Dive Review of Ultimate Getaway in
The Continental USA/Florida, Dry Tortugas

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Ultimate Getaway, Apr, 2005, by John Hardison, MD, usa . Report 1653.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Took a group of 9 divers on a 3 night live aboard to the Dry Tortugas (Gulf of Mexico). Total of 16 divers on board and 7 crew. First time with this operation for myself and my group. Some of other divers repeat customers. Water was choppy, windy, some current on the surface. Boat rolled a lot because of weather conditions and we had some seasickness. Offered four dives on day 1 and six on day 2. Advertised 7-10 dives per day. Third day advertised 2 special dives, but weather was poor and we made for port. Repeat divers said other trips had many more dives, calm seas. I have dove in worse conditions (Atlantic) and would have dove everytime they stoped the boat. Boat did a lot of puttering around same area without stopping. We think they were looking for good spots, but no communication ever to divers as to schedule, conditions, or what they were trying to do. Crew never entered water as guides or dove. Upon arrival at dock, crew very helpfull and took all luggage aboard. Upon return, divers did all the work. Nitrox available entire trip, $40 for unlimited refills (just wish we had more opportunities to refill). John, the cook, very personable and food was good. Al, the tank refiller, always had a joke to tell and paid close attention to cameras and getting tanks refilled. Other crew were invisible for the most part, helped grab cameras and fins when coming aboard, but that was it. Advertised 14' chase boat conspicuously absent from trip, it would have been helpful to get current-swept divers back on board. Community bunkroom was exactly as expected - no frills, and bunks were actually roomier than anticipated. On first dives, divers were told to swim to bow and decend on anchor line, but current was too strong. When divers complained to Captain Rick, resistance was met and he became defensive - not what you want when trying to work out a solution. Although we felt his communciation and customer service skills lacked, diving improved dramatically after discussion, with lines attached from stern to bow. We think we caught the crew at a bad time, some members were new, and the weather report may have had some of them thinking they would not be working that weekend because they did not seem "in to it" at all. Diving was good all around, always on a healthy reef with plenty of angels, small grouper, and the usual suspects. Spotted a 400lb. Goliath Grouper at 26 feet once, and 2 divers saw a hammerhead in 90 feet. Dolphins chased the boat but were absent on dives as well as turtles and any other sharks. The single night dive produced 6 snowflake eels and plenty of lobster. One diver reported a large octopus but I searched in vain for them. The area needs to have mooring bouys in popular locations, our boat's anchor was always lodged against live reef. Overall the experience was fair. Communication with the divers would have improved the trip 10 fold. Less chop and less surface current would have made things better, but crew cannot predict the weather, but I expect more than 10 dives on a three day live aboard. Not recommended for novice divers.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Fl Keys, West Palm (FL), Maryland, California, St. John, Belize, Grand Cayman, San Juan Islands (WA)
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy, dry	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	72-74°F / 22-23°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	If your computer locked you out, you were done diving for the trip. If you dove tables, they would be checked for accuracy. 1st beer = last dive of the day.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Seperate (and multiple) rinse buckets for washing or soaking camera equipment. Nice table for setting up your camera. Emphasis on handing your camera to you in the water and taking it when you came out.

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Dive Review of Ultimate Getaway in The Continental USA/Florida, Dry Tortugas

Ultimate Getaway, Apr, 2005,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Ultimate Getaway in
The Continental USA/Florida, Dry Tortugas