On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:44:04 -0500, LOL! wrote:

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:43:55 -0400, tony cooper
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:54:40 -0500, George Kerby
wrote:


As I recall, there were extra certificaion needed for cave diving. I must
admit, I never had any interest is such things. Hell, I get weird in a MRI
machine! I just wanted to blow bubbles and take pictures on pretty reefs. I
have been to Flower Gardens in the Texas Gulf and Cozumel. Bonaire, I
understand, is a destination that ant diver should add: It's on my 'Bucket
List'. How do you like the Pennekamp Park? We're planning a trip to the Keys
in January.

Depends. If it's a family trip and there are non-divers in the group,
Pennekamp is a good destination. Non-divers can swim and snorkel, and
divers can shore dive. There's a reconstruction of a Spanish wreck
about 100' offshore. For a group of divers, it's too crowded with
swimmers and snorklers. It is a good compromise for a family group.

The divers will want to go out on one of the many boats based in Key
Largo. Many of the boats will take both divers and snorklers if you
have family members that do snorkel but don't dive. The better
diving and snorkeling is a few miles offshore. I usually go to
Islamorada instead of Key Largo. However, there are good dive outfits
all down the Keys. A little pre-trip research on dive sites,
especially wrecks, is the way to go.

January can be cold. Not cold like you have in the north, but
uncomfortably cold for snorklers and divers. Skins are a good
investment, and trap enough body-heated water to add to your comfort.
Not a dive suit, but a Lycra skin like:
http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-44/1...-Jumpsuit.html
About $30 in most dive shops in the area.

I wear a full skin on every dive because I get a highly allergic
reaction to Fire Coral. I have to get shots after or the wounds swell
and fester. I have scars on my hands from Fire Coral when I forgot my
dive gloves. My wife, a non-diver, wears a skin when snorkeling to
keep her back from being sunburned.

Here I am in a skin at Sting Ray City in the Caymans:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...r213/skins.jpg
Note the "Dilbert's boss's hair".

Oh my. Look at all the basement living trolls pretending like they've
actually done something interesting once in their lives!

LOL!

This particular poster can't be a "basement living troll". Florida
houses don't *have* basements. The only way to have a basement in a
house in this area is to build the house on fill and have the ground
floor several feet higher than street level.

Having never been to Florida - despite your tall tales of imaginary
trips on week-long treks in the Everglades seeking rare botanical
samples - you wouldn't know that.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida