How about some trip reports?

[Jonathan Bird]

The regional discussion areas are a great place to ask questions about locations. They are also a great place to post trip reports with pictures! If you have been someplace recently, post a report! It's a fun way to show off your photography and help the rest of us learn about new places.

Jonathan

[Clay Coleman]

I am intrigued by Venice, Florida. I visited in late August to dive for fossils and had no camera (if you want to see a sample of what we found, see http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id349.htm ). The viz was limited, but we saw a variety of unusual subjects such as seahorses, pipefish, a silver-dollar-sized octopus, leopard toadfish, and sea robins walking on the bottom. The boat (Steve Thacker's Hammerhead out of Venice) was not set up for photography, but Steve is a photographer himself and I'm sure he wouldn't mind a patron bringing their own rinse bucket. The area is prone to red tides in late summer, which can result in a fish-kill and some respiratory discomfort, but I plan to go back to try to get some of those unusual critters--especially the sea robins, which are fairly common and very cool.

As an example of the weird stuff you can see in Venice, here's a shot of a leopard toadfish from Destin, FL.
http://claycoleman.tripod.com/2b6bdcd0.jpg
Clay

[Jonathan Bird]

Awesome fish!!!

BTW Clay your website refers to Sharon as your "main squeeze." Does that mean you have a few more?? ;)

Jonathan

[Clay Coleman]

Back from a jaunt to Texas.

Re: the toadfish: Totally weird-looking suckers. I sent a calendar out last year to some friends and associates, and I used that image for October (because it looks like a jack-o-lantern to me), so it's hanging on my wall this month. It's also in the ReefNet "Fishes of The Caribbean" CD Rom guide. BTW, digilabs (www.digi-labs.net) does a fine, cost-effective printing job on calendars, and I've already ordered a few for Xmas this year.

Re: Sharon as my "main squeeze": I have one other. She's four years old and the daughter of some good friends of mine. -Clay

[tarczy]

Clay -

Were you diving in Texas?

If so, where?

The reason I'm asking is I'm interested in doing the Texas Flower Gardens and I'm looking for some first-hand opinions.:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Clay Coleman]

I wasn't diving, but I'm very familiar with the Flower Gardens. The boats are in a bit of flux right now, and winter trips are iffy at best due to weather (but the hammerheads show up in winter). If you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them. Several of the photos on my "Gallery #1" (http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id17.htm) were taken there. If you can wait until Spring, let me know and maybe we can get together.

This Flower Gardens shot was in a local magazine last week. The shark is a spinner--fairly commonly seen:
http://claycoleman.tripod.com/a58bbd70.jpg
Clay

[tarczy]

Thanks for the link.

Yeah . . . I'm in no rush to dive The Flower Gardens, so I can definitely wait until Spring. I'm in the Bahamas with J.B. shooting Tiger Sharks March 8th through the 19th. Anytime after that would be great! When were you thinking about going?

I guess my biggest question is, are the Texas Flower Gardens all that they're cracked up to be? In other words, is it worth the trip from L.A. to God's Hell Hole (that would be Houston) to do the dive?

Oh yeah . . . one other thing . . . isn't spring when the corals spawn? I understand the photography is outstanding at that time.

Finally, I guess there are two boats that go out there on a regular basis, the M/V Spree and the M/V Fling. Have you been on either or both of these boats, or have you been on any others you can recommend? My Texas diver buddies say these boats are about the best there is going out to the FGs. However, in reading their website info, it seems like they're a bunch of Dive-Nazis (i.e. checking your computer on every ascent to see how much air you surface with and if you have any violations, etc.). God only knows . . . I've had enough of Dive-Nazis for a long time. ;)

P.S. I like your site. I especially like how you identify your subjects with Genus and species names. Not only fun to look at, but educational, too!!!

:) :) :)

[Clay Coleman]

Re: When to go: Travel to the Flower Gardens involves a bit of risk, as trips are routinely blown out. The most consistent weather is late July through early August. Of course, the tropics are active at that time and can ruin a trip. Offhand, I'd say that a trip scheduled in late July-early August has about an 80% chance of going. Percentages drop at other times. Winter trips have about a 10% or less chance of leaving the dock.

Re: The coral spawn: It occurs the 8th day after the full moon in August. However, the boats are not available unless you have a university or NOAA connection. I've never seen the spawn.

Re: Is it all it's cracked up to be?: That's hard to say. It's certainly not dependable for big action (no Cocos here), but mantas may arrive at any time of year or a whale shark might come by (very rare). Scalloped hammerheads will congregate during winter, but, as I've noted, winter trips are usually blown out. The Flower Gardens banks themselves (2 banks--east and west, about 12 miles apart) can be a bit boring at times. My favorite dives are the oil rigs and Stetson Bank--another salt dome about 35 miles northwest of the Flower Gardens and included in the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary. It's well worth it for folks in my neck of the woods. Trips are called by noon on the day of departure (boats board at 8pm). That could be really tough on somebody flying in.

Re: The boats: The Spree and Fling are the only 2 boats left (The Sea Searcher II has been sold). The boats are in a state of flux. The Spree will limit divers to around 20 and will offer Nitrox at no charge, but their rate will be significantly higher than the Fling. The Fling is also raising rates, but will have more divers and, probably, more close supervision. Rates have always varied depending on number of days and whether the trip is on a weekend, and I'm not sure what the new rates will be. Neither boat can be booked directly, which means that you book through a sponsor (sponsors are listed on the Gulf Diving LLC web page). Prices will vary from sponsor to sponsor. I have made many trips on both boats, and I prefer Frank and Melanie on the Spree. I believe that they plan to move the boat to S. Florida for part of the year. I hope to talk to them about it at DEMA. Both boats are in Freeport, TX--about an hour's drive south of Houston. Figure to pay $350-500 for a 2 day (7 dives--5 the first day, 2 the second before heading back). Meals are included and they're plenty good.

Re: My site: Thanks! It's a bit of a mess, and I need to get it better organized, but the addition of the Latin names for animals is often how photo buyers find my stuff. -Clay