A great day at Bonne Terre Mine's Treasure Hunt: 2010, sponsored by Scubaboard

[Cliff Kyser]

What an awe-mazing time for my daughter and I, who are new divers !!!

If you have never gone to Bonne Terre Mine for their Threasure Hunt - you have to put it on your "Bucket List" ! Amazing clear, blue, 58 degree water in a fun, unique setting and close to home. From the moment we unpacked our gear the staff were there to give direction, information, and help in any way they could. They were well organized and ran on time the whole day. With the amount of people that were there, this alone was an impressive fact. We never wanted for anything the whole day. A staff person even went out of his way to find my wife, who is a non diver, and get her in on the last walking mine tour. The suvenior T shirt was fun, the booths were very informational and had great hand outs. The BBQ and auction at the end was a fun and perfect close to the day. The fact that they had so many prizes to bid on, and prizes you would really want - just added to the whole experience. I am sure the staff were worn out, because we were, but 4 special dives in this mine was so worth it! We can not wait to go back, and hope to one day go to dive the different trails. What an adventure. But be careful, your competitive side will show through -- those little chips are gold, ha ha !

The day was warm, the company was good, with fun to be had by all.
See you there next year ! :vintagediver:

 

[2dive.com]

Mick,
Congratulations on your treasure hunting success. I heard from Doug that you have your reservation date set. We are looking forward to having you and your wife stay with us here in Mahahual. Glad that you hyped about the trip, I have been full time dive industry professional with West End Diving for twenty years and have exclusively dove the reef south of Mahahual for the last six years, so I am eager to get your evaluation of the reef formations we have here. August is a little hot, but the wind is usually calm at that time. As long as there are no disturbances in the gulf, expect 100 to 200 feet of visibility and 82 to 84 degree water temperature. So if you term yourself as a hardcore diver, thats great; you should feel at home here at Maya Palms Resort. I also have some pics of the resort here if you haven’t seen them.
Sincerely,
Ken

 

[novisdiver]

Ken:

Hey, I just got back from vacation last week so still catching up on mail. Sorry for the late reply.

My wife and I are very excited about the trip. Me being a hard core diver maybe a bit more excited than my wife who is a non diver. Though she is thinking about doing a resort course to give it a try while we are there.

The temps and vis sound amazing!!!! I don't know if Doug told you I'm from New Hampshire so I'm use to 30F temps and vis around 15' on average. True cold water diving at its best!! Anyway just to give you some dive history for me I'm an AOWI with SSI for the last 6 years and been diving for the last 16. So really looking forward to some serious bottom time on my dives. Question for you on equipment I should bring with me, should I bring my pony bottle is it worth it? Normally I would bring it with me to be as safe as possible depending on depths. The main question is what kind of depths are the dives there, do they warrant the extra cost of bringing my pony?

Really looking forward to meeting and diving with you.

Mick

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

I suppose this answers my question as to whether or not the trip up to the mine would be worth it. I hope to make this next year if I can. Is there any special qualificaiton you need to participate in the hunt or is OW Cert ok?

 

[Ninja Diver]

There are two things you need to qualify for diving in the mine and specifically in the treasure hunt.
The first is non negiotiable and it's a Open Water Certification. The second, we would appreciate, bringing with you, but if you don't, will make sure you have one when you leave...
A SMILE!
We look forward to meeting you next year. The event will be Saturday June 4

The staff at Bonne Terre Mine

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

There are two things you need to qualify for diving in the mine and specifically in the treasure hunt.
The first is non negiotiable and it's a Open Water Certification. The second, we would appreciate, bringing with you, but if you don't, will make sure you have one when you leave...
A SMILE!
We look forward to meeting you next year. The event will be Saturday June 4

The staff at Bonne Terre Mine

Great! OW Cert. Check. Big grin, check. Just in time for my birthday next year. WOOHOO!

 

[2dive.com]

Sorry Mick,
It’s my turn to apologize for the untimely reply, we just went through an ISP change and that can be a little slow in this part of the world.
We dive within no deco limits. Our profiles usually run 70 to 80 feet for 20 to 23 minutes, then start working our way up to 40 or 50 feet until you run out of air, schedule permitting. I have had only one cruise ship diver bring a pony only because he didn’t want to have to surface before his wife. So, you don’t have to worry about the extra air until you get your wife certified (ha ha). I have aluminum 80’s here. You can travel light to Mahahual, usually two pairs of shorts and two or three t-shirts will get you by. Don’t forget to bring bug spray and a flashlight; this is where the jungle kisses the sea. By the way thanks for the heads-up on the New Hampshire diving, I have gotten spoiled diving here for the last six years.
See You Soon,
Ken

 

[novisdiver]

Ken,

Been back home after the trip to the Maya Palms for a few days and I already want to come back!!! I just wanted to say thanks again to you and Mark for the most amazing dive vacation I have had to date.

For the sake of the other listeners here let me describe my trip. Due to it being off season my wife and I were the only guests at the beautiful resort for the week. Needless to say we were pampered with excellent service, fantastic food, and amazing weather and views. We had sunny skys everyday. Yes it is hot this time of year in Mahahual but with the ocean breeze it was very comfortable.

Lets get to the important details though the diving! That's what this is all about isn't it. Well because it was just Ken, the resident divemaster, and I the kind of diving that was had for the week was just amazing!!!! Every dive was deep and lasted between 65 and 95 minutes on average. Ken and I pushed our computers to the limits. With the two of us being seasoned divers we kept running out of no-deco time when we still had air to burn. On the last day we did our final dive for 115 minutes!!! You won't find these kind of dives at most resorts that's for sure. It was a nice way to end the week.

Lets talk about the reefs a bit. We were diving reefs that are the healthiest I've ever seen. There was no sign of coral bleeching or damage whatsoever. I was seeing barrel sponges 5 to 6 feet tall. Just incredible!!! We dove on a couple of undived reefs that haven't ever seen a diver before. Where in the world can you dive a virgin reef!!!! I gave some input into names, one Ken named Roca Mesa and Ken is still debating about the second one. Ken let me know what you decide to name the other one I would love to know so I can update my divelog. It was kind of a joke because Ken kept asking me what I kept writing in my divelog all week.

Lets add up all the stuff I saw for the week. In no particular order spotted eagle rays, many hawksbill turtles close up, green moray eels, barracuda, one school was several hundred thick. There were stingrays, a nurse shark, a bazillian different schools of smaller tropical fish, some of my favorites are angel fish, cleaning shrimp, a squid, and grouper. The one downside to the reefs was all the lionfish invading everywhere, but Ken and I made this into a positive as well. Ken is an accomplished spear fisherman and well, we rid the reef of somewhere between 20 and 30 lionfish for the week. After spearing them we would find a nice spinny lobster to feed them too. It was amazing because the lobster would immediately tear into the fish and start eating. Very very cool.

Ken got a lot of underwater footage while we were there including lots of lobster eating lionfish. He is making, what I call, a Lynyrd Skynyrd video about hunting lionfish on the reef. Can't wait to see the final cut with music and everything. Hahaha!!!! Anyway it was a blast hunting the fish and just generally diving with Ken. He was one of best dive buddies I've ever had.

So for those who are thinking of doing the Treasure Hunt it's a no brainer. You could win an amazing dive trip!!!!

Thanks again to everyone at the Bonne Terre Mine, owners Doug and Catherine, and everyone at the Maya Palms Resort especially Ken and Mark for an incredible time.

Sincerely

Mick Tabor

 

[deanaossenfo]

"The best trick is to show up and have fun. "

Having fun in a game is also a trick so it could be consider as best trick.

 

[3000dives]

Very cool that you won this trip at Bonne Terre Mine and the dive trip sounds amazing! Where do I sign up? The diving sounds fantastic and that would be pretty cool to dive virgin dive sites and get to help name them. Sport Diver’s article titled “Mahahual Maverick” talked about the virgin diving there too. From everything I’ve heard about the diving in Mahahual and at the Maya Palms Resort sounds like a must do trip.