Monthly Newsletter – June 2024
What an exciting month we’ve had here at Stellar Dive Travel
We kicked off June with another great talk from Eric Geller and just returned from our trip to Key Largo last weekend. If you missed us, we’ve got several exciting trips and events coming up for July!
Our next meeting will be this Tuesday, July 2nd at 5:30 pm
Kevin Brown from the Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol is coming to chat with us about their conservation work and discuss how we, as divers, can help our local turtles. Join us at Mavi Waterfront Bar and Grill for some good food, drinks, and lots of dive chatter. Hope to see you there!
Thanks to everyone who came to our last meeting. It is always so great catching up and seeing everyone connect over their shared passions. Huge shout-out to Eric Geller who provided an informative and entertaining presentation on lionfish hunting.
Highlights from Key Largo
Despite some rainy weather, our trip to Key Largo was a huge success! We got all 12 planned dives in and loved exploring the reefs and wrecks. Kat completed her Advanced Open Water certification as well as her Peak Performance Buoyancy with Drew. Throughout our dives on the Spiegel Grove, everyone also earned their Wreck Diver Specialty. Big thanks to Kat, Drew, and Tommy for making the trip so memorable. We were sad that Beau had to sit this one out due to a last-minute injury, but look forward to him joining us on future trips!
Diver Spotlight – Kat
Kat is an elementary art teacher who specializes in ceramics and sewing. A Jacksonville native, she first became interested in scuba diving over twenty years ago during her time as a lifeguard at the University of North Florida Aquatic Center. Throughout her six years there, Kat watched dive class after dive class train in the pool and she’d always wondered what it would be like to breathe underwater. While at UNF, she also met her future spouse, Drew, who is a diver as well.
If you saw Kat in the water today, you’d have no idea she was just dive-certified back in April of this year! Truly a natural, Kat completed several certifications on our recent trip to Key Largo, where she also began training as an underwater photographer. Kat looks forward to continuing her dive education and is excited to be visiting the Georgia Aquarium with us in October. When not underwater, Kat enjoys sculpting the coral reefs she sees while diving.
Upcoming Events
- July 2 – Scuba Squad Monthly Meetup – 5:30 pm @ Mavi w/ Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol
- July 12 – 14 – Panama City Beach Dive Trip (Advanced Open Water available)
- July 23 – Enriched Air Nitrox Class @ 6 pm with Laura/First Coast Divers
- August 6 – Scuba Squad Monthly Meetup – 5:30 pm @ Mavi
- August 9 – 11 – Pompano Dive Trip (Advanced Open Water available)
Creature Feature – Goliath Grouper
Growing up to 8 feet long and weighing up to 800 pounds, the goliath grouper is one of the largest of the bony fish! A territorial species, these giant predators ward off competitors by producing a loud booming sound. To eat, goliath groupers swallow their prey in one massive gulp and they’ve been known to eat larger fish whole, even small sharks.
Goliath grouper are a favorite amongst divers. Typically a solitary species, between July and October, they gather in large groups to spawn. One of the few places this occurs is off the coast of South Florida, where up to 60 goliaths may be seen on one dive! To see this unique aggregation, join us Jupiter in September!
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