Terry and I have decided on the Keys for this years trip. We have also tried to make it as affordable as possible this year. We have found a dive shop/ bed and breakfast type place that has given us a great package price. You will NEVER find a trip to the Keys with so much included for so little money! The lodging is apartment room style and is very nice. It is also has access to the beach.
www.discountdiversbandb.com
We are giving everyone two options for departure dates. Terry will be flying down on the 6th , I will be flying down on the 9th.
Wednesday July 9th departure........
We will be diving four dives off Marathon Key on the 10th, and two dives off Marathon on Saturday morning the 12th. On Friday, the 11th we will be car pooling about an hour north to dive off Key Largo on the famous wreck, The Spiegel Grove. www.spiegelgrove.com This will give each diver a total of 8 dives for this package. We have a group trip booked to tour the Turtle Hospital in Marathon on Friday afternoon. This is a very enjoyable informative tour. We thought we might all car pool down to Key West(about an hour drive) for Saturday afternoon and dinner that night. The package includes lodging for four nights, 6 dives off Marathon, all air tanks and airfills, two dives on the Spiegel Grove, admission to the Turtle Hospital , all taxes and surcharges and a Barracuda Diver T-Shirt. The cost of this package is $800.00. It does NOT include airfare or nitrox.
Currently Delta Airlines offers round trip airfare for $300.50. www.deltaairlines.com I would recommend flights Delta #651 departing BHM at 6:00 am, and Delta #690 Departing Atlanta with arrival in Miami at 11:44 am. This gives you about a two hour layover in Atlanta. I WOULD AVOID LAYOVERS LESS THAN THIS BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE DELAYS! I would also recommend that you return NO EARLIER than the Delta #960 Sunday morning at 11:09, connecting in Atlanta, and arriving in BHM at 2:49pm on Delta #1607. Keep in mind that Sunday you must drive to Miami, check in your rental car, and get to the desk 1&1/2 to 2 hours before departure. Trying to make an early departure flight out of Miami can be very stressful when driving up a two lane road from Marathon Key! Marathon to Miami is about a 3 hour drive.
Sunday July 6th departure....... This package includes all the above package plus 8 more dives out of Marathon! (Three days of two-tank dives and one four tank dive day), and three more nights of lodging. The cost of this package is $1,215. It does NOT include airfare or nitrox.
The great thing about this option is the flight option. Allegiant Air now offers a non-stop flight from Huntsville to Ft Lauderdale. www.allegiantair.com The only options on this flight however are a Sunday departure and a Sunday return. Currently the cost of a round trip tricket is 59.00! That is not a typo... roundtrip airfare is currently 59.00! Departure from Huntsville on the 6th is 8:45 am. The only downside is that the Sunday return flight leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 7:00 am. That either means driving up to Ft. Lauderdale Saturday night and spending the night there, or leaving VERY early Sunday morning (after a late night in Key West) !! Marathon to Ft. Lauderdale is about a 3.5 to 4 hour drive.
The longer you wait, the higher the airfare will go... As we get nearer departure date, and as the plane fills, prices will go up on airfare. Book your flights as soon as possible.
We can all meet once we have our participants and flights, and car pool together to rent cars, or SUV's. Terry estimates that it will run around $125.00-150.00 per person to rent a vehicle for the week if we car pool.
Of course just driving from Cullman to Marathon Key is always an option!
Refundable deposits of 200.00 are required to hold a spot. The package must be paid in full by the first of June , at which time it becomes NON-REFUNDABLE.
We now can take Master Card and VISA should you want to charge your package price to one of those.
We can take twenty divers on this trip. I will pencil you in upon request, but I won't write it down in ink until I have the deposit. LOL
This will be a very fun, relaxing trip. A chance to dive the Spiegel Grove, and an opportunity for new divers to dive in an ocean environment that is good entry level diving. Go to our pictures pages for trips of past Keys trips.
I am looking forward to it !!
Phil Hutchens
Barracuda Divers
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