Welcome to the NEW Gator Scuba Club website. This year, we will be transitioning from Facebook to the new website. We will continue to use the discussion board on Facebook, among other things. However, all events and messages will occur through the website, including e-mail instead of Facebook messages.

We will be using both systems until we are confident that the website can truely replace Facebook. Any suggestions are encouraged!

As such, we will be collecting e-mail information at meetings. Remember, the first meeting of the year is September 16th!

Welcome

The Gator Scuba Club is a Student Government funded organization at the University of Florida. Listed below are the club's main goals. Please select any of the items to learn more about what we have to offer:

Provide an environment for fellow divers to meet

The Gator Scuba Club holds monthly meetings at various locations, typically at Casablanca East's clubhouse, but sometime on campus too. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss upcoming dives, fundraising plans, and to other items of interest. These meetings are intended to be very informal, and to incorporate any new members before upcoming events. This year, we're planning to include guest speakers and various showcases from local shops. Please check the events section for meeting agendas. We strongly encourage any certified, UF divers to come out to the meetings.

Introduce divers to new diving environments, including springs, reefs, wrecks, and more

Gainesville's location in central Florida may be misleading to a newcomer to the area. However, Gainesville and the surrounding area are filled with crystal-clear springs and intricate cave systems. The club strives to raise money for marine (salt-water) dives, which are typically held in Jupiter, Ft. Lauderdale, and the Florida Keys. Our marine dives are usually drift dives over reefs, ledges, and ship wrecks. Our goal is one local dive per month, and at least one marine dive per semester.

Provide resources for continuing education and certifications

The Gator Scuba Club is geared for UF students with at least Open Water Certification, regardless of your certification agency. Our members have various certification levels - from Open Water to Dive Instructor - and everyone is involved in various types of underwater activities, including spearfishing, photography, cave-diving, and technical-diving. We're always encouraging members to continue their diving education - and members have various ways of accomplishing this! We have a dive instructor who is willing to provide classes for anyone interested. Likewise, three local dive-shops offer competitive rates for various diving classes.

Educate members on dive safety

Dive safety is our most important goal. Upon becoming a member of the Gator Scuba Club, release forms are required for any diving. Every marine dive includes multiple dive masters, per U.S. Coast Guard regulations. All charters are Coast Guard certified and insured. Maybe you haven't been diving in years? You might be interested in refresher courses offered by the club. All dives are planned so that members are paired in buddy groups, divers are briefed on each dive profile, and Maximum Dive Times are calculated. Due to Student Government rules, cave diving is not permitted by the club, officially. However, there are plenty of cave-divers in the club, and they're free to dive as they please, according to their certification.

Upcoming Events

Listed below are all upcoming events. If you're looking for past events, please visit the Past Events page.

Crystal River Dive Trip

Date

Saturday February 20th, 2010

Location:

525 NW 7th Avenue, Crystal River, FL

Trip Leader

Samiah Moustafa

Details

Dear Gator Divers,

Our next local dive will be at Crystal River to snorkel with the manatees and dive King Springs. We have reserved two (18-20ft) John boats that hold up to 8 people each. If there are cancellations, we will try to reserve a pontoon boat instead (which also holds 8 people max). Please click "Attendance for this event" if you are certain you can join in on this event.

What you will need to bring: SMALL bills to pay for the rental of the boats, gas money, lunch, dive gear, one air tank, mask AND snorkel, towel, a warm jacket, certification card, wetsuit (the water will be ~72 degrees), and a dive light.

We will meet at Casablanca East at 7:15am on Saturday, February 20th. I apologize for the early start, but we must be at the dock by 9am the latest to claim our two reserved boats. The drive is roughly an hour and half so we must get an early start ... but it will be worth it once we get there!

Please email me at samiahm@ufl.edu if you have any questions! Thanks.

Happy Diving,
GSC Officers

Social!

Date

Thursday February 11th, 2010

Location:

Mother's Pub

Trip Leader

Everyone!

Details

Hey Everyone,

Come out for some informal fun on Thursday at Mother's Pub. Please put attendance so we know how much space to reserve! Thanks! It's also Devon's birthday eve, so good times will be had! See you there.