If you want to dive in the northeastern Bahamas there is really only one man to see, Brendal Stevens. There are other dive operators but Brendal’s Dive Center stands above all the rest and the …
Kids Dive Free with Dive Bimini!
13 Dec 20102:56 PM
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![](mailto:?subject=Kids Dive Free with Dive Bimini!&body=<a href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-353" title="Kids Dive Free at Dive Bimini!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/kidsdivefree.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/kids-dive-free-with-dive-bimini/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Brendal’s Dive Center, A Guy Harvey Outfitter & Green Turtle Cay’s Reef Sharks&body=If you want to dive in the northeastern Bahamas there is really only one man to see, Brendal Stevens. There are other dive operators but <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/adventures/diving.html">Brendal's Dive Center</a> stands above all the rest and the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/green-turtle-cay-abacos/overview.html">Green Turtle Club </a>gets you right on top of some of the best and most exciting dives including a variety of big animals.<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/123.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2157 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/123.jpg?w=660" alt="123" width="660" height="489" /></a>If you want to get certified to SCUBA dive Brendal can teach you from square one or handle your check out dives for PADI, NAUI, SSI or SDI. In 2006 the Bahamian Ministry of Tourism awarded Brendal with it's Cacique Award for Sustainable Tourism. This is the Bahamian "Oscar!" If you are ready for some big animals Brendal can put you with the "Silver King" tarpon, giant grouper, the island's name sake Green Turtles or those camera hogs with the big grins, Sharks! Nurse sharks are seen on many of Brendal's dives. If you want to see the "Sexy Stars" of the show, the Caribbean Reef Sharks then one of his Shark Observation Dives is the way to go. Shark Week may be coming to a close but our big animal "Stars" are available year round. Don't miss the show, call the Outpost Reservations Desk to find out more at (800) 513-5257. <a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/brendals-dec-5-2011-839.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-2158" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/brendals-dec-5-2011-839.jpg?w=660" alt="Photo: Brendal's Dive Center & Water Sports, Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, Bahamas" width="660" height="495" /></a>Photo: Brendal's Dive Center & Water Sports, Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, Bahamas https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/brendals-dive-center-a-guy-harvey-outfitter-green-turtle-cays-reef-sharks/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Fish Panama This Spring and Summer!&body=Yellowfin tuna greater than 200 pounds; both blue and black marlin; and all the sailfish you want to release.
These are among the sport fishing highlights you can enjoy on Panama's Pacific coast from late March through the end of July with Captain Hennie Marais and Panama Yacht and Fishing Charters-- an exclusive Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition.
In the remote Coiba Islands, a national park located off Panama's southern coast, Marais will slow-troll live bonitos along the gamefish-rich Hannibal Bank where the baits get crashed by huge yellowfins and black marlin. Your floating base camp for this adventure is a comfortably-appointed 66' Buddy Davis sport fishing yacht that can accommodate parties of up to six. You have the option of an additional battle wagon too-- a swift 37-foot Strike with top-of-the-line tackle and equipment to hoist huge tuna up from the depths and subdue greyhounding marlin.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0377adjusted.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4589 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0377adjusted.jpg" alt="IMG_0377adjusted" width="1739" height="1159" /></a>PHOTO: Your floating base camp - a 66' Buddy Davis luxury sportfishing yacht with the optional 37-foot Strike.
Or Marais can escort your group east to the Gulf of Panama where the waters around the Pearl Islands and Pinas Bay further south provide abundant opportunities offshore for tuna, marlin, sailfish and mahi. Inshore, you'll get shots at feisty species such as roosterfish, snapper, and amberjack. On this expedition, you can stay at a private resort and make day trips, live aboard the luxury yacht, or arrange a combination of the two.
"Fishing in Panama is exotic, with beautiful warm weather and beautiful scenery," Marais said.
Book your adventure now at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">GuyHarveyOutpost.com</a>, or call our travel desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/fish-panama-this-spring-and-summer/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=BugFest Underway; Lionfish Also on the Menu!&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image1.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2841 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image1.jpeg?w=225" alt="image1" width="225" height="300" /></a>Post-dive lobster barbecues are going to be a lot more sumptuous than usual during this summer's two-day, Florida-wide lobster mini-season July 29-30. Extra lobsters will sizzle on the grill, accompanied by tasty fillets of exotic lionfish. That's because the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission is allowing divers to take an extra lobster over the bag limit each day for harvesting ten or more lionfish. It's a special incentive program to help control the burgeoning population of the exotic, peppermint-striped invaders from the Indo Pacific with venom-tipped fins.
Here are some tips to help you catch your limit of bugs while taking as many lionfish as you want:
-- In the Atlantic, lionfish and lobsters are often found together in dark caverns and beneath coral ledges in depths ranging from 15 feet to more than 100 feet. You'll find plenty of lobsters in shallow water, but more lionfish in 60 feet or deeper because of local culling efforts at heavily-visited inshore reefs. In the Gulf, artificial reefs hold lots of lionfish, but lobsters may be hit-or-miss. Best times to harvest both are dusk and dawn.
-- While spearing lionfish is legal, spearing lobster is not. Use your tickler stick, or a lasso-like 'bugger', net and catch bag to take lobster. The most efficient way to take lionfish is with a three-pronged pole spear. Nail the fish in the body, then pin it to the sand while you use kitchen shears or 'sea snips' to cut off the spines. Most, but not all, are venomous, so go ahead and cut them all off for good measure. Wear puncture-proof gloves.
--If you don't want to take the time to cut off lionfish spines underwater, then bring a ZooKeeper catch bag. Available at dive shops, it's made of durable PVC and has a one-way chute that allows you to insert the speared lionfish, then pull out the spear. Do not store an un-snipped lionfish in a mesh catch bag; even dead, the spines are venomous.
--If you do get stung, soak the affected area in hot but not scalding water for 30 to 90 minutes and seek medical attention. No one has died of a lionfish sting, but pain and swelling can be severe.
--Check regulations for the area where you will be diving. For example, some areas of the Keys prohibit spear fishing--even for lionfish unless you have a special permit. Mini-season lobster bag limits in the Keys and Biscayne National Park are six per person per day; the limit is 12 elsewhere. That means you can take seven or 13 if you produce proof you harvested ten or more lionfish.
--Looking for tasty lionfish recipes? Check out "The Lionfish Cookbook" available at dive shops and at reef.org. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bugfest-underway-lionfish-also-on-the-menu/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Where Has Amanda the Loggerhead Sea Turtle Gone Since Juno Beach Release 2 Weeks Ago?&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/turtle.jpeg"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-2782 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/turtle.jpeg?w=242" alt="turtle" width="242" height="300" /></a>
Amanda’s zig-zag route might look like she’s one confused sea turtle, but experts say the 300-pound loggerhead knows what she’s doing. "Her path is what we expected. She’s making a loop to get her bearings,” said Charlie Manire, director of research and rehabilitation at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
Since being released into the Atlantic Ocean from the LMC in Juno Beach on June 11, Amanda as of Tuesday has criss-crossed her way a little bit north and a lot south. That’s close to 180 miles, or about 14 miles a day.
She was last detected swimming a few miles off Delray Beach, according to seaturtle.org.
Amanda swam north about 5 miles, and then headed about 10 miles out to sea.
She then headed south and swam around between Juno Beach and West Palm Beach, less than 10 miles offshore.
For the past few days, Amanda has been meandering south, Mani-re said.
“She’s probably following a food source. She’s going where the crab, lobster, conch and shrimp are,” he said.
Amanda will teach researchers a little more about where sea turtles travel, how deep they dive, water temperatures and how fast they swim, thanks to a cell-phone-sized tracking device attached to her reddish-brown shell.
The gadget is designed to fall off after a couple of years, Manire said.
Researchers check her whereabouts daily and post Amanda’s location on marinelife.org.
While the location function of the device is working, the satellite programming to transmit depth and water temperature is not activated yet. It should kick in within about a month.
Amanda arrived at LMC on Dec.
28. Divers rescued her about a mile offshore from the Lake Worth Inlet. The turtle suffered from trauma to both of her front flippers, Manire said.
LMC is a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates and researches sea turtles. About 50 injured sea turtles are released into the Atlantic Ocean annually, as well as about 2,000 hatchlings.
The organization also counts sea turtle nests on the 10-mile stretch of beach from Juno Beach to the Martin County line.
About 225,000 visitors come to the center on U.S. 1 annually, according to LMC.
This article appears courtesy of Bill Dipaolo and the Palm Beach Post https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/where-has-amanda-the-sea-turtle-gone-since-juno-beach-release-2-weeks-ago/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Guy Harvey Outpost Offering Front Row Seat to Florida Keys Coral Spawning&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/noaa.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2860 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/noaa.jpg?w=300" alt="NOAA" width="300" height="225" /></a>It looks like a brilliant fireworks display, except it's underwater. In the middle of the night several days after the August 29 full moon, boulder corals all along the Florida Keys reef tract get together to do the wild thing. And you are invited to watch.
These simultaneous acts of coral sex make for spectacular viewing. Millions of tiny white bb's erupt from the polyps of large mounds of coral, scattering bundles of eggs and sperm into the water. Many are immediately consumed by marauding schools of shiny silver pilchards-- hence the fireworks effect. And the swarming pilchards attract larger predators such as barracuda and tarpon to the fray. The lucky coral gametes that manage to survive the fish fest fertilize one another to create larvae which eventually settle to the bottom to form new coral reefs.
For a front-row seat on the nights of Sept. 3 and 4, make a reservation with Captain Slate's Scuba Adventures Dive Center in Tavernier (305-451-3020). The crew will escort you to one of several reefs about 25 feet deep where you have the greatest chance of watching coral reproduce.
However, it's never a sure thing where Mother Nature is involved; the annual spawning is triggered by various cues that are not well understood such as lunar cycle, water temperature and tides. But the good news is that scientists correctly forecast that staghorn coral would spawn the first week of August-- and they did on Aug. 5 in the Coral Restoration Foundation's nursery off the Upper Keys. Scientists and dive operators are hopeful that the larger mountainous species such as brain and star corals -- which put on a much better show than the staghorn--should do the deed as predicted just before Labor Day Weekend.
If you don't want to stay up for the late-night coral viewing party, you can hunt lobsters in daytime from one of Captain Slate's boats. Florida's regular lobster harvest season, which opened Aug. 6 and runs through March 31, allows divers and snorkelers to take six per person per day. Slate's crews will take you to the patch reefs that hold the big ones. You need a Florida saltwater fishing license with a lobster endorsement which can be purchased online at MyFWC.com or at county tax collectors' offices and some retail outlets.
Get busy; spots are filling quickly. For more information, contact GHO Reservations at 800.513.5257, or sales@guyharveyoutpost.com. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/guy-harvey-outpost-offering-front-row-seat-to-florida-keys-coral-spawning/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Billfish Invitational Day 1 – Scuba Diving?&body=During this week’s Billfish Invitational tournament, Fred Garth, Editor-In-Chief of <a title="GHM web site" href="http://www.guyharveymagazine.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Magazine</a>, will be filing a series of dispatches from tournament headquarters at the Bimini Big Game Club.
The day began with sunny skies and nice reggae music playing at the open air <a title="About the Big Game Bar & Grill" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/bimini-bar-grill.htm" target="_blank">Big Game Bar and Grill</a>. I munched on eggs and bacon and slurped down mucho coffee after a big night of festivities at the <a title="Billfish Invitational web site" href="http://www.billfishinvitational.com/" target="_blank">Billfish Invitational</a> opening celebration. (Note to self: avoid Appleton’s Reserve Rum in the future – stick to virgin Coca Cola).
We set out after a hearty breakfast for a few scuba dives with <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey</a>, his son Alex, Steve Stock (GH Inc, President), Frank Johnson of <a title="Mold Craft web site" href="http://www.moldcraft.com" target="_blank">Mold Craft</a> and sculptor <a title="Kent Ullberg's web site" href="http://www.kentullberg.net" target="_blank">Kent Ullberg</a>. Fishing boats headed out into a glassy sea and negligible winds – 12 boats in all – to try their luck with the wily billfish. A full report on that will come later tonight or tomorrow.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/stevekentguyalex11.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-737" title="Scuba Diving at the Billfish Invitational!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/stevekentguyalex11.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>Left to right: Steve Stock, Kent Ullberg, Guy Harvey and Alex Harvey
The weather is absolutely and positively PERFECT with zero wind or waves. The scuba trip was also stellar. Saw lots of cool critters – turtles, rays, grouper, permit, and the rest of their slimy brethren. But no sharks. However, Guy Harvey is not the kind of dude to be disappointed. He gathered four mahi-mahi carcasses yesterday for a chum fest this afternoon on the shark dive.
That report as well as fishing results will be coming later, that is, unless the song of the Appleton’s Reserve fills the air with its sweet music before I can jump into the blogosphere. We will see what wins – rum or blog. Place your bets!!
Garth Out! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/billfish-invitational-day-1-scuba-diving/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Cuba Un-canned: See It With the Locals&body=Here are some of the locals you will meet during <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">Guy Harvey Outpost's</a> guided people-to-people expedition to Cuba December 13-18:
--The son of Fidel Castro's official photographer;
--the director of the Cuba's Masonic museum;
--a rural tobacco farmer;
--a mixologist who will teach you how to make the perfect Mojito.
And the locales you will visit will combine mainstream stops (Floridita --creator of the daiquiri-- and Museo de la Revolucion, stone walls with 1950s bullet holes) with way un-trodden destinations (Cueva El Palmarito --the largest cave system in Latin America, and a fishing cooperative in Cojimar, where Ernest Hemingway's captain spent most of his life).
Your hosts will be Justin White-- operator of <a href="https://www.docfordscubaexpeditions.com/">Doc Ford's Cuba Expeditions</a> and nephew of best-selling novelist Randy Wayne White--and Sports Illustrated photographer Ron Modra.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MG_1480.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4874" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MG_1480.jpg" alt="" width="2100" height="1400" /></a>
"The people we are going to meet are incredible-- interesting, intelligent, diverse age groups," White said. "You'll see the monumental places but the targeted people and events introduce you to real people living their daily lives. The most valuable experience you can have is to be with the people and ask them questions. There are no airs put on."
With new U.S.-to-Cuba travel restrictions set to take effect in mid-September, White is taking special care to stay on the right side of the law: staying only in private lodgings, taking meals in private restaurants; interacting one-on-one with Cuban people; and travelling in a 12-member group.
"We will abide by all the policies and restrictions put in place," White said. "We focus on people-to-people exchanges."
The six-day, five-night itinerary is packed with authentic experiences: poring over photo albums with Raul Corrales, whose father shot reams of images of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his friend author Ernest Hemingway; walking the docks at Cojimar, the small fishing village where Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" was set and where the author's captain Gregorio Fuentes lived to be 104; visiting Finca Vijia where Hemingway's boat, Pilar, still sits; touring a tobacco farm and coffee plantation; and hiking to a huge cave in the countryside. It also hits some of the typical tourist spots such as the Tropicana nightclub and Old Havana. And there will be multiple opportunities to ogle (and photograph) all the old cars, with Modra coaching on the finer points of capturing images.
If you <a href="https://guyharveyoutpost.com/expeditions/cuba/">book your expedition</a> by Aug. 31, you'll receive free airfare from Fort Lauderdale to Havana. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">www.guyharveyoutpost.com</a> or call the Outpost Travel Desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/cuba-un-canned-see-it-with-the-locals/){kind=link}
TRAVEL DESK : 800.513.5257
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