Category Archives: Uncategorized

Cool Sea Creature Encounters!!! Manta Ray!

August 30, 2010 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone!!! Welcome Back!!!

I’m finally just sitting down to write last weeks blog. Thought I would never get a chance to get to it! Was busy doing birthday party adventures over the weekend and a little bit of fishing and before I knew it, this weeks adventure was under way! Oh well, what can you say? Time flies when your having FUN! Last week we had a small group of adventurers, only 3, but we had a blast all the same. We had some last minute cancellations the night before the week started, and I didn’t bother to make any calls to try and fill the spaces at the last second. I thought it would be kind of nice to have just a few of us going for a change. And I’m happy we did! I know AdventureRachel, Neil and Hagan sure had fun checking everything we found and caught, up close and personal. Like this really cool mantis shrimp we found crawling around outside its burrow on the Big Sandbar.

This was the very first time I have ever seen one out and about in the day time and it was a really great find! You have to be extremely careful when picking these up, best not to at all, as they can give you a painful stick with their sharp dagger like claws. We always see their burrows in the sand around the sandbar but rarely do we ever see them peeking out at us, much less crawling about. Wish I could find one like this on every weekly adventure! Like all shrimp, mantis shrimp also have the capability of slapping their tails closed. The big difference with this species is that they also have sharp razor like edges along their hard tail with a few big needle like spines to boot. Commercial fisherman who catch these shrimp sometimes call them “thumb splitters” for good reason. Either way, I was happy to find it, and we checked it out up close before letting it go.

Every morning we spent an hour or so walking the Big Sandbar and exploring the shallows like there was no tomorrow. We had a full moon coming up and the tide was exceptionally low. The bar was exposed for hundreds of yards in every direction and it didn’ take us long to find some big Cushion Starfish that were bright red in color. You could see them in the shallows at least 100 yards away. The Kids would race to get them, sometimes stopping along the way to check something else out they didn’t see at first. It was just great and we had a blast finding one big starfish after another. I know AdventureRachel sure had FUN sporting her new starfish “hat”. It seemed to fit just right!!!

Every single day we stopped at the Sandbar to explore. We found fighting conchs, box crabs, blue claw crabs and hermit crabs galore. We even found some really cool shells and living scotch bonnets that I rarely see. Netted olive shells and bubble shells were every where leaving long burrows thru the sand. But the kids always seemed to love finding the starfish best, and every morning we found a bunch!!! We found two different species of beaded starfish, a few small brittle starfish, some nice big Cushion Starfish and quite a few 9 armed starfish that we all loved to hold. A few of the 9 armed starfish had previously lost the tips of some of their legs and you could see where they were all growing back. We all thought that was cool! I know AdventureHagan had Fun wearing a few starfish stuck to his shirt, before he let them go.

Every afternoon we would take a swim at the Rock Garden and check out all the fish and search under rocks for swimming crabs, rock crabs, brittle starfish, blennies and what ever else we could find. Occasionally we would discover a really big swimming crab that would dart out from the rocks right under our feet. AdventureNeil and Hagan would give chase and eventually catch it in their hand net. It was a fun and exciting thing to watch as they tried to get it out of the net by the back leg without getting pinched. Half the time I would come to the rescue, but more often than naught they would get it on their own. Even Rachel would come up with a big crab in her net as well!

After a while we would take a break from this and swim about and look for some big queen conchs and see who could find the biggest. They can be found in a variety of sizes though most are in the 4 to 6 inch range. Every now and then one of us would come up with a mature conch that had a beautiful pink and yellow interior and we all loved that. This past week we found dozens of conchs right up next to the rocks feeding on algae and it wasn’t long before AdventureNeil came up with a really nice big one that won the contest. Nice job Neil! I thought I was going to win it for a while!

Thursday was our fishing day, and as usual we had non-stop action the minute our lines were in the water! And I mean from the very first second! If you didn’t have a fish on within 3 seconds of hitting the bottom then your bait was gone. We all caught fish one right after the other and sometimes all at once ! And that’s just the way I love it! Over and over and over. Fish Fish Fish!!! It just doesn’t get any better than that! We started out fishing the artificial reef north of Phil Foster Park and it wasn’t long before AdventureRachel, Neil and Hagan were standing side by side, each with their very own fish! It was just great!!!

After an hour here of catching grunts, tomtates, sailors choice, porgies, seargent majors, long-spined filefish and a few cuban hogfish we decided to move the boat a bit over and try a new spot. The very first fish that AdventureHagan hooked was a nice big Ceasars Grunt and as he was fighting to bring it in to the boat a great big barracuda decided to have part of it for lunch. The line went screaming off his reel for about 10 seconds and then the fight was over. He reeled in what was left of his big grunt and we all checked out what that nice big hungry barracuda had done. I could tell AdventureHagan thought that was about as exciting as things could get! We all did!

A few minutes after this we started catching lane snappers one right after the other until the group was tired of reeling in so many fish! From here we spent the last hour going out to the beach to do some beach combing and a bit of snorkeling along the shoreline. On the way down the beach we found a small boat that had run ashore some time in the past week. It was totally filled up with sand and sitting high and dry on the beach. The kids wanted to stop and check it out so we did. We anchored our boat and swam in to the beach. A few seconds later the kids were sitting in the old boat pretending they were driving and getting ready to run aground. No doubt they were having FUN! They were screaming with laughter the whole time!

The last few minutes of the day we took a quick walk down the beach to do some beach combing and check out the tracks left by big sea turtles coming up on to the beach to lay eggs. There were quite a few around and some of the tracks were tremendous. On the way back to the boat a ghost crab went scurrying down the beach in front of us and we all gave chase. It took a while for us to catch up with it but we finally tired it out and it sat still just long enough for AdventureRachel to pick it up. It was great to watch. Nice job Rachel!

The next morning we went down to Little Munyon Island to collect some sea urchins and see what else we could find. We came up with quite a few different color combinations and some really nice big bright pink ones. Most of the ones we found were of the green variety and it wasn’t long before every one of us was holding them by the handfuls. In some places there were so many you had to be careful to look first before you sat down in the shallows. I learned that the hard way. They make a tough cushion to sit on! Ouch! Either way, we had a blast and it was great finding so many.

From here we decided to do some seine netting in the shallow grass flats. After just a few pulls of the net we had come up with some nice juvenile barracudas, a cool juvenile flounder, some small needlefish, a couple of pipefish, a sharpnosed and a checkerboard puffer, a bunch of filefish, mojarras, pinfish, juvenile lane and yellowtail snapper, a small hogfish, pink shrimp and grass shrimp and best of all, a dwarf sea horse. It wasn’t much bigger than a dime. We always love finding these! It was just great and we all loved checking them out before letting them go.

With the very last pull of the net we came up with one really nice big blue claw crab that sat and waved its claws menacingly at us just daring us to try and pick it up. I carefully slid my hand along the backside of its carapace and picked it up by the base of its swimming leg. I showed everyone the proper technique without getting pinched, and asked if anyone wanted to pick it up for a photo op. AdventureNeil was the only taker brave enough to give it a try. I watched carefully to make sure he didn’t get pinched and a few seconds later he had it firmly in his grip. You can tell that this crab is sure capable of giving you one heck of a pinch! Nice Job Neil! Way to go!

The last morning we spent snorkeling at the Rock Garden and chasing pufferfish and then as the tide went out, we motored over to the Big Sandbar, hopped out and began to explore the bar. The tide was so low we could walk for hundreds of yards in any direction. It was just great and we found all kinds of cool shells, sea urchins, box crabs and more. We found two different species of beaded starfish and a pile of 9 armed starfish. Every where we looked we seemed to find another starfish! We moved most of them into deeper water and kept a few just long enough to take some pictures before letting them go. We had a ball finding so many and having FUN all the while!!!

We decided to spend the last hour of the day going back out to the beach. Over the past few weeks I had seen some really nice big and beautiful Manta Rays swimming just a short distance from the beach. I was hoping that we might see another one and if we were really lucky, have a chance to get in for a wonderful manta encounter. Though they may be big, they are totally harmless, have no venemous barbs and feed mainly on small fish and plankton. Lucky for us, today was our day!!! A short distance ahead was a nice big manta ray, maybe10 feet wide from wingtip to wingtip, swimming in about 4 feet of water. We motored the boat ahead and quietly got in. A few seconds later we had this wonderful creature swim right up and past us and did we EVER LOVE THAT!!!

We did this over and over until it was time to go. I can tell you nobody was ready to call it a day when it was finally time to head home!!! We just never wanted it to end!!! We had such a great time and such a great week!!! I just wish it could have lasted for ever!!! None of us was ready for Summer to be over!!! Good thing for me I have one week left to do it all over again!!! I have a small group coming all the way from Hungary, and I know its going to be Great!!! I just can’t wait!!!

See you soon!!!

Let’s Go Have Some Fun!!!

AdventureMike

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Starfish Starfish Everywhere!

August 10, 2010 Mike 1 Comment

Hi Everyone!!! Welcome Back!!!

We’ve just finished up the third day of Fun and Adventure for the first week of August, and let me tell you it had been absolutely GREAT from the very start!!! Just like every week this whole Summer!!! I just can’t say it enough, “We’ve had FUN FUN FUN from start to finish! Day after day after day… All Summer long…”. It just doesn’t get any better than this! And I know I’ve said that before!!! 🙂 This week I have another great group of kids that are ready for Adventure the very minute they come on board! And that’s just the way I love it!!! They’re ready to go go go with or without me! Good thing I keep the keys to the boat in my pocket!

We began the week going to the Big Sandbar since dead low tide was occurring just about 9 in the morning. Lucky for us we had the whole sandbar to ourselves and not another boat full of people in sight. I love it like that. If there is anything to be discovered, we are going to be the first to find it and you never know what you might find. On this morning there were starfish starfish everywhere, and did we ever have fun running from one end of the sandbar to the other picking up starfish and checking them out! We saw beaded starfish and cushion starfish lying out on the exposed sand of the bar before we ever left the boat. You should have seen how fast the kids unloaded from the boat. AdventureLorenzo sure had Fun coming up with a couple starfish of his own to share with us. We loved that!

When we weren’t picking up starfish, we were checking out the fighting conchs, moon snails and the olive shells that were leaving long trails thru the sand as they burrowed back towards deeper water. We found quite a few baby ear mollusks that were just beginning to pop out of the sand and we all took turns letting them slime thru our finger tips before letting them go. As the sand got warmer from the sun beating on it, blue claw crabs, box crabs, lady crabs and dozens of hermit crabs began to crawl out from underneath the sand just at our very toes. AdventureSydney came up with one big giant rooster crab that was blowing bubbles out his mouth and we all loved that too!!!

As the tide came in we decided to head to little Munyon Island to do some exploring in the shallows. It took me a bit to get everyone back in the boat. Nobody wanted to leave until they had put all the starfish left exposed on the bar back in to deeper water, and let me tell you that was a LOT!!! It was also a lot of FUN! I think we found the most beaded starfish I have ever seen, and the cool thing about that was not only did we find a ton, but we found a few different species of them too that I haven’t seen in quite a while. AdventureRylee came up with one nice big one that I know she wanted to take home as a pet, but she let it go all the same. Nice find too!!!

When we arrived at Little Munyon Island the whole south side of Sea Urchin Shoals was totally out of water. There were hundreds if not thousands of short spined urchins literally covering almost every square inch of the shoal. We had so much Fun searching and finding every color phase of sea urchins you could imagine. My favorite was the one with a pure white body and dark purple spines. We came up with some beautiful bright pink ones and a few pure white ones too. We found some big black round ones that would cling on to your hands with thousands of tiny tube feet. You could lift them out of the water and hold them upside down and even then they wouldn’t let go. It was just great!!! Everywhere you looked there were short spined sea urchins and AdventureJosh was picking them up by the handfuls! I know he was loving that!!!

As we left Little Munyon Island to head back to the dock a pair of bottlenose dolphin swam right up to our boat and road the bow wave for a while. We watched as they would dart back and forth in the shallows chasing mullet, and then come right back to our boat and swim beside us. They seemed to be as excited checking us out as we were checking them out! We had so much FUN watching them we were late getting back to the dock! Oh well…. I’d love to be late for that reason every day!!!! We all would have!!!

The next morning we stopped by the Rock Garden to do some snorkeling. The tide was a bit low and the water was not as clear as I would have liked to do some underwater photography of the group but we had loads of FUN all the same. I don’t think the kids cared whether I took underwater photos of them or not. They were so busy chasing fish and turning over rocks looking for hidden treasures I could hardly get any one of them to look at me! Oh well, so much for underwater photography and those great shots I envisioned…, needlessto say, we had a blast all the same!!! AdventureLianne came up with a really cool brittlestarfish that was about as delicate as you could imagine and that was a great find too. We all loved checking this one out before she let it go.

The rest of the gang spent a good bit of time chasing swimming crabs that could be found under every rock. They came in all sizes from tiny to gigunda and every now and then I would hear a squeal of laughter as one crab would swim out of the net of one adventurer and right under the foot of another! It was great to see that! It kept them right on their toes so to speak paying attention to all the fun that was going on around them! AdventureBeau thought it was cool to check out one big swimming crab underwater up close and personal!!

From here we decided to head to Little Munyon Island to do some seine netting in the shallow grass flats. On the way we stopped for a quick romp around the Big Sandbar to see what we could find. And of course, we found beaded starfish from one end to the other. Did we ever love that!!! AGAIN!!! I was hoping we would find a 9 armed starfish but no luck. Maybe tomorrow! As we were walking from one exposed bar to another, AdventureFaye found the smallest, most tiniest beaded starfish I have ever seen! It wasn’t much bigger than her pinky fingernail and we all thought that was really cool! How she saw it, I will never know! Nice Job!!!

When we arrived at Little Munyon Island, we grabbed the seine net and a few buckets and within seconds we were seining the shallows. We all would take turns pulling the net and with every pull we would find something cool! We started from one end of the island and worked our way to the other side. Over and over and over..As soon as one group would come in and the net was sorted, the next was raring to go! I loved the enthusiasm this group had, Reminded me of myself. Sometimes its just hard to stop having FUN…

As soon as the net was pulled on to the beach we would hurriedly sort thru our catch of “treasures”. We would put anything special in our specimen tank to be checked out later, and let the rest go. We caught all kinds of juvenile fish from grunts and snappers to baby barracudas and pipefish. We caught an assortment of shrimp and crabs too. With every pull of the net another treasure was discovered! You should have seen the excitement on the kids faces every time the net came in and how quickly they wanted to sort thru the catch. It was just great!!!

Everyone was hoping we would catch some pufferfish and lucky for us we did! On the very last pull of the net we came up with a beautiful striped burrfish that puffed up the minute it was out of water. It became such a spiny pin cushion we could hardly hold it. We all took turns checking it out and I was careful to make sure everybody kept their fingers away from the toothy end of the fish. This little fish can give a painful bite. AdventureSeth sure had fun gingerly holding this burrfish as best he could! No bite either! Nice Job!

Seine netting always seems to be one of the most fun things the kids like to do. You never know what you may come up with, how many different things you may have or if you have anything at all. Sometimes we get juvenile sea horses, barracudas, pipefish, yellowtail snappers, grass shrimp, cow fish, etc. A plethora of cool things just waiting to be discovered!!! It always seem though that a nice big spiny burrfish or a slippery blown up pufferfish puts a smile on a kids face everytime! I know it does mine!!!

And of course, today was our fishing day and it’s always mighty hard to beat the FUN and EXCITEMENT that we have on this day!!! Most days the kids will have a fish on within a few seconds of their bait hitting the bottom! On this day it was no different!!! We spent a little bit of time fishing the artificial reef and caught porkfish, grunts, snappers, tomtates, porgies, sailors choice and more! IFrom start to finish we caught fish non stop!!! can’t tell you how many times I heard someone say, ” Mike, I need help taking off my fish”. I just love it like that!!! Everybody caught some nice fish but I think AdventureBeau caught the biggest grunt that gave him a good fight! Way to go Beau!!!

At the end of the day we stopped by the Big Sandbar for another quick romp of exploration then hurried over to the Rock Garden to spend the last hour snorkeling. We spent some time searching for crabs under rocks and along the way found some very cool green mantis shrimp and some big queen conchs. AdventureJosh caught a nice juvenile flounder that we all checked out, then we spent some time chasing sharpnosed pufferfish just for FUN!!! AdventureJake sure had FUN holding this nice puffer all “blown” up!

Whenever we would find something cool or catch a pufferfish we would all take turns checking it out and sharing it with the whole group. Many times the pufferfish would wiggle and deflate, and out of your hand they would go! It was amazing how quickly they could disappear right before your eyes! I can’t tell you how many times that happened today! No problem though, it wasn’t long before someone had another and enjoying it all over again! You can see how much FUN AdventurePetey was having with this puffer! Me too of course…

Before we knew it the day had come to an end! I don’t know how the time flew by so fast, but when I said it was time for us to head back, nobody was ready to go! Not even me… on the way back to the ramp we had one more cool adventure! And did we ever love that!!! Just as we were slowly coming around the end of the Big Sandbar in the boat, a huge dark shape appeared right beside us. I put the boat in nuetral and we watched as a big friendly manatee swam right up past us, stuck his nose out of the water and took a good look at us, then took a breath and disappeared. How cool is that!!! What a way to end the day!!!

One things certain, it sure left me looking forward to tomorrow and doing it all over again!!! Needless to say, we didn’t make it back to the boatramp on time again… Oh well, we were just too busy having FUN!!! I can’t wait till tomorrow! i know it’s going to be great!!! Hope you’ll join us!!! See you soon!!!

Let’s Go Have Some Fun!!!

AdventureMike

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Summer 2009 Week 8: Adventure FUN in the Lake Worth Lagoon!

July 29, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone, Welcome Back!!!

We just finished up the third day of our weekly Adventure and as usual, We’ve had an Awesome week! Things have been just perfect from the very start! The weather was looking iffy in the beginning of the week but somehow it turned to be about as nice as it could be! The Adventurous weather Gods were looking out for us and the water was beautiful, calm and clear, and sunny skies all day long! It just doesn’t get any nicer than this week! Which is a good thing cause I have a boatful of Adventurers and let me tell you they know how to have FUN!!! From start to finish, We’ve had a Blast!!!

I arrived at the dock bright and early Tuesday morning and as soon as I tied up, AdventureGunner, Jagger, Kai, Seth, Josh, Dominik, Daniel, Eli, Louis and Madison hopped aboard! They were as full of energy as you could imagine and ready to start the Adventure and have some FUN! And so was I!!! could already tell it was going to be another great week!!! The tide was high and the water clear so we went straight to Peanut Island to do some snorkeling in the shallows. The minute we got in the water we could see fish everywhere!!! Snook, Barracudas, parrotfish, sheepshead, sergeant majors, grunts, snappers, porkfish, bermuda chub, needlefish, surgeonfish, doctorfish, pufferfish, blue runners, crevalle jacks and menhaden by the thousands. No matter where you looked, there were fish EVERYWHERE!!! And I mean every where!!! And we were loving this!!!

We all grabbed some small hand nets and decided to give chase for some fun and excitement! It wasn’t long before we had caught some pufferfish, large crabs and some cute seaweed blennies! We almost caught a pair of small peacock flounders but they got away at the last minute. It was FUN to see and we were getting some good exercise swimming frantically around in the shallows chasing after fish this way and that!!! Even the lifeguard decided to come over and take a look at what we were catching. She said, “It looks like you guys are having fun! Wish I could join you”, but she was still on duty and we went back to chasing fish!. Just about that time Daniel came up with a BIG swimming crab in his net and we all took turns checking it out and then everybody was catching them right and left! It was GREAT!!! You could hear squeals of laughter and excitement every time you came up for a breathe! It doesn’t get any better than this!!!

I don’t know where the time went but somehow it flew by!!! It seemed to me we had only been in the water for just a few minutes, not 3 hours! We were having so much FUN we never even thought to take a look at our watches! We had just enough time to take a quick romp on the Big Sandbar before heading back to the dock. I can tell you when I said it was time to head back, I thought there was going to be a mutiny! Nobody and I mean nobody was ready to call it a day yet!!! Good thing there was 3 more days left of adventure, and we couldn’t wait to do it all over again! It was that much Fun!!!

The next day we went straight to the Big Sandbar to do some exploring and found all kinds of sea urchins, fighting conchs, nine armed and beaded starfish, mantis shrimp and some cool arrow crabs and banded cleaner shrimp. We found a blue crab in the very process of molting its shell and watched as it shed its shell and pumped himself up with water to stretch the new soft shell out into a bigger shell with room to grow into. It was just great to see that!!! Did it right in our hands too!!! How cool is that!!! There were giant mantis shrimp peeking out of every hole we saw and checking us out as we swam by! And of course when we found the nine armed starfish we had to take some “starfish head” photos of the gang having FUN! AdventureJagger especially liked that! We all did!

While we were swimming in the shallows a big school of crevalle jacks chased a school of menhaden right up next to us and began to eat them with gusto!!! We could hear the jacks gulping them down as we watched them from underwater. Talk about having Fun and EXCITEMENT!!! We were loving it!!! I’m sure the menhaden felt otherwise!!! By the time it was all over, there were nothing but scales and tails. After this we decided to take a quick plunge into the “Hot Tub” and then head to Little Munyon Island to do some seine netting in the shallows.

As soon as we arrived we grabbed the seine net and waded out into the shallows. Everybody took turns bringing in the net, sorting the fish and releasing the rest. We caught so many different types of juvenile fish, shrimp and crabs. Our favorites were the small barracudas, the checkerboard and sharpnosed pufferfish, the hogfish, needlefish, grunts, snappers and tiny flounders! Each one of us had a chance to gingerly hold them, take a few photos and release them where we caught them. And just like yesterday, when I mentioned it was time to go, nobody was ready!!! We were having too much FUN!!! After a few more hurried pulls we loaded up and headed back, and yes, I arrived a bit late, Oh well…

Today was our fishing day, and when I arrived at the dock everybody was raring to go! Good thing one of my very best friends, AdventureBill was kind enough to give me a hand!!! He’s a captain and ships pilot at the port of Palm Beach and one of the best too! Not only that, he’s my best tennis bud and we take turns showing each other who’s “boss” on the tennis court. I think we are about even there though he may think otherwise… Nice of him to come along! We didn’t have the action that I had hoped for today but everybody caught fish and no matter how fast we worked to catch up, we never could!!! I know he won’t ever forget those infamous words either, “I NEED MORE BAIT” without thinking about today! It was just GREAT even though we didn’t catch the hundreds I had hoped!!! I think Jagger caught the biggest one, A nice Porkfish, and Josh caught a few really beautiful parrotfish and everybody caught some nice big Casears Grunts, Tomtates and Sailors Choice!!! We just had trouble hooking the fish today. We lost a few really nice fish to some huge barracudas that took up residence under the boat. Everybody loved when one would dart out, swallow their fish whole and take hook, line and sinker to boot! Just great, at least for us anyway…

Needless to say, We had an absolute ball and everybody had fun, and that’s what counts!!! Sometimes fishing is just “fishing” and not always “catching” and AdventureDaniel when you read this you can breathe a sigh of relief!!! Your record of 111 fish in one day still stands! I know you will love that!!! That number still seems mind blowing to me!!! And he’ll be the first to tell you that was no “FISH STORY” either!!! All in all, we had a fabulous day, non stop action, not always catching, but it was Fun from start to finish!!! And you know what the best thing is? We still have one more day left!!! And I can’t wait till tomorrow!!!! How about you?

LET’S GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!

AdventureMike

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Adventure Mike Summer Camp 2009 Registration Update

April 26, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi everybody!

I just can’t believe how well things are going for AdventureMike’s. I’m already booked and filled for more than half the summer and I just started to take reservations. I expect to fill up a lot of the remaining spaces next weekend during SunFest. Stop by my photography booth if you go!

I may have to buy a larger real “Pirate Ship” for next year at this rate! Not sure how I’m going to take everyone who wants to go otherwise. For those of you who haven’t filled out your registration forms yet please make sure you download them and get them in to me as soon as possible.

Send those to:

Adventure Mike
2711 Oak Drive
Palm beach Gardens, FL 33410

I don’t want anyone to lose their space! For any of you who may be interested, I’m now accepting payment on line and you can do that by clicking here.

You can order multiple weeks online by adjusting the quantity and clicking ‘Update Totals’ before checking out. If you need to call, I can be reached at 561-324-1892. Summer is right around the corner so get those registrations in. I can’t wait to begin the Adventure and for us to have the time of our Life!!! Looking forward to seeeing you all! We are going to have a Great Time full of Adventure!!!

I’m excited about this up coming Summer Camp Season!! The first Adventure Session begins June 2nd, that’s right around the corner, and to say I just about can’t wait is an understatement!!! I am so looking forward to it and I know that all of us are going to have a fantastic time!!! I’m going to personally see to that!!! Right On!

For those of you who have joined me in the past, you know the kind of Fun and Excitement that’s in store. We are going to have honest to goodness Adventure Sessions from start to finish!!! In between snorkeling at the Rock Garden, swimming in the Deep Hole, exploring the Big Sandbar and seine netting behind Munyon Island, we are going to be learning cast netting and water safety, enjoying crab trapping, nature walks, eco tours and more!

As if spending a day out boating isn’t enough fun all by itself!!! And Best of All, we will be spending one full day a week fishing in my favorite secret spots where the action can be non stop from start to finish. AND I MEAN FROM START TO FINISH!!! Just ask AdventureCarolyn from last summer! She caught 71 snappers, grunts, pinfish, porgies, yellowtails, spot-tails and groupers, etc. all by herself! And in just one outing of fishing!!! Had to quit cause she couldn’t reel in another fish! Everyone else caught around 50 or so each. What an unbelievable day! I’ll bet we boated and released over 350 fish in under 4 hours by 5 young adventurers. I may never have another day like that, but I can only hope!!! Maybe this Summer a lucky Adventurer can break that record! I know we are going to try!

Don’t miss out:

1. Download your registration forms.

2. Send them to:

Adventure Mike
2711 Oak Drive
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410

3. Include a check or pay online.

See you soon!

Let’s Go Have Some Fun!!!

AdventureMike

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Summer Camp 2009 Early Registration NOW Open

April 8, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone, Welcome Back!

I just wanted to drop you a quick post and let you know that registration for my 2009 AdventureMike’s Summer Camp begins NOW!!! Please don’t wait too long to register! I know the spaces will fill up quickly as usual and I would love for each one of you to be able to join me again!! The first week begins June 2nd, 2009 and that’s right around the corner… I just can’t tell you how excited I am and just how much I’m looking forward to having another unbelievable Summer of Fun, Excitement and ADVENTURE with all of you. Last year had to be the best Summer we have every had, and this year I’m planning on outdoing it! It’s going to be GREAT!!! I Guarantee it!!!

I’ve been scouting out many new locations and have come up with many more ideas to make this years camp sessions as absolutely fun, exciting and educational as possible. I know that all of us are going to have a fantastic time!!! I’m going to personally see to that!!! I promise!!! For those of you who have joined me in the past, you know the kind of Fun and Excitement that’s in store. We are going to have honest to goodness Adventure Sessions from start to finish!!! And we will be having “live updates” thru out the day on our adventures so you, the parents, can tune in and join us in our discoveries and share in our excitement… More to come on that!

We will be hitting all the spots from the Rock Garden to Starfish Prairie and Beyond… The best of the best! As if boating, fishing, seine netting, specimen collecting and identification, cast netting, crab trapping, island hopping, nature walks, eco-tours, games and more isn’t fun enough already for a weeks adventure! I just never get over how many species of fish and invertebrates, etc we find and discover, and all the smiles, laughter and thrills that go along with them! Memories I will forever cherish!, and I love every minute of it! Makes me feel like we are living within a rain-bowed sea, surrounded by beauty in every direction and blessed all at the same time. It just doesn’t get any better than that! An Adventurers dream come true… And for your child, an adventurers dream come to life…

For those of you who have joined me in the past, you know I can’t wait to see you! For those of you who will be joining me for the first time, I promise you your child is going to love it! AdventureMike’s is not your “normal” Summer Camp! No “glorified baby sitting” or “boring day care” here! We are going to be having an honest to goodness educational hands on experience in an outdoor, safe, fun-filled environment!!! I love what I do and take great pride in what I offer! I want your child to have the very best time of their life, like I did when I was a kid and have never forgotten and always appreciated!!! I will give it my very best, and that’s a promise! And looking forward to it…

Come join us, and be a part of the Adventure!!! See you soon!!!

Click to reserve your spot NOW before I open the camp to new adventurers »

AdventureMike

Spring Break 2009: March 31 - April 3, Uncategorized

Hanging Out With Puffer Fish on Spring Break

April 1, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everybody,

Welcome back! We just finished up the first two days of our first Spring Break Adventure Session and let me tell you we had a blast! It was just great from start to finish! As Usual, and just the way I love it!!! AdventureSheri and I were joined by AdventureJake, Allison and Noelle from last Summer and three new Adventurers, AdventureJada, Rio and Alex. I love arriving at the dock with everyone raring to go and eagerly awaiting for the days adventure to begin, and hearing the excitement in their voices and seeing the smiles on their faces when we load up. It makes for a perfect day!

We began the day a little differently by motoring over towards the Power Plant to take a quick look to see if any Manatees might be resting in the warm shallow water near the out flow pipes. AdventureJada was just dying to see one and I wanted to make her day. We gave it about 10 minutes and didn’t see any this time so we headed to a nearby beach to do a little exploring. We anchored the boat right on the beach and hopped out and immediately found a nice big Spotted Sea Hare swimming in the shallows. The neat thing about these is they sometimes release a dark purple cloud of ink when disturbed and much to the excitement of the gang, this big fellow released a nice batch right on cue. It was great to see the smiles then! Everyone took their turn gently touching the Sea Hare and then we moved further down the beach to check out some of the large stands of Nicker beans we found during AdventureLauren’s birthday party last weekend.

We stopped and I picked up a few thorny pods to show them the tiny gray beans inside and everyone wanted to keep a bean or two for “good luck”. They are commonly called “Lucky Beans” and the anti-malarial drug Quinine is still made from the gray husks of these beans. You have to keep away from the branches and leaves though since they have numerous hooked thorns to snag both you and your clothing! The first time I found this out when I crawled though the branches left a lasting impression. Ouch!, but it was still fun!

From here we headed to the Rock Garden to do some snorkeling and search the shallow rocks for Hermit Crabs. AdventureJake and Alex came back with some big Coral Crabs while the rest of us were busy finding blue-legged hermits and red-banded hermit crabs. We were having a blast! When I pulled one of the large female coral crabs out of the net to show the group her eggs under her abdomen, she latched onto my finger and hung on for dear life! I wasn’t sure who had who, but I know this group of Adventurers loved seeing that crab hang on to my finger for at least 5 minutes! We were all smiles by then!!! AdventureSheri kept a watchful eye over the girls busy in the shallows finding all kinds of hermit crabs and captured most of the days adventure on film for the rest of us to enjoy later. Nice job!!!

AdventureJake found a sharptail pufferfish and was able to catch it in a small net and bring it back to show us. Not an easy feat for those who haven’t tried this! We were delighted to watch as it puffed up full of water and more than tripled its size. We took a couple of quick photos then released it unharmed and then headed back to the boat for some drinks and snacks.

While they were eating, I moved the boat to a nearby shallow sandbar and got in to look for some lizard fish buried in the sand to show everyone. AdventureNoelle, Rio, Allison and Jada were quick to follow, while AdventureAlex and Jake set the anchor in the shallows. Somehow this searching for lizard fish turned into “netting” AdventureMike and you should have heard the laughter then after I was “netted” and they piled a giant sand ball right on the very top of my head. They were laughing like crazy, having a great time and smiling from ear to ear!!! And that was the perfect way for us to end the day!!!

We laughed the whole way back to the dock thinking about how much fun we had! And I know one thing for sure, I just can’t wait till tomorrow! We are going to have a blast, do some seine netting, short-spined sea-urchin collecting, crab trapping, snorkeling, an Island hike and maybe even visit Starfish Prairie along the way. And who knows what else… As if a day out boating isn’t fun enough all by itself!!! It just doesn’t get any better than this!!!

Stay tuned, or better yet, come join us!!! It’s time to get outside and live life to the fullest!!! I know we are. 🙂

Let’s Go Have Some Fun !!!
AdventureMike

Uncategorized

Adventure Mike on WPBF Channel 25

March 23, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi all,

Cathleen O’Toole from WPBF Channel 25 stopped by for a quick interview and update on my spring and summer camp adventure sessions. Check it out!

See you in the water,

AdventureMike

Uncategorized

Adventure Lauren’s Birthday Party

March 23, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone, Welcome back!

We just finished up a custom birthday party adventure session for AdventureLauren and again wanted to wish her a very happy birthday. Lauren and her brother Andrew are repeat Adventurers and I have to say I love having them along! They are full of energy and smiles and that makes trips like this extra special for me!!! Lauren brought along 4 close friends, Adventurers Natalie, Katie, Sonam and Ariane that were equally as enthusiastic and excited as the rest of us. We were joined by two of my favorite Adventurers and camp counselors AdventureLisa and AdventureSheri.

We hurriedly boarded my Adventure Boat the “DREAM CHASER”, a custom 26′ Island Runner and off we went to begin the days adventure. On the way out we stopped along a nearby beach to do some exploring and see what we could find. We had no sooner hopped out than AdventureLauren and the gang found some very large and uncommon Spotted Sea Hares washed up at the high tide line. We collected these and placed them in a bucket of fresh sea water to revive and moved further down the beach where we discovered some nice colonies of Nerites and hermit crabs along the rocks. We also found some nice open pods of Nicker Beans full of the gray hard shelled beans openly displayed within, like tiny eggs in thorny bird nests. A cool find. Nicker Beans are what the anti malarial drug Quinine is made from and are commonly called “lucky beans”. This is the only time of year you can these pods containing seeds.

From here we headed back to the DREAM CHASER, released the now revived Spotted Sea Hares after taking a few photos of AdventureAndrew wearing one on his head like a slimy toupee, and scout the shallow sand bar for eagle rays, manatees and maybe a passing turtle. On the way to explore the shallow grass flats by Little Munyon Island we stopped at Starfish Prairie and hurriedly collected a few for a quick photo op. and then seconds later gently released them exactly where we found them. “Starfish Head” photos are always a popular attraction for a young group of Adventurers and everyone was full of smiles!

After this we motored to Little Munyon Island and AdventureSheri organized a fun game of egg toss competitions while AdventureLisa became the staff photographer for the day. We all had an absolute ball! AdventureSheri and I won once and AdventureLauren and Andrew won another time and by the time this was over and done with we all had great big smiles on our faces and egg on our hands. It was great and non stop laughter!!! We did a little bit of Seine netting and found some nice juvenile snappers and mojaras and discovered a large bed of short-spined sea urchins in the very shallows. They came in a variety of colors and sizes and we collected a few to look at, check out their tiny tube feet and spines. We turned a few over to take a closer look at their 5 tiny mouth plates, also called “Aristotle’s Lantern” then let them go.

By now we only had a short time left so we quickly donned our snorkel masks, took a shallow snorkel around the island and found tons more sea urchins, hermit crabs and a variety of shells. It was just great and everybody was excited to discover some new things. I took a look at my watch, realized it was time to go and we boarded the boat to head back. And as usual, nobody was ready to go, but Lauren’s mom, Lisa, had a nice birthday party awaiting back at the park and we couldn’t stall any longer.

On the way back we pulled out a dozen “giant bubble” tubes and left a trail of iridescent floating bubbles all the way back to the ramp. It was a great way to end the day and celebrate AdventureLauren’s birthday, and with all the smiles and laughter I heard and saw, I know everyone will remember this day, and especially me!!!

Be back soon, Spring Camps start March 31st thru April 3rd, and April 7th thru 10th. I still have a few spaces left, but not for long, and I know I just can’t wait!!! How about you? Come join us and “LET’S GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!

See you soon,

AdventureMike

Uncategorized

Let’s Go Have Some Fun!

March 12, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everybody, Welcome back!

I just wanted to drop a quick post to everyone to say hello and let them know how excited I am about this up coming Spring Break Camp session! The first Adventure Session begins March 31st and the second on April 7th, and to say I just about can’t wait is an understatement!!! I am really looking forward to it and I know that all of us are going to have a fantastic time!!! I’m going to personally see to that!!!

For those of you who have joined me in the past, you know the kind of Fun and Excitement that’s in store. We are going to have an honest to goodness Adventure Session from start to finish. I checked out the moon phase and am happy to see that the first adventure session will occur right around the new moon. That means we are going to have higher highs and lower low tides than normal and that is just perfect!!!

At high tide the Rock Garden will be loaded with thousands of tropical fish just waiting for us to enjoy! I know the water is going to be crystal clear as usual, and I can’t wait to get in it and go exploring! How about you? Who knows what we may find, but I can guarantee one thing. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE FUN!!!

At low tide we’ll head to the Big Sandbar for a quick round of exploring and I know this time of year we will find lots of Beaded Starfish, some Cushion Sea Stars, Baby Ear Mollusks, a variety of Blue Crabs, Spider Crabs, Hermit Crabs, live Olive shells and quite a few large Mantis Shrimp. If we are really lucky, we might even find some of those elusive and nocturnal 9 Armed Starfish, and I know just the photos I want to take with this group of Adventurers! From here we’ll head towards the back side of Little Munyon Island and do some seine netting in the shallows and see if we can find some more of those really rare Pygmy Seahorses and some sharks teeth and fossils! Last year we had so much fun in this area! Every pull of the net was another Adventure waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. We found hundreds of juvenile reef fish and even some frogfish that are rarely seen around these parts. I never know what we may discover, but we always find something truly fascinating and worthy of our attention. I just love it when things come together like this!

In between snorkeling at the Rock Garden, swimming in the Deep Hole, exploring the Big Sandbar and seine netting behind Munyon Island, we are going to be learning cast netting and water safety, enjoying crab trapping, nature walks, eco tours and more! As if spending a day out boating isn’t enough fun all by itself, and where else and in what other camp do you get to do that? None that I know of… Lucky us!!! YIPPEE!!!

And Best of All, we will be spending a day fishing in my favorite secret spots where the action can be non stop from start to finish. AND I MEAN FROM START TO FINISH!!! Just ask AdventureCarolyn from last summer… She caught 71 snappers, grunts, pinfish, porgies, yellowtails, spot-tails and groupers, etc. all by herself! And in just one outing of fishing!!! Had to quit cause she couldn’t reel in another fish! Everyone else caught around 50 or so each. What an unbelievable day! I’ll bet we boated and released over 350 fish in under 4 hours by 5 young adventurers. I may never have another day like that, but I can only hope!!! Maybe this will be the time…

Check out the post for July 10th, 2008. “Fishing near Peanut Island” I can promise you, they will never forget that day!!! And neither will I!!! Making memories that can last a lifetime… That’s what I LOVE ABOUT THIS JOB!!!

For those of you who are again joining me for our Spring Camps, I can’t wait to see you!!! For those of you who may be thinking about it, you may have to HURRY to decide… AdventureMike’s is not your “normal” Spring or Summer camp and I only have six spaces left. They won’t last long… One things certain…

It’s time to get outside and Live Life to the fullest!!! Come join us and be a part of the Adventure!!!

LET’S GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!
AdventureMike

Palm Beach Summer Day Camp Blog