Debraw
Contributor
I just got back from the MV Spree as it does a tour of Dry Tortugas this summer. They will be there until the end of July. My trip was phenomenal. I really never knew much about the Dry Tortugas, and now that I do I will definitely return. It's easy to get to, just West of Key West, so you are still traveling within the United States and you get all the benefits of Caribbean diving. A national marine sanctuary the Tortugas is just beautiful and deserves a look around. Gorgeous water, excellent marine life and we saw hundreds of fish and sea creatures this week. I took over 600 pictures and could have kept on snapping. The macro life is beautiful. Sea creatures were everywhere. I even had a close up experience with 6 wild dolphin while I was in scuba at 60 feet! I had a red grouper follow me around on one dive and quickly became my little shadow. I saw lots of snapper ( red yellowtail, mutton,etc.), parrotfish, grunts, hogfish, grouper, lobster, arrow crabs, crabs, scorpion fish, loggerhead turtle, anemones, eels, dolphin, nudibranches, a 600 LB goliath grouper! The boat MV spree holds 22 divers plus crew but on our trip there was only 10 divers plus crew. I dove 36% Nitrox all week ( it's included in the price!) and I was always ready to dive. The bunks were clean, two outside showers on the back deck, one inside as a "wet head" makes a great shower and changing room immediately following the dive. There are shampoo/bath wash dispensers next to every shower head. Hot water is always available on both outdoor and indoor showers. Clean rinse tanks with sink the stink and separate camera rinse buckets convenient and nice. There is a great camera table to keep all your camera gear with a high pressure air hose to clean off the water. Food is in no short supply and it is homemade, and GOOD. Two breakfasts, snacks twice daily, lunch, and dinner with dessert after the night dive of ice cream, cake or hot brownies. There is also a large basket of fruit always available. Three large coolers of water and lemonade are always available and coffe and oj in the morning. We also had a naturalist and photo specialist onboard. Professional crew and wonderful diving. I got my money's worth and I could not be happier with my trip.
