Question Spiegle Grove double dip typical dive time and surface interval?

[dlao]

Hi there,

My wife and I are planning to visit Florida for the first time. As recommended by local diver friends, we are planning to book a two-tank SG trip with Horizon Divers. We (one DM, and one trimix diver) are pretty comfortable with the depth of the wreck and are planning to dive single AL80s with 30% nitrox, no deco.

I contacted the shop about the trip schedule. Seems all the trips have a 4-hour time window (~2 hr 20 mins at SG covering 2 dives). This time constraint seems pretty tight and as tourists, we definitely want to stretch our dive time as much as we can. Local divers, how do you usually distribute your dive time and surface interval on this trip? What is the typical dive profile and average depth you get?

 

[NovaCane]

IIRC from my trip last Feb they limited the non-tech divers to 45mins/dive, which for my SAC and the current at the time was plenty.

 

[dlao]

IIRC from my trip last Feb they limited the non-tech divers to 45mins/dive, which for my SAC and the current at the time was plenty.

Sounds good. What's the typical average depth you'll get on your dive computer diving SG?

 

[crofrog]

Sounds good. What's the typical average depth you'll get on your dive computer diving SG?

The sand is at 130 the bow is at 90 the main stern deck is at around 100 and the top is 60ish. How you distribute your time is going to control your avg depth

 

[NovaCane]

My dive along the Snoopy Corridor had an avg depth of 64' including safety stop, max of 94'.

 

[dlao]

My dive along the Snoopy Corridor had an avg depth of 64' including safety stop, max of 94'.

Thanks!

 

[ChrisMBC]

Looking at my dive computer - my average dive on the Spiegel Grove has been ~40 mins, max depth 30-35m. I’ve done 6 or 7 2-tank visits to the SG with Horizon, and never felt limited on dive time - and that’s with either single 100s or double 80s.

FWIW, if you really want to crank the max dive time out of your visit, it can be worth it to get two different gas mixes, something ~28% for your first dive (if you want to go down into the well deck) and 32-36% for your second dive, to go visit Snoopy.

Also, if you’re both experienced tech/trimix divers, you might want to rent a set of doubles rather than two individual 80s for the dive. Ultimately more useable gas, and the redundancy on a deep wreck is nice peace of mind.

 

[dlao]

Looking at my dive computer - my average dive on the Spiegel Grove has been ~40 mins, max depth 30-35m. I’ve done 6 or 7 2-tank visits to the SG with Horizon, and never felt limited on dive time - and that’s with either single 100s or double 80s.

FWIW, if you really want to crank the max dive time out of your visit, it can be worth it to get two different gas mixes, something ~28% for your first dive (if you want to go down into the well deck) and 32-36% for your second dive, to go visit Snoopy.

Also, if you’re both experienced tech/trimix divers, you might want to rent a set of doubles rather than two individual 80s for the dive. Ultimately more useable gas, and the redundancy on a deep wreck is nice peace of mind.

Thanks for the info.

Diving a higher mix on the second dive sounds like an interesting plan. I was initially thinking about diving a deeper mix for the first dive, then clipping the tank (should have around ~20-30 cf left) as a stage bottle for the second dive for redundancy. But I guess that's a bit too much for a casual vacation dive. Packing the doubles wing and stage reg in carry-on luggage is also a pain in the ass. Will definitely bring proper gear in the future to explore the wrecks and caves.

 

[FreqFlier]

Horizon suggests not to go over 45 mins per dive (they tend to ask a lot of questions to make sure you are not new to this on top of your cert), and my computer showed 49 and 54 mins SI's. Different gas mixes makes a great idea, but Horizon provided (if my records are right) 30.9%, 30.9%, 31.0% and 31.1% on those two trips to SG.

You'll have to get higher percentage somewhere else. But 45 min limit kinda negates the hassle

 

[chrisjur]

Why do you believe this isn’t enough time, especially diving 80s? If you can stretch more time out of 80s than that, then my kudos to you because you have some pretty good sipping skills when it comes to air consumption. I dive the Speigel fairly often and I would say that my max dive is usually 45 mins on HP100s with an average depth of around 70-75ft. This always includes some type of penetration.

An example of my last dive, which is very typical for me is in the attached graphics. I’m diving HP100s with a SAC of 0.5 cu. ft/min on that day. This was penetration through the stern, up the little hatch and into the rooms near the Snoopy.

Question: if you’re concerned about run time, why not dive 100s?

Also, I do not believe that Horizon gives you the choice of Nitrox mix. Records from my last 6 dives with Horizon (longest I have available on this computer) shows that they provided EAN30 for each dive. I never requested it. (Note: my example dive using EAN31 displayed below is not with Horizon)

And to answer one of your questions directly, my last few dives with Horizon show a surface interval of about 1 hour, give or take a few mins.

A couple of recommendations:

1. Dive 100s and let Horizon determine the best mix.

2. Pay the extra $40 for a guide. If you’re not local, having a guide always helps with your experience, IMO. I’ve dove it 30 times and I still find new things when I’m with their guides, as long as I communicate my expectations ahead of time.

Enjoy!