Well Labor Day is over and for most folks who don’t live in Florida summer is over, but for those of us who live in Florida we still have several months of good ocean diving and spearfishing left.

We will have what I call a mini season in the Gulf of Mexico for red snapper.

It will be October 8-9 (Saturday and Sunday), October 15-16 (Saturday and Sunday), and October 22-23 (Saturday and Sunday).

Then on November 11-13 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) Veterans Day weekend so please take the time to remember our brave veterans and all the military service people.

The last chance will be November 25-27 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) Thanksgiving Day weekend. So if you add them up, we still have (12) days of snapper season left this year.

I am grateful to be a part of this community and to serve y’all in the capacity as a dive shop manager as well as a scuba instructor.

We have been very busy with classes, and it still is busy even after the summer crowd has left us. We still will have scuba classes through most of the winter and early spring of next year then we start the late spring ocean diving.

In the cooler months when the Gulf Stream has pulled back, the water temperature will drop to around 57-62 degrees, that’s a bit colder then this old man can take, so we do our open water certifications in the springs to the east (Blue Grotto and Devils Den) near Williston or to the west (Morrison springs and Vortex springs).

Either of those locations works very well for open water students and I have quite a few former students who like to dive them just to keep their skills sharp and get wet.

The water temperature in these springs varies from 68 degrees in the west aquifer to 72 degrees in the east aquifer.

With that said you will need a wetsuit minimum 3mm to 5mm thick in order to be comfortable while you are in the water. The plus is the visibility in the springs Blue Grotto, Devils Den, and the Vortex is gin clear, in the Morrison springs if the river has not backed up in to it, it is also gin clear.

I hope this will encourage people who are thinking that you have to wait for the warmer climate to return here will consider taking classes and be ready to go diving when it does return.