We went to American Pro Dive center this past week for a refresher/guided tour. We haven't been diving in over 20 years. This place has the most amazing staff. When greeted by TJ at the front desk, I explained my plans to restart our diving adventures. He said he's got it - no problems.... He was right!!! We selected a mult-dive package. A snorkle with manitees, drift dive at Rainbow River, and 2 tank dives at Manitee Springs. We started at 7am with Abbie and Rodney for the manitee snorkeling trip. The weather and water is warming up so manitees are kind of scarce this week, but they found some. As we floated around, the manitees would swim up and brush against me. It was great, way above my expectations. Rodney is missed his calling as a comedian - he had us laughing most of the trip and Abbie is a manitee whisperer. After lunch we met up at the dive shop for the Rainbow River drift dive. We met Aiden and Orville. We rode with them to Rainbow River, we signed in to the park with Orville, and Aiden got the boat ready. We got on the boat, suited up and Orville gave the dive briefing. We rode upstream, and we jumped in. I was a bit nervous from being so long since our last dive, but Orville reassured me it's like riding a bike... he was right.! The drift was like flying without wings. The next day we met Orville at the shop for our trip to Manitee Springs. When we got there we walked over to the "Catfish hotel", which looked like a big bowl of pea soup. To our surprise, the view was amazing once we penitrated the duck weed. The sun coming through was a sight I'll never forget. We moved over to the main spring and swam with the fish and turtles and drifted in the currents. When we got back, my wife and I agreed this has been an amazing vacation so far.
I highly recommend American Pro Diving for any water related activity. These people treat you like family and honestly put you at ease the minute you meet them. They are very professional and knowledgeable and make sure tbat everyone feels comfortable. Orville's experience, personality and demeanor will enhance any lack of confidence you may have.
We will definitely be back for more trips with them.
Thanks guys,
Cal & Sheila.