Divers Bulletin

Time to have fun again with our Flower Gardens Dive Trip at the Stetson Banks in the Gulf of Mexico ON 28-29 August 2008.

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary web site www.flowergarden.nos.noaa.gov How far is it? 110 miles south of the Texas/Louisiana border in approximately 350 ft of water. How deep is the reef? The reef caps are about 60 feet from the surface on all three banks. That’s the very top, with the banks dropping off well past the reach of recreational divers. What does it look like? The West and East Banks of the Flower Gardens coral banks covered with 21 different species of coral—mostly hard corals, no fans or whips. Stetson is a clay bank with approximately 40% sponge cover and very few places for the fish to hide! What will I see? Over 200 species of fish, 250 species of invertebrates and 21 species of coral inhabit the Flower Gardens. Loggerhead turtles are year-round residents. In February and March, hammerhead sharks school on the banks, with the occasional spinner shark and tiger shark. In late summer around coral Dive schedule? Typical 2-day trip: 2 morning dives on the West Bank of the Flower Gardens. At lunch move to the East Bank and make 2 more day dives and 1 night dive. Move to Stetson Bank during the night and make 2 morning dives on Stetson before getting underway for Freeport. The near-shore rigs are all being removed, so the near-shore rig dive has been deleted from the schedule. Minimum of 2 ½ hour surface interval between dives. How are the dives conducted? The boat divemasters will give a thorough briefing the night you board the boat, and tell you all about the in’s and out’s of diving off a large boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Site-specific briefings are conducted at each new dive site. The dive times are set by the boat crew, and will be approximately 7:00 am, 10:30 am, 2:00 pm, 5:30 pm and 9:00 pm on a 5-dive day. 4- dive days usually start at 8:00 am. 2 ½ hour surface intervals are mandatory, giving you plenty of time for meals, naps and sunbathing. Boat crew does not dive with the passengers, but instead is on deck during all dives to assist with entries and exits, as well as any surface assistance that is needed in-water. The trip leaders will be diving with the passengers. Dive profiles? The boat-imposed depth limit is 130 fsw for the first dive of the day ONLY, and 100 fsw for all subsequent dives. Dives must be planned within recreational limits—no planneddecompression dives are allowed. Within those parameters, buddy teams plan and execute their own dives. Dive times are set by the boat crew. Bottom times are limited only by your no-decompression limits, air consumption and common sense. Entries and exits? Entries are giant-stride off the port (sometimes starboard) side of the boat. It’s about a 5 foot drop that looks a lot higher for you tall guys, but you’ll be wet before you know it. Both boats have 2 ladders secured to the swim platform on the stern for your exit. Exits are made using lines from the ladders to remove your fins, then climbing the ladder with the rest of your gear in place. Camera lines are rigged for lowering and retrieving camera equipment.

You need to make sure to bring your wet suits, dive gear complete minus air tank, waters will range from 78 deg to 86 deg depending on the weather and depth,gloves are recomended. Please bring your own.

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