Debraw
Contributor
Another great weekend diving in the Flower Gardens and Stetson Bank! We left the dock Friday night at 8:30 for a 3 day trip to the Flower Gardens and Stetson Bank aboard the M/V Spree and Gulf-Diving. The weather cooperated all day Saturday for dives
at the West Bank, a Rig and on East Bank. Seas were 1-2 feet and zero ( or very little) current. The Rig diving is just unbelievable and is not to be missed! It's like being in a giant aquarium. Great big sea turtles, tons of jack, angel fish, and beautiful soft corals. We saw two nurse sharks, oneon the West Bank and one on the East Bank. Lots of little blennies, juvenile trunk fish, eels, chub, parrot fish, butterfly fish and so much more on East Bank. This is really a great dive site and better than I remembered it in March. We got up and did another dive at East bank but this time by the drop off, absolutely the prettiest blue coral anywhere. One more dive at East Bank and then off to Stetson for the 3rd and 4th dive of the day on Sunday afternoon and night! Stetson bank is my favorite dive site and it did not dissapoint! Troy and I were the first two in at Stetson and when we got in saw a fish that resembled a shark but wasn't. I need to look it up but some said it may be a ling? The visibility was poor going down the mooring bouy but it opened up at about 65 to 85 feet. There were literally thousands of fish here! We saw two scorpion fish, Giant French Angels, schools of snapper and more. The highlight was coming bak over the wall and then being encircled by a ring of Crevalle Jack. There must have been 40 or more swirling around us. It was awesome. Lots of eels, and so many fish species I can not even begin to list them. The night came up and it was one I really wanted to do but the waves picked up from 3 to 5 feet. The ladders were coming up out of the water and I didn't want to risk getting back on the boat with little light and high seas. I opted out of the night dive and the bucking bronco ride. It was wild watching everyone come up the ladders, losing fins, getting bucked and more. The crew was amazing and all gear was recovered. We ended up cutting the trip short because the sea were forecasted at 5 to 8 feet on Monday. No one seemed upset because we had a phenomenal trip up until that point and we are all receiving vouchers as a discount on a future trip. It just has to be said the the Flower Gardens is a great adventure and we are really lucky to have this in our back yard. I am going back for sure on Labor Day weekend and may squeeze in another trip or two this summer when the Mantas and Whale Sharks are in town.
at the West Bank, a Rig and on East Bank. Seas were 1-2 feet and zero ( or very little) current. The Rig diving is just unbelievable and is not to be missed! It's like being in a giant aquarium. Great big sea turtles, tons of jack, angel fish, and beautiful soft corals. We saw two nurse sharks, oneon the West Bank and one on the East Bank. Lots of little blennies, juvenile trunk fish, eels, chub, parrot fish, butterfly fish and so much more on East Bank. This is really a great dive site and better than I remembered it in March. We got up and did another dive at East bank but this time by the drop off, absolutely the prettiest blue coral anywhere. One more dive at East Bank and then off to Stetson for the 3rd and 4th dive of the day on Sunday afternoon and night! Stetson bank is my favorite dive site and it did not dissapoint! Troy and I were the first two in at Stetson and when we got in saw a fish that resembled a shark but wasn't. I need to look it up but some said it may be a ling? The visibility was poor going down the mooring bouy but it opened up at about 65 to 85 feet. There were literally thousands of fish here! We saw two scorpion fish, Giant French Angels, schools of snapper and more. The highlight was coming bak over the wall and then being encircled by a ring of Crevalle Jack. There must have been 40 or more swirling around us. It was awesome. Lots of eels, and so many fish species I can not even begin to list them. The night came up and it was one I really wanted to do but the waves picked up from 3 to 5 feet. The ladders were coming up out of the water and I didn't want to risk getting back on the boat with little light and high seas. I opted out of the night dive and the bucking bronco ride. It was wild watching everyone come up the ladders, losing fins, getting bucked and more. The crew was amazing and all gear was recovered. We ended up cutting the trip short because the sea were forecasted at 5 to 8 feet on Monday. No one seemed upset because we had a phenomenal trip up until that point and we are all receiving vouchers as a discount on a future trip. It just has to be said the the Flower Gardens is a great adventure and we are really lucky to have this in our back yard. I am going back for sure on Labor Day weekend and may squeeze in another trip or two this summer when the Mantas and Whale Sharks are in town.
