PatMyGreen

Gene, I have gone with them twice now and am in the process of booking again. I had heard all kinds of bad things before I booked which led me to go out on the Playmate in 2010. I will never tak a group of spearos on the Playmate again! The drops were crap except the for 2 nice ledges. On the Getaway all the drops were quality, the crew was nice, food was good, and having 15+ divers hit the water all at once didn't cause any problems due to the size of the sites. Big Fan of Capt Rick.

Hi Pat,
I'm thinking of booking the Getaway. My last two trips didn't go well but here I am agin.
Was your trip OK and do YOU plan to go again?
Thanks, Gene

from below
Great non-challenging trip for shooting multiple fish 5-10lbs and grabbing lobster every dive. Hogs around 10lbs have been taken on both trips I was on but I didn't get to see any that size unless they were on someone elses stringer. I would still go on this trip with grouper closed as long as lobster was open, or vice versa.
Also, for me there was a learning curve about the habitat, you hunt it differently than the hardbottom around here. Covering ground is important and there is alot of ground to cover. The snappers are quick and spooky. I did get a 15lb dog snapper and a 10lb mutton this trip, which I was very proud of. No big blacks, but one of my guys lost a 60lber, pretzelled shaft and all so they are there but you have to get lucky to get a shot and be good ad lucky to land them..... same as anywhere else.

I've only been twice with them now, and no the spots are not fished out. I was very skeptical about many aspects of this trip especially putting everyone in the water at once but it works fine. Essentially there will be guys who take many good fish every dive and guys who manage to get next to nothing everytime., based on experience, skill and managing to be in the right place at the right time. Basically no different from everywhere else. I will say this is probably not the trip to go on if you have a boat of your own and are interested in massive fish. They certainly can get big fish but it seems more likely that any of us with experience or friends that have experience offshore can get big groupers in our home waters easier. I have to dive in 130 or deeper though for mine, these spots are 40-90'.

How was your Ultimate trip?
Were the spots fished out? I always wonder how often they hit their spots.

Curious about the water temp in the St. Andrews Bay?

Thanks i found everything i needed i'll get back with you when we get dates together.

Well, i wouldn't tell too many people he is your friend! Tell Danny boy I said hi and that the Sea Nole still doesn't run. He'll probably be amused as that thing was the bane of his existence at FSU.

Pat: It seems you and I have a mutual friend. Dan Walsh, ex-Coast Guard diver. I work with him at the Navy Dive School.

Not sure I understand the question. Call me at 850-624-2084 if you need me to help clarify anything at this point. Just fyi I handle all my business through my email or cell phone as my participation on the various forums is hit or miss. Also I have nothing to do with the Dive Locker, I run my own boat separate from them entirely. captpat@panamacitydivecharters.com