Diving from Your Own Boat in the Caribbean

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by Healer52

White and red balls are for the 'professional' dive boats only. The others are fair game. The yellow are for boats up to 60', first come first served (best not to take a local's favorite, though).

It's off topic but I didn't know that. How many overnight moorings are there? Are the yellow only for day mooring? I somehow have it stuck in my head that there are only 10 overnight moorings and you have to dive with a professional so I'm not sure how you use the yellows. Thanks for the information. Saba is a beautiful island and we would like to visit it again.

[Healer52]

Originally Posted by Palarran

It's off topic but I didn't know that. How many overnight moorings are there? Are the yellow only for day mooring? I somehow have it stuck in my head that there are only 10 overnight moorings and you have to dive with a professional so I'm not sure how you use the yellows. Thanks for the information. Saba is a beautiful island and we would like to visit it again.

I'm not sure. I'd call or email the marine park (not the dive shops, the marine conservancy or the tourist office - Glen's a nice guy but a flake) and find out exactly what the rules are. There are moorings all around the island though.

Out of curiosity, where do you keep your boat in SXM? We may want to keep ours down there? We own a timeshare on Oyster bay, and have chartered from the Moorings office there.

[Palarran]

I'm in Oyster Pond at Captain Olivers.

Noonsite does not show a restriction on diving there but,

This is what I got from the sabapark.org site:

Saba plunges below the sea as steeply as it rises above. From shallow patch reefs to deep underwater seamounts, Saba offers dive sites suitable for each diver’s level of experience. Past volcanic activity has created spectacular formations and structures. Underwater lava flows and hot springs are the most obvious evidence of Saba’s volcanic origins.

Due to the steepness of the coastal zone, shore diving is virtually impossible. Therefore all diving must be with one of Saba’s licensed dive centers. Their expertise contributes to a safe, convenient and informative diving experience.

Fortunately Saba’s dramatic coastline naturally limits coastal development. Pressure on marine resources has always been low even as the island population has increased. The quality of the marine environment, resilient reef communities and rich and varied marine life continue to lure divers to Saba’s unspoiled waters.

[E-P]

A little off-topic but at least in Coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico I wish people would just stay away from the water with their snorkeling kits. Any idiot can jump to the water, especially with no respect on anything there, and go snorkeling. Poking the turtles, touching the corals and kicking the sediment up and and around, not to mention the good old standing-in-a-massive-brain-coral-and-cleaning-my-mask is the way to go! Thanks to that many places where the barrier reef is close to the beach 80-90% of the corals have been destroid during the last 20 years.

That was my ranting. Thank you.

[Bash]

I'm a retired master instructor, both PADI and NAUI. Originally certified in 1972. I stopped keeping a log-book after I logged dive #5,000, because it was interfering with the zen of diving. That was quite a while ago.

Back in the '70s, those few of us with C cards were like members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. You took a gun everywhere you went, and if you saw something big, you shot it. Probably half my ocean dives I would kill something older than me. Have you ever shot a fish that outweighed your wife? I have.

We didn't know any better.

These days I will sometimes dive a reef that I'd experienced twenty or thirty years ago, and I will weep into my mask. Afterward, back on the beach, my students will exclaim how amazing the reef is, and I'll bite my tongue, hesitant to ruin their experience by telling them how amazing it was.

It was interesting to read earlier in this thread that Antigua now requires divers to be accompanied by a divemaster. In the early '80s, I was part of a group of instructors/divemasters hosted by that island's government to discover new reefs so that they could develop a dive industry. How times changed! Back then you wouldn't bother grabbing a conch unless it was bigger than your head, and if you were lucky you could find a spiny lobster longer than your leg.

Mark my words, folks: a decade or two from now it will be rare to find a coral reef where a sport diver is permitted to dive without the supervision of a professional escort. And, if my colleagues studying ocean acidification are right, a couple dacades after that, it may become rare to find a living coral reef, period.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Bash

I'm a retired master instructor, both PADI and NAUI. Originally certified in 1972. I stopped keeping a log-book after I logged dive #5,000, because it was interfering with the zen of diving. That was quite a while ago.

Back in the '70s, those few of us with C cards were like members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. You took a gun everywhere you went, and if you saw something big, you shot it. Probably half my ocean dives I would kill something older than me. Have you ever shot a fish that outweighed your wife? I have.

We didn't know any better.

These days I will sometimes dive a reef that I'd experienced twenty or thirty years ago, and I will weep into my mask. Afterward, back on the beach, my students will exclaim how amazing the reef is, and I'll bite my tongue, hesitant to ruin their experience by telling them how amazing it was.

It was interesting to read earlier in this thread that Antigua now requires divers to be accompanied by a divemaster. In the early '80s, I was part of a group of instructors/divemasters hosted by that island's government to discover new reefs so that they could develop a dive industry. How times changed! Back then you wouldn't bother grabbing a conch unless it was bigger than your head, and if you were lucky you could find a spiny lobster longer than your leg.

Mark my words, folks: a decade or two from now it will be rare to find a coral reef where a sport diver is permitted to dive without the supervision of a professional escort. And, if my colleagues studying ocean acidification are right, a couple dacades after that, it may become rare to find a living coral reef, period.

I also remember those days, in south Fl it was common for my brother and I to shoot 50-100# grouper (and hundreds would be swimming around) just about any time during the winter months -we would load up our little 12 ft boat with sometimes 100 lobsters and give them away- yes I was a part of the problem , we had no BC or pressure gauge back then,"J" valve I believe reserved 500psi in the tank so we could make it up for air- so much has changed in so little time, but I remember the old timers saying the same thing back then also- now were near the end of the line for many species, and I beleave your right most will be gone in a few decades along with everything eles a few years after that, unless we make some big changes soon

[shipofools]

if you are diving in the Caribbean, and see a lionfish. KILL IT. While it might look cool, in reality it is an invasive species, destroying the native fish, and for those of you that have tried hogfish, tastes the same. Yummy.

details: www.lionfishhunter.com

cheers

[gettinthere]

In these places where you must dive with a dive shop, what about working under your boat? Do you have to have an instructor come by in their dive boat to allow you to scrape barnacles and change zincs?

[E-P]

Originally Posted by shipofools

if you are diving in the Caribbean, and see a lionfish. KILL IT. While it might look cool, in reality it is an invasive species, destroying the native fish, and for those of you that have tried hogfish, tastes the same. Yummy.

details: www.lionfishhunter.com

cheers

Good point,

More specifically kill it IF you are SURE that you are able to catch it. IF you miss your opportunity you have lost it for good. Before an individual lionfish encounters a human threat they are not afraid of us but when somebody tries to catch one, misses it and the fish escapes it becomes aware of this threat and no one ever will catch it.

Also, local ocean science departments would much appreciate if you take a photo of the lion fish you caught, weight it and measure the length before you eat it. At least in Quintana Roo, Mexico it is some aquaculture research department in Puerto Morelos that is taking care of the monitoring of the invasion of lionfish in that east coast of Mexico. I am not fully aware which this place is but you could contact at least Centro Ecológico Akumal or UNAM, Puerto Morelos if you have this can of data.

[Fishy Phil]

Hi Guys, just to help with this thread in respect to Grenada.

We welcome cruisers to our beautiful Island of Grenada to take in its natural beauty but also our world class diving, which has more shipwrecks than any other island including the Bianca C, a cruise liner that sank in 1961 known as the 'Titanic of the Caribbean' as well as our beutiful reefs. We are also home to the unique 'Underwater Sculpture Park'

There is no fee for diving or law against you diving from your boat.

However, as the majority of our dive sites are not moored up apart from in the Marine Protected Area so you would find it difficult to find them easily so maybe use one of the dive centers on the Island to get the most from your diving when you visit us.

Fishy Phil

[Ram]

(As a boy growing up in Jupiter Fl, I saw one(lionfish) and found a picture of it in a book and my Dad said i was wrong that there are none in these waters- thats over 40 years ago- I wonder if the fish I saw is the grand daddy to all the rest

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Ram

(As a boy growing up in Jupiter Fl, I saw one(lionfish) and found a picture of it in a book and my Dad said i was wrong that there are none in these waters- thats over 40 years ago- I wonder if the fish I saw is the grand daddy to all the rest

Ram, That's an interesting report. My wife knows some NOAA people working on the lionfish issue. They generally attribute the first Atlantic lionfish to escapies during hurricane Andrew in 1991. I'm sure they would be interested in hearing about an earlier report from about 1970.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Ram, That's an interesting report. My wife knows some NOAA people working on the lionfish issue. They generally attribute the first Atlantic lionfish to escapies during hurricane Andrew in 1991. I'm sure they would be interested in hearing about an earlier report from about 1970.

send a link and i will drop them a note

[Maddog]

If I plan to dive off a 3rd world country, do I need a firearm. Should I keep one my my boat.

Which anchor should I use to hold my place against the current while I dive. I'm partial to the Roncha.

(grabbing my coat and swimming for the door)

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Maddog

If I plan to dive off a 3rd world country, do I need a firearm. Should I keep one my my boat.

Which anchor should I use to hold my place against the current while I dive. I'm partial to the Roncha.

(grabbing my coat and swimming for the door)

The answer to the first question depends on the country and how you would enjoy being a guest in their local prison. I don't see what diving has to do with firearms, they usually don't work too well underwater.

With respect to the anchor, it depends on the type of bottom. Regardless of the type of anchor when diving and using an anchor the first thing you should do is check to make sure it is well set. The last thing you want to do is come up and find the boat has drifted 2 miles down current. If you can, leave someone in the boat, but if that's not possible make sure the boat is not having any issues before you leave it. A couple of years ago some friends of a friend were diving off of Florida. They got to the dive site and in their excitement forgot they had pulled the drainplug to get rid of some excess water. About 30 minutes later they discovered a very nice sunken boat on the bottom. They were quite excited until they realized it was their boat. It was a long swim back to the beach but fortunately everyone survived.