Off Topic: Any Scuba Divers out there?
- Thread starter scubanut
- Start date
mlm
Active Member
I have been diving for a couple of years now and I have got to say that it has changed my life. When you start diving you get a whole new respect for life, bug and small, and on land and in the water. I mostley dive the oil platforms in the gulf of mexico and wrecks in florida. I have been to the Flower Gardens in texas (northernmost coral reef in the US) and I make a trip to Cozumel once a year. I would love to go to the South Pacific to see most of the critters we keep in our tanks but its just a dream right now.
tru conch
Active Member
scubanut, not to be a jerk, but isnt collecting a 190 tails over the mini season way over the limit? i know that the bag limit is smaller in monroe county than the rest of the state, 6 per person per day or 24 per boat max. so unless there was a large group of you then you had to of been over your limit.
i dont want to pee on your parade, but this is a prime example why the locals dont like the mini season. tourists come down, take way over their bag limit, destroy the reef, and just leave with out any consideration. now i am not trying to start a fight, but being a local i have seen it. four years ago a gun was pulled on me during the mini season out on a patch reef, b/c i was too close to a tourists' boat.
so next time you go down, please be considerate to the locals, the laws, and the reef.
i dont want to pee on your parade, but this is a prime example why the locals dont like the mini season. tourists come down, take way over their bag limit, destroy the reef, and just leave with out any consideration. now i am not trying to start a fight, but being a local i have seen it. four years ago a gun was pulled on me during the mini season out on a patch reef, b/c i was too close to a tourists' boat.
so next time you go down, please be considerate to the locals, the laws, and the reef.
scubanut
Member
To tell you the truth Tru Conch we did have large number of people on board and there was nothing illegal about it. 6 per person is the limit and that's what we took. My mom had a gun pulled on her by one of the locals down there, when it was just her and five of us kids, so I think that situation can go either way. I have respect for the ocean and everyhing in it. I'm not trying to ruin the place that I love the most. I don't want to start any arguements but I want to clarify that I respect nature just as much as anyone else who loves it.
joe's reefer
Member
i snorkel at catalina island.really fun stuff.gotta love those garibaldi atacking you
tru conch
Active Member
scubanut, like i said, i wasnt trying to be a jerk, and i respect the people who do follow the rules, but we (both locals and tourist) have had bad experiences during the crazy two day miniseason. it just takes bad apples to spoil the whole lot, and then a fun situation is no longer fun anymore.
on another note, i hope that this year is better than the last few years. the bugs have been hard to find the last two years. i know the commerical guys are having a hard time b/c of trap reductions and the lobsters just not showing up. i wish you good luck and happy hunting! btw the water is already up in the high 70's low 80's, nothing like just having a bathing suit on while bugging!
on another note, i hope that this year is better than the last few years. the bugs have been hard to find the last two years. i know the commerical guys are having a hard time b/c of trap reductions and the lobsters just not showing up. i wish you good luck and happy hunting! btw the water is already up in the high 70's low 80's, nothing like just having a bathing suit on while bugging!
tru conch
Active Member
well good luck and happy hunting. last weekend while i was home i did see a few in lobster holes on the hardbottom flats. too bad its out of season. but in a few months they will be open game though.
the only time i got my limit was one day, and we just happened to find a shallow ledge/hole system load up with bugs.
scubanut, do you actually like the larger bugs? i think it was von rahvin talking about an 8 lb bug. imo i think the ones barely legal taste the best, a lot more tender than the larger ones.
well again, i wish ya the best of luck in finding some sea cockroaches! hahaha
the only time i got my limit was one day, and we just happened to find a shallow ledge/hole system load up with bugs.
scubanut, do you actually like the larger bugs? i think it was von rahvin talking about an 8 lb bug. imo i think the ones barely legal taste the best, a lot more tender than the larger ones.
well again, i wish ya the best of luck in finding some sea cockroaches! hahaha
R
ricksreef
Guest
yeah,been diving since the 70's,but just moved to florida 4yrs. ago.now i am in the water at least 3 times a month collecting for my tanks and its always an experience. 
rangermonroe
Member
During the mid-90's I worked out of TX & LA as a commercial diver. I suppose that is what inspired me to reef tanks. Any one that has a reef tank and hasn't blown bubbles on a reef.... DO SO...ASAP! It is incredible seeing 'your' fish in their natural environment.
Not to mention the fact that YOU are being..... WATCHED!
Not to mention the fact that YOU are being..... WATCHED!
adivedog
Member
I'm a PADI master instructor and have been diving quite a while also, I'm originally from Southeast Fla, and still do a lot of diving down there as my family is still there. I didn't realize how ignorant I was of the ecosystem until I started in this hobby and watched the ecosystem grow before my eyes. It makes me appreciate a lot of the smaller things than I used to. I just wish I had been into this hobby years ago before I started diving.
algea eater
Member
Im and advanced open water diver.go diving in the red sea(eilat,sinai)every couple of months.nothing beats the red sea.
cadbury
Member
I'm not a pro or anything, but I have gone a few times. I've scuba dived in the Keys, Hawaii, which was awesome, I swam with sharks, Mante Rays, and the fish were incredible, and finally I went Scuba Diving in Italy (Sicily) that was also awesome, I saw an octopus as big as a VW bug, (maybe a little smaller) but it was huge. Its just so Serene, its another world!!!!
