For reservations call the Outpost Scuba-Phone 800.513.5257 or reservations@guyharveyoutpost.com
Diving with Santa Claus
6 Dec 201610:41 AM
It turns out that Santa Claus carries more than toys in that reindeer-driven sleigh: a set of scuba tanks. And you will have two opportunities to dive underwater, sit on his lap, get your photo taken, and present him with your holiday wish list.
Santa’s sleigh will take him first to Pompano Beach where South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Guy Harvey Outpost Outfitter, will host a two-tank dive on Dec. 11. One of Captain Jeff Torode’s dive boats will give you and Santa (and a couple of his elves) a lift out to the 70-foot-deep wreck of the Ancient Mariner where you’ll proceed down to the deck for a photo op. For the second dive, you and Santa will do a drift dive along a shallower reef. Afterward, digital photos will be available that you can convert to holiday cards or decorations or just plaster all over Facebook and Instagram. Cost is $60; for reservations, call the shop at 800-771-DIVE or go to www.southfloridadiving.com.
Then on December 22, Santa arrives at Captain Slate’s Scuba Adventures, a Guy Harvey Outpost Outfitter near Islamorada, for a two-tank afternoon dive on a couple of shallow reefs where snorkelers also are welcome. You’ll get a photo session and a holiday gift. Cost is $85; for reservations, call 800-331-3483.
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![](mailto:?subject=Gather Ye Lobsters While Ye May&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/lobster.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3967 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/lobster-225x300.jpg" alt="lobster" width="225" height="300" /></a>By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
Lobster hunters have two more weeks to bag a limit of tasty entrees before Florida's harvest season closes on April 1. Whatever you catch will have to tide you over until the annual two-day lobster mini-season July 27-28.
Here are some tips from three South Florida lobster diving experts for getting your limit of six per person per day:
KEYS
Go shallow, advises Eric Billips, owner of Islamorada Dive Center and author of textbooks on underwater hunting.
"You'll be way better off in eight to 15 feet of water just inside the reef," Billips said. "Look for a solitary coral head in a sandy area. Where you see one [lobster], there's a chance there will be two or three in the same head."
Billips and his companions recently caught four large lobsters near Hens n' Chickens Reef-- including a four-pounder. His preferred method is to use a net and tickler stick instead of a snare or 'bugger'.
"Be super chill, not real aggressive, tap-tap-tap real gently behind them," he advised.
It's illegal to spear lobsters in Florida, but it's perfectly okay to add to your haul by spearing some exotic lionfish, which frequent the same habitats as the crustaceans.
MIAMI BEACH/BISCAYNE BAY
Like Billips, Miami Beach captain Abie Raymond is finding plenty of super-sized bugs on isolated coral heads in the shallow waters from South Beach to Haulover Inlet. If you don't know where these coral heads are, Raymond said, follow the fish.
"If you see blue tangs, chase them and they will 99 percent of the time lead you to a coral head you didn't know was there," he said.
Biscayne Bay, the captain said, has not been as productive as usual due to this winter's unseasonable record rainfall.
Raymond, a free diver, uses a tickle stick and his bare hands to catch dinner.
"I tickle-stick them out and wiggle my fingers on my left hand and the lobster will put out his antennas," Raymond explained. "Then I put my [right] hand on the back of his tail."
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Slate-Special.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3968 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Slate-Special.jpg" alt="Slate Special" width="724" height="351" /></a>
GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE
Few scuba divers are as successful at harvesting lobster in Broward County's urban waters than Jim "Chiefy" Mathie of Deerfield Beach and his regular dive crew. The author of the popular how-to manual "Catching the Bug" says the late-season hunter's best bet is to hit the east side of the third reef 75 to 85 feet deep, weather permitting.
"I can almost guarantee they'll be out there," Mathie said. "It's been bumpy. The visibility hasn't been the best due to rain and wind. The weather has kept people in. We've had an outstanding year. Almost every time we went out, we got our limit or almost our limit."
Mathie prefers the snare over the net and tickler stick.
"It's hard to get them out of the net," he said. "I use my snare like a tickler stick, withdrawing the loop and tickling them out. As soon as you've got that loop around the tail, you've got 'em."
NOT SO FAST...
Before you hit the hunting grounds, make sure you have a valid Florida saltwater fishing license and a lobster permit. To be legal, a lobster must measure greater than three inches on the carapace or head, and you must use a lobster gauge to measure it in the water. Taking egg-bearing females is prohibited. You must display a red-and-white diver-down flag whether you are diving from a boat or from shore. For a complete list of lobster regulations, visit the <a href="http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster/." target="_blank">MyFWC</a> web site.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/gather-ye-lobsters-while-ye-may/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=WANTED DEAD or Alive, LIONFISH!&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/reef-derbies-2014.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2053" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/reef-derbies-2014.jpg?w=300" alt="Reef Derbies 2014" width="300" height="300" /></a>
If you are in the eastern Bahamas and can not make it to the Bimini Beach Bash, Bonfire & Tournament please head over to the Green Turtle Club for the 6th Annual Lionfish Derby, June 27-28th. The Green Turtle Club is original host to REEF's first Lionfish Derby. We always need more divers and diners to make those pesky Lionfish disappear. To make your reservations call: 800-513-5257 or reservations@guyharveyoutpost.com, http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/ https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wanted-dead-or-alive-lionfish/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Guy Harvey Outpost Club to Open on Rum Cay, Bahamas&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-aerial-lr1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-949" title="Rum Cay, Bahamas" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-aerial-lr1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
Second Location for Guy Harvey Outpost Properties Program
Fort Lauderdale, FL - November 28, 2011 - <a title="GHO web site" href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts LTD</a> announced today plans to open its second boutique resort property on <a title="About Rum Cay" href="http://guyharveyoutpost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=87" target="_blank">Rum Cay</a> in the southern Bahamas. The popular <a title="Sumner Point M&V web site" href="http://www.rumcaymarina.com/" target="_blank">Sumner Point Marina & Villas </a>property is undergoing renovations and reopens this spring as the Guy Harvey Outpost Resort & Marina, Rum Cay.
Rum is the southern gateway in and out of the Bahamas, just like <a title="About Bimini" href="http://www.bahamas.com/out-islands/bimini" target="_blank">Bimini</a> is to the north, so this is a great complement to our system and certainly will be a welcome Outpost for any of our customers spending time further down the island chain," notes company President, Mark Ellert. The Rum Cay project follows the reopening of the <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a> last year as a Guy Harvey Outpost. Rum Cay is an out-island destination known for its rugged and unspoiled beauty, and daily life on Rum is little changed over the past hundred years.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-bluffs-lr1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-952" title="The unspoiled bluffs at Rum Cay" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-bluffs-lr1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>
"Every serious angler or diver has the Southern Bahamas on his or her bucket list, every mariner knows it’s where you put in for fuel and shore leave and with a lack of crowds or development, Rum Cay enthusiasts consider it their own private island retreat," adds Ellert, who oversees location selection for the firm. "For all these adventure travelers, we intend the Outpost Club & Marina to be the destination of choice in the Southern Bahamas."
The island has approximately 60 permanent residents and is roughly 50 miles southeast of Georgetown in <a title="About The Exumas" href="http://www.bahamas.com/out-islands/exumas" target="_blank">the Exumas</a>. Conception Island, which is part of the <a title="About the Land and Sea Park" href="http://www.bnt.bs/parks_exuma.php" target="_blank">Bahamas National Land and Sea Park</a> sanctuary, figures prominently in the company’s interest.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-marina-lr1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-954" title="Rum Cay Marina" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-marina-lr1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>
"Conception is just 10 miles from Rum," said the company’s chairman, <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Dr. Guy Harvey</a>, who holds a Ph.D in marine fisheries management. " In addition to the fantastic diving there, we intend to work with government in expanding the coral and shark research work of the <a title="GHRI web site" href="http://www.nova.edu/ocean/ghri/" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Research Institute</a> which is a cornerstone of our Outpost program in the Bahamas."
Named Santa Maria de La Concepcion by Columbus who visited the island on his first voyage to the New World, Rum Cay is believed to have acquired its modern name from a shipwrecked cargo of rum. The island’s most famous shipwreck is that of the 101-gun <a title="About the HMS Conqueror" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Conqueror_(1855)" target="_blank">HMS Conqueror </a>which sank off Sumner Point in 1861, and is now preserved and protected as the Bahamas Underwater Museum.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/snorkling-off-rum-cay-lr1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-956" title="Snorkeling off Rum Cay" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/snorkling-off-rum-cay-lr1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="828" /></a>
Widely recognized for its outstanding diving and fishing, Rum Cay is also popular with surfing and kite-boarding enthusiasts, and sky diving over the island is quickly gaining in popularity. This December the resort hosts its second "Jump Boogie", a weeklong skydiving and kite-surfing event.
"Rum Cay has always interested us because of its unquestionable natural beauty and its top-of-class sporting activities, including extreme sports that appeal to a new generation of Guy Harvey friends and fans," emphasizes Ned Stone, who leads the company’s "Outpost Pursuits" program. "Surf, kite and paddle boards are the new beach sports, and we intend to bring our top-of-class DNA to these as we’ve done for fishing and diving."
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-surfing1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-957" title="Surfing Rum Cay" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rum-cay-surfing1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="367" /></a>
The Sumner Point Marina is situated on the southeast tip of Rum Cay. The marina and adjoining club facilities have been owned and operated by the Little family since 1960. Known for its protected marina, picturesque beachside cottages and gourmet dining, the property exudes the bohemian flair of its owner and artist-in-residence, Bobby Little.
"It’s time for our family to take this incredible property to the next level", remarked Bobby Little in announcing the conversion of his boutique resort. "I was raised on Rum, as has my son. With our renovations and the support of the Guy Harvey Outpost brand and management, I expect our property to become a beacon for sustainable tourism in the Southern Bahamas. I can’t think of a better legacy for our family, for the Bahamas or for anyone who has come to call us their island home."
For more information, visit <a title="GHO web site" href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/guy-harvey-outpost-club-to-open-on-rum-cay-bahamas/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=History of Diving Museum, FREE Presentation March 19, Dive Memorials, CLICK for details&body=<img src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dive-memorials.png" class="size-full" alt="Dive Memorials at the History of Diving Museum, FREE Presentation" /> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/dive-memorials-at-the-history-of-diving-museum-free-presentation/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Bimini Sands’ Annual Woody Foundation Lionfish Bash Removes 276 Invasive Lionfish&body=South Bimini, Bahamas – <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-bimini.html">Bimini Sands Resort & Marina </a>on South Bimini in the Bahamas hosted <a href="http://www.woodyfoundation.org/event/4th-annual-lionfish-bash/">The Woody Foundation’s </a>Lionfish Bash for the fourth year in a row on August 15-17, 2014. The popular family spearfishing event led to the removal of 276 lionfish – a non-native, invasive species that is threatening native fish stocks in the Bahamas and Florida – from the waters around Bimini.
<img src="http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/uploads/15/biggestlionfishRickRodriguez_lores.jpg" alt="biggestlionfishRickRodriguez_lores.jpg" width="400" height="543" border="1" />Rick Rodriguez, Winner of the Largest Lionfish Trophy, 36.5 oz.
The Lionfish Bash is an annual event created to raise awareness about lionfish as well as to benefit The Woody Foundation, a Miami-based non-profit organization that raises funds to aid in the recovery of persons with spinal injuries. Foundation Board Member James “Woody” Beckham, whose severe spinal injury during a college rugby game in 2011 launched The Woody Foundation, attended the Lionfish Bash in person as he has done every year, inspiring all the participants.
The results of the 4th Annual Lionfish Bash:
Largest Lionfish: Rick Rodriguez, shown above, (36.5 oz.)
Smallest Lionfish: Cody Gunthner (0.061 oz.)
Top Junior Angler: Trace Colson (18.5 oz.)
Most Lionfish Caught, 1st Place: Team Spears & Beers (80)
Most Lionfish Caught, 2nd Place: Team Extra Expense (70).
The fun weekend event included a Captain’s Meeting at the Square Grouper tiki bar, a full day of spearfishing in the spectacular waters around Bimini, and an Awards Banquet at the resort’s waterfront Bimini Twist Restaurant. Most Lionfish Bash participants brought their own boats to the event, but <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-dive.html">Neal Watson’s Bimini Scuba Center’s </a>40-foot dive boat, the Dive God, took out a group who did not have their own vessels.
“The Lionfish Bash is one of the most fun and rewarding events we host each year,” said Bimini Sands President and CEO Frank Cooney. “We enjoy seeing Woody Beckham, his family and fellow board members from The Woody Foundation, and watching the fun as the Lionfish Bash participants helped to rid our beautiful coral reefs of these invasive fish.”
“Thanks again to the Cooney Family for hosting The Lionfish Bash,” said Woody Beckham. “Everyone thoroughly enjoys this unique adventure to Bimini. I can’t wait ’til next year’s event!” --- Louisa Beckett, Bahamas Weekly, Aug 26, 2014 https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bimini-sands-annual-woody-foundation-lionfish-bash-removes-276-invasive-lionfish/){kind=link}
 in Orange Beach, Alabama){kind=link}
 in Orange Beach, Alabama&body=[Orange Beach, Ala.--]Scuba diving 90 feet deep on the sunken coastal freighter "The LuLu", I was completely surrounded by a curtain of fish: shimmering minnows; fairly large amberjacks chasing them; gray, red and vermillion snapper; and convict-striped spadefish. The shifting schools covered much of the surface of the 271-foot ship. A few lurid-colored exotic lionfish lurked around various ambush points, but unfortunately none of us aboard the Down Under dive charterboat had brought a spear gun.
Too bad, because we could have carried our catch over to the popular restaurant SALT at SanRoc Cay Marina in Orange Beach where the dive boat docks. Chef Chris Sherrill and Chef Landon Benton would have prepared the lionfish in multiple creative dishes like they do with just about any other kind of fish their customers bring in. (More on that later.) Meanwhile, we simply enjoyed the swirl of colorful marine life populating the wreck.
"The LuLu" is the largest shipwreck in Alabama's vast array of artificial reefs, which include (but are not limited to): Army tanks, culvert pipes, bridge rubble, oil and gas platforms, big ships, small boats, and planes. Despite claiming only about 53 miles of coastline, Alabama boasts more than 14,000 manmade structures deployed in the Gulf from right off the beach to about 60 miles offshore, covering about 1,200 square nautical miles. In and around Mobile Bay lie another 30 smaller structures. The state plans to deploy another 600 reefs from the shore out to 70 feet deep, and it's almost ready to sink another big ship perhaps as early as this winter-- a 250-foot retired oceanographic survey vessel called the Fairfield New Venture--in about 125 feet of water.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4946" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris2.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1367" /></a>
"We consider ourselves to have the largest and most productive artificial reef program in the country," said Craig Newton, a biologist who serves as Alabama's artificial reef chief.
For Newton, the artificial reef program is all about creating a diverse set of habitats for a wide range of marine animals-- as well as diving and fishing destinations for the state's residents and visitors.
"The more diverse you can make the artificial reef program, it's better able to withstand fishing pressure and produce large numbers of snappers each year," he said.
For example, Newton said, species like amberjack and snapper prefer larger, taller structures like ships and oil rigs while other species tend to favor smaller, shallower havens. And he plans to create "stepping stone" reefs to establish connectivity between near-shore and offshore regions. Some species such as gray snapper spend their early lives in inshore estuaries, then head to deep water to reproduce.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris4.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4947" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris4.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1399" /></a>
A big reason Alabama has so many man-made diving and fishing reefs off its shores is that in addition to its own deployments, it permits private individuals to sink their own -- just as long as they are properly inspected to ensure they don't pollute the waters or pose a safety hazard. While these serve as private honey holes whose locations are not published on Alabama's artificial reef website <a href="http://www.outdooralabama.com/artificial-reefs/">www.outdooralabama.com/artificial-reefs/</a>, anyone who stumbles across them may fish or dive them.
On my second dive of the day with Down Under, we visited the Captain Shirley Brown, a 128-foot ferro-cement ship that once served as a waterborne club before being sent to the bottom about 85 feet deep two years ago. On that dive, I saw more amberjack and snapper and even larger lionfish than on the LuLu, and my dive buddy Chandra Wright spent her safety stop 20 feet deep fending off a pesky remora that tried to stick to her wetsuit, then gave her a kiss on the cheek before swimming off.
That evening at SALT, Sherrill prepared a delicious feast for Wright and me and our party including a charcuterie of meats and cheeses, quail gumbo, and crabmeat-stuffed grouper with fresh vegetable succotash. He told us to bring him lionfish the next time we dive, and said he could have created something from the remora if Wright had let it stick to her! He wasn't joking; he has whipped up culinary treasures from supposed 'trash' fish at other Alabama eateries. And I bet it would have tasted great.
(Photos courtesy of Lila Harris)
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If you plan a visit to the Orange Beach, Alabama area, a great place to stay is the Hilton Garden Inn, located on the beach. Visit <a href="http://HiltonGardenInnOrangeBeach.com">HiltonGardenInnOrangeBeach.com</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/dive-dive-dive-and-fish-in-orange-beach-alabama/){kind=link}
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