Weeki Wachi

[Buoyant1]

I'm planning on being in Tampa for a convention in August (well my wife will be attending the convention, I'll be logging more dives) And I was thinking about diving Weeki Wachi...has anyone here actualy dive there yet?

It looks pretty cool to try.

 

[SubMariner]

We were thinking of doing WW, but not only is the time serverely restricted (the Mermaid show, y'know) but you have to go through a store that does classes there. AFAIK, you can't just sign up for a dive.

 

[gle]

I have been there... twice, and it was a great dive. I went with my local dive shop/club. I think you have to be part of a group. The time thing is not that bad. You dive for about an hour, get out, watch the show, have a decompression hotdog, get back in for another hour. There are plenty of cool things to see. Because of all the rain we had this year the springs are really flowing hard, so you probably won't get down into the cavern. If you want to chance it, there is a rope you can use to pull yourself down with. But if you slip it is a ballastic shot up until you can grab onto something else. Not to mention your reg will freeflow/purge from the pressure. Then again, it may die own some by August.

I don't know if you are interested in tank diving, but the Florida Aquarium has a shark tank dive that is interesting. It costs around $150, so it is pricey. You are not allowed to touch the animals, much to the chagrin of the resident green sea turtle who was a performance artist in a former life. But the sharks come within an inch of your nose. Actually, one brushed up against me. The handlers do a real good job keeping them away though, and they only allow the sharks to come close if you seem comfortable. The only thing you need is a C-Card, and optionally a mask. They will provide everything else, and it is all Zeagle equipment. Overall an enlightening dive. Now I just need to try the Bahamas shark feeding experience (this Spring I hope).

There are also some nice Gulf dives off Tampa. You have several holes and quite a few wrecks. I don't have my book with me, but I seem to recall there being an artificial reef made from submerged Army tanks in the area. I know it is somewhere on the west coast. Speaking of that book, Ned Deloach put together a great book called "Diving Guide to Underwater Florida." I am in France at the moment, and my copy is back home, otherwise I would post the list of Tampa sites. The book is less than $15, you may want to just order it (I think Amazon stocks it). It is an indispensable field guide to Florida dive sites. Also, you may want to post this question to the "Florida Conch Divers" forum.

Alright, so there is a dollar answer to a nickel question.

 

[flipperz]

You do need to be with an operator registered to supervise divers in WW. It's a nice dive but you'll see all you need to see with one tank. Vis is unlimited, depth is a max of about 30'-freshwater fish, occasional manatees, even otters now and again. I regularly take classes in there from Clearwater, FL and dive the Gulf regularly as well. PM me if I can help you further with local info.

Jeff
NAUI/YMCA Instructor

 

[Firebrand]

I will be diving in Weeki Wachee this weekend and can update you on the conditions when I'm done. Check with Depth Perception Dive Center in Brandon if they can plan a trip to WW in August. Unfortunately, I will be leaving the area in May and won't be able to dive with you.

 

[Desa]

I was one of the first to dive it. 1977. Came in out of the Gulf, went to the WW park and threw out an anchor. Buddy and I jumped in, swam to the area where the mermaids come out. It was a cloudy day, back then they didn't do shows in the morning if it was cloudy, so we thought we were safe. Wrong! I was right outside of the glass looking at the building when the lights came on, the curtains opened up and I was stareing at a bunch of tourist. I turned arround and Mark was doing loops arround the mermaids.

We swam back to the boat where we were met by WW park security, sherrif deputies and Florida Marine Patrol. They threatened us with jail. But, as it turns out, since we were anchored more than 10 feet off shore, they couldnt get us for tresspassing.

They gave us a good "lecture" and let us go. We went back to school on Monday bragging about what we did. A couple of weeks later some of our classmates tried the same thing. Except, they tied their boat up to a tree. They got busted for tresspassing and spent the night in jail.

While it was cool then (28 years ago) I don't think it was neat enough to pay to dive there.

sorry..........just reminiscing........

 

[ngray]

I'd suggest picking up the ned deloach book, or hooking up with a local boat. There's a lot more to Tampa than WW. I know, my father-in-law lives in WW, and I in Port Richey. If you insist on WW, dive either the Tank reefs, about 7-10 mi offshore, or Hospital Hole, a Sinkhole in the middle of the WW river, about 1/4 mi upstream from Rogers park. Some people rent jonboats/canoes from the park, other's use their father-in-law's boat .

Otherwise, try Narcosis Scuba in Tarpon Springs. Good value, good stops.
http://www.narcosisscuba.com/

If you want a better trip than that, you'll have to to the middle grounds, which is an expensive, overnight trip. But you'll never forget it.

 

[Firebrand]

Having dived WW over the weekend, I now agree with Desa and ngray. The frequent interruptions for the mermaid show was annoying. Also, there was an adventure race that took place and interfered with our diving. However, on the positive side, there were several manatees that were very friendly. We were approached several times during our dives and the manatees wanted to be scratched and massaged. Overall, I did have fun, but there isn't much to see at WW. Arrange for a trip elsewhere as the manatee won't be in WW during the summer months. There are a lot better places to go in the Tampa area than WW.

 

[Caston]

NGRAY, Do you know the GPS locations for the Tank reef?
My sister has a house there and I thought I might find a few new places to dive while down there.
Thanks for the help....

 

[mike_s]

NGRAY, Do you know the GPS locations for the Tank reef?
My sister has a house there and I thought I might find a few new places to dive while down there.
Thanks for the help....

There are I think 10 tanks sunk around Tamp.
Army tank #10 - GPS Number 2817.637 and 8301.083 (one of them I found).

In addition to Tampa, there is also a Tank Reef somewhere off Destin area and also off Miami.


Miami - Lattitude 25 28' 46.9" Longitude 80 5' 23.1"
http://www.personalscubainstruction.com/DiveSites/Dade/ArmyTanks.html

Destin - Lat and Long on this chart. Do a find text search for "army tank" at the below URL's
http://www.floridaconservation.org/marine/ar/Report_List_ROWS.asp?county=Escambia
or http://www.halfhitch.com/GPS.asp?StoreLoc=Destin


I bet Ned DeLoaches book has some useful info also.