American Airlines, Alamo Rent a Car, Quiessence Divers, Captain Slate's Atlantis Dive Centre, Pennekamp Park Dive Shop,
We spent 5 days in Key Largo and dove every day. We had two days of good dive conditions, 2 mediocre, and 1 bad.
Searching for a house to rent starts off easy. There are several to choose from on the Internet. We sent out inquiries, got some replies, and eventually picked a place. We sent the deposit and the rent and it was all set. Then the guy reneged and we had to find another place. Oh well.
We booked our flights by telephone because we were using points. It cost a few dollars more to do it this way, but some things are just worth it. A few years ago we booked online using points, and once the first flight was booked, it was no longer available when we tried to book the second.
This was more eventful than it should have been. Our morning flight to Miami was delayed, then cancelled. Fortunately there was another one in the afternoon that had enough space, so we were only mildly inconvenienced. Instead of arriving in the afternoon, we arrived in the evening. Last year when we went to Marathon, that would have been a problem because we had to pick up our house keys from a real estate office that was only open till 4 PM. This time we picked up the keys from a neighbour, so it was no big deal.
Renting houses is so much nicer than staying in hotels. The house we rented looked like a mobile home without the mobility. It was long and narrow. It also had a covered patio. The cover was aluminum which meant that on those occasions when it rained, we really heard it. There was a pool and hot tub that we didn't use. There was also a nice sun deck for gear drying.
None of the dive shops were exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. In fact, none were really bad at all. They all got you out and back, and all provided something to drink on board. All offered unguided dives lasting until you had 500 psi left or 60 minutes had elapsed, whichever came first. Also, all were co-located with their dive boats which is not always the case in the keys. There were differences though.
We dove with Capt Slate once. This shop is on the ocean side leading to shorter boat rides. They also had 72 cu ft aluminum tanks instead of the normal 80s. This was plenty of air, and it was to have a lighter tank, but they were narrower. This meant we had to adust our tank straps. Fortunately ours are simple, but we have seen some that are not. Come to think of it, I used to own one that is not. Also, Capt Slate does not have two pound weights. That was a minor inconvenience. I used a single four pounder instead of two 2s.
We also dove with Quiescence once. Their shop is on the gulf side so the boat rides are a bit longer. They also have Al 80 tanks, but theirs seem less buoyant. Those that like diving the deeper wrecks should not pick this shop, they don't do that. They just do the shallow reefs.
We dove with the Pennekamp Park Dive Shop three times. Their big advantage is price. The other two places were charging $80 plus tank rental. Pennekamp Park sold us a three day package for $150, tanks included. They do have cattle boat potential though. They take up to 35 divers out. Fortunately the most on any of our trips was 18. Like Capt Slade, they are on the ocean side, so the boat rides are shorter. Finally, like Quiessence, they don't take you to the deeper sites.
A dive shop we didn't use was Scuba-Do. It had been recommended by people on rec.scuba so we did check it out. It seems they run the shop from the boat. We found their address, and their boat, but nobody was on the boat. Plus when we phoned, we got voice mail. We ended up taking our money elsewhere.
By choice, we only did shallow dives. The deepest we got was 40 ft. Unfortunately there were easterly winds which created surge and reduced the vis. On our first day, the vis was 15-20 ft. On the mediocre days it was about 50 ft and it was crystal clear on the two good days. Water temperature was 82-84 F.
The reefs were nice and we saw the normal collection of fish and crustaceans. We also saw a huge loggerhead turtle. It's head was as big as a child's.
One of our dive sites was a wreck - the Benwood. On wrecks divers don't spread out as much and one buddy pair from another boat caught my eye. They were both diving doubles, which, while unusual, is no big deal. But I noticed one of them was wearing a drysuit. I have no idea why.
There is good diving in the Florida Keys when the conditions are good. However the shallowness of the sites makes them go bad quickly if there are waves.
| Trip Dates2008-06-24 to 2008-06-30 | Trip Report Index |