Dry Tortugas day dive trip

[mike_s]

Cay Sal was a trip I wanted to do eventually. But the two operators that went there have both gone bankrupt this past year.

oh well. anyone else that goes there?

 

[DebbyDiver]

Maybe Wookie?

 

[wraith8]

I know this is an older thread, but I'll be taking a trip to the DTs soon and was wondering what kind of water temps to expect in June and July. From the videos and photos I've been able to find, everyone is in shorties or full suits, but I'm not sure what part of the year those are from. Any help will be appreciated from the less experienced in our group.

 

[Scott L]

I know this is an older thread, but I'll be taking a trip to the DTs soon and was wondering what kind of water temps to expect in June and July. From the videos and photos I've been able to find, everyone is in shorties or full suits, but I'm not sure what part of the year those are from. Any help will be appreciated from the less experienced in our group.

Expect 80 degrees...

 

[sportxlh]

I did a three day live aboard last june with Ultimate Getaway http://www.ultimategetaway.net/ and we had temps of 75-78 degrees. I was pretty glad that I wore a 2MM shorty under my 3MM full wetsuit along with a hood (we did up to 7 dives each day). A couple of guys only brought shortys and were really cold by day's end.

 

[Wookie]

I did a three day live aboard last june with Ultimate Getaway Dry Tortugas Scuba Diving liveaboard, The Ultimate Getaway. Scuba Dive the Dry Tortugas out of Ft. Myers Florida. and we had temps of 75-78 degrees. I was pretty glad that I wore a 2MM shorty under my 3MM full wetsuit along with a hood (we did up to 7 dives each day). A couple of guys only brought shortys and were really cold by day's end.

Last year was (hopefully) an exception to the rule.

 

[wraith8]

I did a three day live aboard last june with Ultimate Getaway Dry Tortugas Scuba Diving liveaboard, The Ultimate Getaway. Scuba Dive the Dry Tortugas out of Ft. Myers Florida. and we had temps of 75-78 degrees. I was pretty glad that I wore a 2MM shorty under my 3MM full wetsuit along with a hood (we did up to 7 dives each day). A couple of guys only brought shortys and were really cold by day's end.

Thanks all for your quick responses. I've got a couple of women in the group that have no body fat to speak of, and a couple of young men as well, and will chill pretty quickly. Your experience is is what I wanted them to be prepared for. We're all pretty excited to be going, I really don't want anyone to be cold and uncomfortable if it can be avoided. We go through that often enough diving the quarries up here in the Midwest as it is.

 

[jeebo]

Back to DRy Tortugas.. it may be even more political than you think. The nearby reef system known as the Martyrs Reef has a lot of shipwrecks and lots of gold nearby. So much so that the Feds put a lockdown on the whole area... all in the name of historic preservation of course. This was at the urging of federal attorneys who suggested that it be preserved for future archaeological divers to collect piece-by-piece. And there it sits for some 20 years since some bureaucrat signed off on it. In the immortal words of Indiana Jones, "IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!"

 

[Wookie]

Martyrs reef. First I've ever heard of it, and many folks have claims inside the "locked down" areas, including Tim Taylor on the Tiburon, and Odyssey Marine Exploration. If you are talking about Riley's Hump, it is locked down to rebuild fish stocks. It's working, we're seeing a many thousand fold increase in populations of black grouper and mutton snapper around Rileys. I know of 3 or 4 treasure hunting companies that are actively working claims inside the marine sanctuary, including Mel Fishers company. Would you care to elaborate on your statement?

 

[Chugwhump]

I know of 3 or 4 treasure hunting companies that are actively working claims inside the marine sanctuary, including Mel Fishers company. Would you care to elaborate on your statement?

This thread is pretty interesting for the information content.
Thanks to the contributors.

Chug
Still recessionizing.