Despite its name, Lake Tarpon on Central Florida’s Gulf coast is best known for its outsized largemouth bass– not the leaping ‘silver king’. Rated one of the Sunshine State’s …
Explore Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the History of Diving Museum, Islamorada, April 15th
2 Apr 20152:49 AM
Immerse Yourself, Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the History of Diving Museum, April 15th 7pm. Alyssa Engiles presents the story of Man, Homo Delphinus to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.
Come early to meet David Charash and learn about the underwater adventure of Mission 31 when Fabian Cousteau broke his grandfather’s endurance record.
The History of Diving Museum is located at: 82990 Overseas Hwy about one mile north of the Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost.
For more information on the History of Diving Museum
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: www.ghofish.com
For Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com
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![](mailto:?subject=Explore Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the History of Diving Museum, Islamorada, April 15th&body=Immerse Yourself, Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum</a>, April 15th 7pm. Alyssa Engiles presents the story of Man, Homo Delphinus to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/alyssa-engiles-history-of-diving-museum-friend.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2681 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/alyssa-engiles-history-of-diving-museum-friend.jpg?w=550" alt="Alyssa Engiles, History of Diving Museum & Friend" width="550" height="550" /></a>Alyssa Engiles, History of Diving Museum and Friend.
Come early to meet David Charash and learn about the underwater adventure of <a title="Cousteau Dives the Keys!" href="http://guyharveyoutpostnews.com/2014/06/11/cousteau-dives-the-keys/">Mission 31 </a>when Fabian Cousteau broke his grandfather’s endurance record.
The History of Diving Museum is located at: 82990 Overseas Hwy about one mile north of the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamorada-fl/islamorada-fl-overview.html">Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost</a>.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/dive-helmet.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2678" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/dive-helmet.png" alt="Dive Helmet" width="199" height="275" /></a>
For more information on the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum</a>
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/">www.ghofish.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/" target="_parent">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost" target="_parent">https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/GHOutpost" target="_parent">https://twitter.com/GHOutpost</a>
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/00-gho-logo.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2458" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/00-gho-logo.jpg?w=550" alt="00 GHO-Logo" width="550" height="550" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/explore-mans-relationship-with-the-sea-at-the-history-of-diving-museum-islamorada-april-15th/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Vet to Vet: Dive, Dive, Dive!&body=Retired U.S. Navy Petty Officer Seth Wade likely will have to get around using a wheelchair for the rest of his life-- a daunting prospect at the age of 26. After losing use of his legs in a 2014 auto accident that damaged his spinal cord while on deployment in Europe, Wade is adjusting to civilian life in his hometown of Tampa. But instead of being depressed about what he can't do as a paraplegic, Wade has decided to focus on what he CAN do-- snow and water skiing, sailing, and, just recently, scuba diving.
"Being in the water gives you a sense of freedom," Wade said between pool training sessions in Clearwater recently. "I love it. I can't wait to get to the good stuff."
Wade was trained by Scott Crawford, a U.S. Air Force retiree and owner/instructor at Rock Bottom Divers near Tarpon Springs. Crawford has been donating his time to teach and certify military vets-- both disabled and able-bodied-- as scuba divers for the past three years. He works with several non-profit veterans' groups to help defray costs for the dive boat, equipment and instructional materials.
"It's called 'adaptive diving'," Crawford said of how he trains his students. "It's based on what the candidate can do -- not what he can't do."
Crawford was introduced to Wade by Nelson Corbin, executive director of the North Carolina-based Wounded Veteran Retreat Program. Corbin, a U.S. Army Rangers veteran, began organizing outdoor outings for wounded vets about three years ago after his son, who served in Special Forces, lost both legs in Afghanistan.
Corbin helped out with Wade's dive training sessions in the pool and an inland spring. But neither he nor Crawford cut the young man any slack. Wade lowered himself from his wheelchair to pool side and in and out of the water. He had to perform the same skills as any other open-water dive candidate-- removing and clearing the mask underwater; executing out-of-air drills and emergency ascents; donning his buoyancy control device and many others-- all while swimming with webbed gloves and no fins. He took to the skills easily-- probably because he grew up fishing and snorkeling in Tampa Bay.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/P1010485.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4206" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/P1010485-1024x768.jpg" alt="P1010485" width="1024" height="768" /></a>
"Good work, man!" Crawford congratulated Wade.
The student earned both an open-water and Nitrox scuba certification through the SSI agency. Nitrox is a breathing gas containing less nitrogen than regular compressed air-- important for Wade because it means less nitrogen accumulating in the scar tissue on his spine. Too much nitrogen in the blood and tissues can lead to decompression sickness, or the 'bends' -- a painful and serious medical condition.
"It's nice having two vets [in training sessions]," Wade said. "Doing it with non-vets from a local dive shop would be not as comfortable."
The new scuba diver reflected back on the dark days of his post-accident recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near Washington, D.C. where he was treated by several psychologists, some of whom he "fired". But one who he called 'Lieutenant Dan' stood out as particularly helpful.
"Somehow, he was hooked up with Guy Harvey," Wade recalled.
'Lieutenant Dan' got Wade a limited-edition print of a tarpon signed by Harvey, along with a tee shirt. Today, that tarpon hangs over Wade's bed at home in Tampa.
"I never did get to thank Guy Harvey," Wade mused. "If you see him, tell him I said thanks."
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/dive-packages/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4200 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ad.jpg" alt="ad" width="737" height="301" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/vet-to-vet-dive-dive-dive/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Capt. Slate’s ‘Creature Feature’ Dive – New Location, New Thrills&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/slate.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-2903 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/slate.jpg?w=660" alt="Slate" width="660" height="256" /></a>
(Tavernier, FL) The five-foot-long green moray eel glides out of its coral reef cave and heads straight for the ballyhoo that Captain Spencer Slate dangles from two gloved fingers. The eel quickly gulps the bait then allows Slate to cradle it in his arms and stroke its slick sides. Slate holds the eel out to a ten-year-old diver sitting nearby who gives it a pat, and it returns to its cave.
"A sweetheart, a doll," Slate says later of the eel, who he has named Wasabi.
Slate has been making friends with eels, sharks, barracudas, Goliath groupers, and numerous other Upper Keys reef denizens since the late 1970s. His twice-weekly 'creature feature' feeding dives on Fridays and Sundays conducted from Captain Slate's Scuba Adventures Dive Center, a Guy Harvey Outpost outfitter in Tavernier, regularly draws a sell-out audience.
On a recent Sunday, two families from Fort Pierce-- both with newly certified scuba diving ten-year-old daughters-- travelled to the Keys for the third time to participate. Both girls thoroughly enjoyed the dive, and declared they would share photos and videos upon returning to school.
"They were cute!" one girl said of Wasabi and Lester, another green moray befriended by Slate.
Slate escorted his guests to the first dive at Davis Reef, a shallow, scenic coral ledge about 25 feet deep where Wasabi makes her home. Slate dropped to the bottom carrying a PVC canister filled with chum and bally hoo, quickly attracting a school of yellowtail snapper and grunts that followed the scent trail.
The captain stopped in front of a shallow cave near a large Southern stingray that rested half-buried in the sand and kept a wary eye on the food fest. The swarming snapper and grunts were so thick around the chum canister that the divers could barely see Slate. The divers settled down in the sand to see what would happen next.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/10924171_770345289702868_1772420048942809884_o.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-2907 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/10924171_770345289702868_1772420048942809884_o.jpg?w=660" alt="10924171_770345289702868_1772420048942809884_o" width="660" height="339" /></a>
Wasabi appeared pretty quickly after Slate took out the first bally hoo. Her jaws flexed open and closed as she approached the bait, then devoured it. She held pretty still for all the public displays of affection by the humans, then went back to her cave to digest the meal. She never snapped at anybody.
The stingray, tired of the hoopla, slowly dusted itself off and swam away.
Slate let the schooling fish have their way in the chum slick for a little while, then got out another bally hoo for Wasabi. She re-emerged from her cave, ate her snack, indulged the divers, then departed.
None of Slate's guests has been injured by his featured creatures in decades, but he has. Following numerous nips to the fingers requiring multiple visits to a hand surgeon over the years, Slate began wearing chain-mail gloves. Even today, he has very little feeling in his digits. Trying to feed barracudas bally hoo clasped between his teeth, Slate has suffered split lips, a black eye and a severed nerve in his cheek.
"Like getting a haymaker from Sonny Liston," he said.
A Goliath grouper he fed regularly at the wreck of the City of Washington off Key Largo once swallowed his arm and part of his head in its haste to score a meal.
He just laughs off the injuries and vows to keep hanging with the sea life.
"You know me. If I find an eel, I am going to make a buddy out of it," he said.
On the second dive with the group from Fort Pierce, Slate headed to nearby Pleasure Reef where he is trying to cultivate a more solid friendship with Lester, another moray. Lester responded a bit slowly to the offered bally hoo and didn't want to hang around too long for the requisite love fest. But he didn't display any hostility, just shyness.
During that dive, the guests also spotted a large nurse shark and a sea turtle passing by. Nobody was scared -- just excited.
That's the whole purpose behind the creature feature, Slate said -- showing visitors that residents of the underwater world are not out to get them.
"I've done this my whole life, so people will respect them and get over the idea they'll eat you alive," Slate said.
That message certainly went a long way with two very exhilarated ten-year-old girls.
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. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/capt-slates-creature-feature-dive-new-location-new-thrills/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Plunge into the History of Diving Museum, Islamorada, Florida&body=Come celebrate 100 years of Diving History August 23rd with a wine & cheese reception at the Museum just up the road from the Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost. August 24th the Museum will have FREE KIDS ACTIVITIES from noon to 3pm. The reception begins at 7pm Saturday August 23rd and includes admission to the History of Diving Museum, raffle prizes & silent auction. Tickets are $10 for adults or $5 for Museum members. There will be special video footage from the Abyss with some familiar faces.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/deep-dive-suits.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-2166 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/deep-dive-suits.png" alt="Deep Dive Suits" width="545" height="362" /></a>
To purchase tickets or for more information about the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum, CLICK NOW</a>.
Sunday starting at noon, the free Kids' Activities will include: designing your own deep diving suit, deep sea coloring, "Fun with Pressure," and learning about deep deep-sea creatures. The History of Diving Museum is just a mile from the Islander Resort. While you are at the Museum, check out the tiger shark Guy Harvey painted by the front door. For more information on the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamorada-fl/islamorada-fl-overview.html">Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost in Islamorada</a> call (800) 513-5257.
History of Diving Museum
82990 Overseas Highway; Islamorada, FL 33036<br /> (Mile Marker 83, Upper Matecumbe Key, Florida Keys)
The Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost
82100 Overseas Hwy, Islamorada, FL 33036
(Mile Marker 82, Upper Matecumbe Key, Florida Keys) https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/plunge-into-the-history-of-diving-museum-islamorada-florida/){kind=link}
TRAVEL DESK : 800.513.5257
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