In 2018, Crew 331 took part in the Sea Base Florida High adventure camp the first week of June 2018. Overall, we had a great time, we ended up going as 2 patrols of 8, so we were fortunate enough to have enough leaders accommodate all the youth that wanted to participate. We could not have asked for better weather in the Florida Keys that week. It was hot, as expected but the rain kept its distance. Our crew successfully completed 12 daytime dives and 1 awesome night dive where the seal life took on an entirely new look. We had a great boat and crew that kept everyone safe and entertained at the same time. This has been by far the best Boy Scout Summer camp experience and highly recommend, if given the opportunity. You take your troop or crew and take full advantage of the adventure this scouting program has to offer. Below I have listed categorically the good and not so great about Sea Base Florida.
Facilities: The dorms were nice for the men, air-conditioned rooms with plenty of bunk beds to accommodate our entire Crew of 12 Adults and Youth with separate restroom and shower facilities for each group. The lady’s dorm room was conditioned with the same bed set up however their restroom and shower facilities we on the exterior of the dorm and not conditioned. The grounds did have a restroom shower combo that were air conditioned for anyone to use, so our female Crew members tended to use these instead for the showers. The Dining area under the ship store was a good spacious area with plenty of seating for everyone which is a nice change from the typical summer camp dining experience. The new pool is huge! Perfect for all the scuba training, I saw over 20 people submerged at the same time, I was very impressed. They do have a laundry room where you can do load after load, but be warned, that room is a hot box. All your clothes will be clean except what you are wearing… it will be soaked with sweat.
Food: As summer camp standards go, the food was great. The general consensus from our crew was Breakfast is by far the best meal they serve, the fresh fruit is what puts it over the top. Lunch is what you make of it on the boat, you make and pack sandwiches, chips, snacks and always bring your water. About water, this is the only summer camp I have attended that had an Ice Maker for everyone to use, it really made it a bit more pleasant on the hot afternoons after returning from the planned dives. Dinner was never bad, it was just never great, the salad however was always fresh and a welcome addition to the meal. In the afternoons they opened the snack shop where they made shakes and had sodas and candy bars for the crew to purchase. The Dining hall host a 24/7 coffee machine and all you can eat Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwich bar.
Staff: The staff is simply spectacular. The registration process was a little hectic, but that may be due to the fact we signed up between Hurricane Harvey here in Texas and Hurricane Irma that hit Florida and disrupted their operations. Once we arrived, they had everything under control and ensured our experience was worth the efforts to make the journey.
Dive Masters: I will say we were very fortunate to land the dynamic duo of Greg and Mark, they are the odd couple of diving if there ever was one. Greg is the more serious, by the book type and Mark is a bit more relaxed in his attitude. They both always have everyone’s safety in mind while providing the best experience possible. They were very knowledgeable on all the gear, procedure and most importantly, the different dive sites we visited. If you have the opportunity to go, request them for your dive masters.
Boat and Crew: The boat was nice, plenty of space to spread out with the gear and Captain Steve and his crew mate Riley were very helpful, they knew the area well and how the weather would affect visibility, taking us to the best possible spots to dive.
Ship Store: If you were told to drop everything and board a plane to Sea Base right now with only the clothes on your back, you could get everything you need in the ship store… You may need a few other things, but not much. They have just about everything you need from laundry soap to swim trunks, socks, snacks and sodas to all the souvenirs you can bring home. It is an organized and well run store.
Issues: No matter what anyone tells you, if you are not doing a live aboard, you are not going fishing. Sea Base has banned fishing off the docks and piers on the property. I searched the official website for this rule and came up empty handed. If you are staying on property and doing the daily Scuba Adventure, don’t bother getting a fishing license unless you have a few extra days before or after to fish off property.
Troop 331 & 332 - Spring, Texas 