Scott Newland is planning a dive trip to the Florida Keys. It will be centered on Marathon but will include Key West.

The plan is to stay at Discount Divers Bed and Breakfast. There are five apartments located behind the dive shop. The apartments run about $100/night + $20 for each additional person. The apartments can sleep 3 - 7 singles. The cost of the apartment would range from $52 (3 People) - $35 (7 people) per night. All the apartments are current available that weekend. Staying a a traditional hotel or condo will run about $100/person per night.

The cost for dives would be $70 - $75 dollars per 2 tank dive. The dives operator will depend upon numbers and government bureaucracy. In Marathon, the easiest answer is to go with the guy attached to the bread and breakfast. He can take 6 divers unless his new boat (which carries 22) is certified by that time. If neither of these options is available, another operator will be used. The Key West dive trip will use Captain's Corner.

The time frame for doing this is short. For more information, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

by Jeri L. Curley

We hit the road at O'dark thirty heading north to Crystal River. With each northern mile, the temperature dropped one to two degrees. Even though the GPS kept trying to get us to leave the toll roads, we made it to our destination with enough time to eat breakfast. Early this year, I broke down and bought a newer version of the Olympus Evolt and it didn't quite fit my underwater housing. The only thing that worked was the shutter release -- sort of. It doesn't quite hit full center, so I have to apply ample pressure to trigger the button. After I figured out the proper procedure for hitting the button, I started my paparazzi run at the Manatees. I set my camera to aperture priority, knowing that I wouldn't be able to make any changes mid-stream. I knew also that I'd end up with motion blur on some of my photos because my camera would choose the shutter speed for me. As expected, several shots had motion blur but I was very pleasantly surprised at a few shots that turned out better than I expected. Our day was spent at Kings Spring and Three Sisters where we observed and photographed dozens upon dozens of Manatees and their offspring. We even encountered Federal Law Enforcement Officers in the water who threatened to take away one of our member's camera for allowing the sanctuary line to drift across his hands. Security was tight around the sanctuary this year and there are talks of expanding the "no human" zones. It was a beautiful day and a fabulous experience. We left the water only when our memory cards were full!

(Read more for pictures)

Craig Capion ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) is shopping for interest in a club live-aboard trip for May 2012. The club price would be approximately $800. If interested, contact him.

by Jeri L. Curley

As the temperatures reach triple digit proportion, I thank fate for bringing me to the east coast of Florida where the sea breezes are refreshing and the diving is totally awesome! I am simply going to say YOU MISSED AN AWESOME DIVE! We celebrated our Nation's Birthday in perfect Down Under Dive Club tradition - on a boat diving. Sea Level Scuba booked us on an afternoon dive with Abernethy out of Riviera Beach on a boat aptly named Deep Obsession. We were joined on the boat by our dive buddies from JND Scuba. It was the best dive trip ever. If you haven’t checked out the shenanigans on our Facebook page, come to the meeting and hear the stories. Joining us on this trip were Sparticus the Shark Slayer, the Great White Shark with victim partially eaten, several Lionfish Slayers and of course several Mayhem Instigators. I think that laughing hard actually improved our air consumption. On both dives we ran out of reef before we ran out of air or bottom time. We dove Turtle Mound and Flower Garden. Both aptly named because we saw tons of turtles on the first dive - literally (The loggerheads were the size of VW bugs!) and a very colorful reef with lots of colorful fish on the second. I watched one loggerhead swimming toward the reef as another, trying to avoid the first one, glided over a finger of the reef turning abruptly just before he got into photo range! We watched another Loggerhead tiptoeing through the soft coral to rest his head inside a barrel sponge. Craig whispered into his ear that it wasn't a shot glass and the lush hung his head in disappointment! (the turtle, not Craig) It was a great dive and a great time. Don't miss out. Sign up early for our upcoming dives. You won’t regret a minute.

See you Down Under! (Read more for pictures)