Level Up Podcast for Scuba Diving Industry Magazine – June edition
Level Up podcast #2 now available from Scuba Diving Industry Magazine and ScubaRadio!
New “Level Up” Podcast for dive industry professionals from Scuba Diving Industry Magazine and produced by ScubaRadio.
Magical ScubaRadio ScubaCruise with Explorer Ventures August 12-19 2023!
Disappear from the real world and join ScubaRadio and Explorer Ventures for a magical week on the Turks & Caicos Explorer II liveaboard August 12-19 2023. Watch or even participate in the ScubaRadio broadcast and video we produce onboard that week to preserve our diving memories for years to come…or at least the ones we're willing to share. 😉
Book now and save $1000! Call or visit ExplorerVentures.com for terms and conditions.
We will also have ScubaRadio mermaids and for the first time ever, a Scuba Magician! Prepare to be amazed by Scott Tokar and possibly pick up some tricks of your own to delight the dive buddies you left back home! This is all on top of the amazing diving and exceptional service you always get with Explorer Ventures on the Turks & Caicos Explorer II liveaboard vessel. Space is limited, so book today by calling 1-800-322-3577.
How to score your special rate at Plunge Beach Resort for Bugfest 2022!
Call 407-536-2763 and ask for the Bugfest rate as heard on ScubaRadio
…or GoTo PlungeBeachHotel.com
Click “Book Now” and put in dates
Add Code: Bug22 (with “Group Attendee” selected in dropdown menu)
Rates should now show $50-60 less per night! 🙂
Celebration to Mark 20th ‘Sink Anniversary’ of Florida Keys’ Spiegel Grove Artificial Reef
KEY LARGO, Florida Keys — The 20th anniversary of the storied intentional sinking of a retired 510-foot Navy Landing Ship Dock to create an artificial reef 6 miles off Key Largo is to be marked May 15-17 in the Florida Keys.
Highlights include a planned morning dive on Spiegel Grove Sunday, May 15, to place a commemorative plaque on the ship’s hull to honor the men who served on the vessel. Qualified divers can make a reservation by contacting Lisa Mongelia, director of Islamorada’s History of Diving Museum, at 305-664-9737 or director@divingmuseum.org.
The museum is also debuting a monthlong pop-up exhibit about the ship in its research library. Visitors to the facility, located at mile marker 82.9 bayside in Islamorada, can learn about the wreck and its fascinating heritage through May 31. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
On May 17 — the 20th anniversary of the ship’s sinking — the public can enjoy “Celebrating the Spiegel Grove at 20: A Saga Too Strange Even for Hollywood!,” a multimedia presentation and panel discussion with members of the initial “sink team,” chronicling the intriguing history of Spiegel Grove. The story of the ship’s journey from the ocean’s surface to the sandy bottom 130 feet below is as compelling as its size.
Featured panelists include Lad Akins, curator of marine conservation at Frost Museum of Science; Rob Bleser and Spencer Slate, Key Largo dive operators; Stephen Frink, renowned underwater photographer and Alert Diver Magazine publisher; Joy Martin, former Key Largo Chamber of Commerce president; retired NOAA Rear Adm. Dave Score, a former Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary superintendent; and Andy Newman, media relations director for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
The free-admission event is slated for 7-9 p.m. in the auditorium of Key Largo’s Murray Nelson Governmental and Cultural Center, mile marker 102. Refreshments and beverages are to be served. Interested participants are asked to register with the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce at keylargochamber.org.
The panel is to review the saga of the Spiegel Grove — a story that even Hollywood couldn’t write.
During the morning of May 17, 2002, the ship prematurely sank and rolled over, leaving its upside-down bow protruding above the ocean’s surface, which was deemed a navigational hazard by the U.S. Coast Guard. The team of workers on the ship had scampered to safety and escaped injury, but the story captured worldwide media attention and the Spiegel Grove quickly became the best-known artificial reef even before the first recreational diver descended on it.
A massive effort resulted in the ship being fully sunk on its starboard side June 10, 2002, and after a salvage operation to recover lost equipment, the ship opened to divers June 26, 2002.
But the saga of the Spiegel Grove wasn’t over yet. In early July 2005 the vessel was discovered in an upright position — the position that the dive community had originally hoped for — after Hurricane Dennis brushed the Florida Keys with tropical storm-force winds.
The commemorative celebration also includes the May 17 kickoff of the “Spiegel Grove 20th Anniversary Dive Trip Giveaway.” The prize includes a three-night Key Largo accommodations-and-dive trip, valued at over $2,500, to dive the famous wreck — still the world’s third-largest ship ever intentionally sunk to become an artificial reef and one of nine iconic wreck diving sites along the Florida Keys Wreck Trek.
The contest entry page link is to be published in posts on the Florida Keys’ Facebook page and as a link below the bio (@thefloridakeys) on Instagram and Twitter. The trip giveaway entry period begins at 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday, May 17, and continues through 11:59 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 31. Rules and terms are to be available on the contest page.
Spiegel Grove information: fla-keys.com/news/article/11153/
Florida Keys visitor information: fla-keys.com
Florida Keys diving information: fla-keys.com/diving
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