doing certification dives on the previous two days so once that was done, it was off to the wrecks! So today we did the Spiegel Grove with them, and tonight they are going to visit Snapper Ledge for the night dive! Tomorrow morning it’s a trip to the wreck of the Duane before they blast off for Atlanta again, so we’ll be sure to bring you the action from there, so be sure to check back in.

As far as dive conditions, well, all things considered it’s been pretty good… considering we had Ernesto blowing by just a couple of days ago. This afternoon we had 2 and 3 foot waves, and someone forgot to turn off the current machine, so the divers had to contend with a bit of that. They all did a great job though! Visibility has been below average thanks to Ernesto and it’s slowly coming back.

See you tomorrow! Hope to have a video for you from the Duane!