Fling Charters

I went on a two-​day/​seven-​dive trip with Fling Charters in February. Setting up a reservation is handled through local dive shops and not the charter itself.
The staff is genuinely kind and welcoming just as you’d expect in Texas… they do want you to enjoy the trip. Accommodations are in a four person bunkroom which was fine, you’re there to dive anyway. The staff cooks for you and fills up your tanks in between dives.
The dive sites are average aside from the oil rig dive which was amazing.
If you’re health conscious with what you eat, you might be in for a rude awakening. The first night the staff was kind enough to prepare snacks, but they were hot dogs wrapped in a crossaint or something… it kind of made me sick. Breakfast consisted of eggs, sausage, and cinnamon rolls and it didn’t get much healthier than that. The staff does accommodate vegetarian/​flex diets which I almost wish I had asked for since others had chicken cordon bleu and quinoa.
After all of the dives were over on the way back, the team lead gets all of the divers together for an outbrief during which they try to sell you trinkets which was fine, that’s how businesses run. I found it profoundly disturbing, however, that the team lead pressures clients to tip because divemasters and cooks aren’t paid and only work for tips since «[the company] can’t afford to pay them.» I won’t claim to understand their business financials, but it seems exploitative and egregious that I’m being asked to give an extra $ 100+ on l when I’ve already paid near $ 700 for this trip.
Overall I’m glad I went but I probably won’t repeat this trip.

Just spent valentines weekend on M/​V Fling. Had a wonderful weekend! All of the crew members were very knowledgeable, courteous and passionate about SCUBA diving. They know everything there is to know about the dive sites they take you too and give you pointers on where to see the coolest things. Good food available around the clock and they were very accommodating to my husband who can’t eat red meat as a couple of the meals included red meat. On one of the dives our GoPro camera fell off my husbands head, the dive master JT took extra time in his final dive of the evening… in the dark… to find it amongst the coral. It was a great weekend with great people, not a single complaint. We will be back hopefully soon.

Just got back from a great experience with this charter boat and let me tell you, all the superlatives for good (wonderful, superb, amazing, delightful, etc.) apply. I was on a 3 day, 2-​night live-​aboard dive trip to the Flower Gardens, and the boat had essentially a full regimen with ~31 divers. The landscapes (West bank, a rig, and over at Stetson), the weather, and the wildlife (a few sharks, some really friendly sea turtles, eels and stingrays, oh my!) were all really neat, but it was the crew that really makes this organization worth visiting.
The tank filler (Gary, I think) had his hands full with keeping all our tanks full, helping us adjust our rigs, and just giving us some good background on the dive sites. The dive masters (Brandon and JT) were helpful, well-​informed, and super cheerful. The captain kept us in stitches with some good humor as we trudged through the necessary drills and information sessions, and the galley crew was phenomenal. I don’t imagine it was easy feeding the 35+ people on board, but they prepared delicious, copious food– if you went hungry, it was on you.
Sleeping quarters were a mite tight, but that’s to be expected. With 31 divers, the dive prep area was a little tight, but everyone was really great. Overall, the crew makes you feel welcome and does everything they can, the facilities are comfortable, and the experience is great. If you get a chance to dive the Flower Gardens, you should check out the Fling.