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  1. buckled plates

    Looe Key and Adolphus Bush questions

    Yep. Do both on one trip, the wreck first and then the reef. Makes for a good variety and a great day.
  2. buckled plates

    Recommendations for high end resorts

    Little Palm, Lower Keys, access only by boat or seaplane (they provide boat service). High end as it gets around these parts. I think about $1500+ per night.
  3. buckled plates

    Best sites in the Keys

    I just returned from another week of diving Bloody Bay wall and vicinity Little Cayman. The visibility and bottom topography is spectacular, arguably the most beautiful and exciting in the Caribbean. And yet, as those who have been diving in both areas concede, the density, size, and variety of...
  4. buckled plates

    Key West towards Miami Itinerary Recos

    Yep, still chartering out of Sea Center in Big Pine Key. Mostly for seasonal locals, folks that lost (Irma) or sold their boats. Some newbies now and then, divers that need or want a little more time and assistance, or experienced divers who want access to sites the headboats don't serve. Small...
  5. buckled plates

    Looe key Reef Dive Boats

    Captain Hooks in Big Pine Key 305-872-9863. They've got two Corinthians, with 10 divers it's probably cost effect to private charter one of them. Nice operation. Give them a call.
  6. buckled plates

    Air in eanx marked tank?

    According to the kid filling my tanks that day in Big Pine Key, someone from the "government" came to the shop and told them that air cannot be loaded into a nitrox marked tank. He told me another shop in the area had been fined for doing so. I'd never heard such nonsense, and said as much. The...
  7. buckled plates

    Air in eanx marked tank?

    And now, as of this morning (Sunday, 19 May), not only will Captain Hooks in Big Pine Key not put air in a nitrox banded tank, but they've also taken to barking and screaming at my friends dropping off yesterday's tanks for refill. "You gotta PAY first!" the nitwit shouted rudely, his head...
  8. buckled plates

    Elderly woman lost off Florida Keys

    A million divers a year (most of them snorklers) visit the Keys, the most popular dive destination in the world. Scuba diving is heading for a demographic bust following baby-boomers leaving the sport. Anyone diving (and particularly those working dive boats) has seen this playing out. In all...
  9. buckled plates

    Elderly woman lost off Florida Keys

    Another woman was lost off Summerland Key (lower Keys, vicinity of Busch). May 7th. Never found.
  10. buckled plates

    Elderly woman lost off Florida Keys

    She was on Sand Key reef, a few miles out of Key West. Relatively shallow dive. 73 year old woman. Never found. If you're questioning age and fitness for diving (as I do), perhaps a physical with a DAN recommended physician might help ease or confirm your concerns. DAN has a free medical...
  11. buckled plates

    Air in eanx marked tank?

    The young man filling my tanks pointed to an 8 x 10 notice pinned to the wall that said it was an OSHA regulation (no air fill of nitrox marked tanks). Somewhere else in the shop, as I recall, it said DOT. Whatever. Captain Hooks doesn't do nitrox at Big Pine anyway (my mistake thinking -...
  12. buckled plates

    Air in eanx marked tank?

    Yep, but of course sometimes it's not as easy as going across the street. It's also hugely expensive and inconvenient for friends and customers whose tanks have had nitrox stickers removed if the same shop won't fill them with a nitrox mix unless the tank's been inspected and approved for...
  13. buckled plates

    Air in eanx marked tank?

    The Captain Hook's dive shop in Big Pine Key, FL will not fill a tank with air if it has a nitrox sticker attached to it. I've never encountered this before. The shop claims it's a DOT regulation. If that's the case, then every other dive shop along the east coast I visit apparently is violating...
  14. buckled plates

    Question: '57 Mistral DW

    I have a friend who's acquired a '57 Mistral DW. He's a vintage gear junkie and has restored the Mistral to good working order but, whenever he dives it, it winds up with a few ounces of water in the top box. The water doesn't appear to be infiltrating from the "wagon wheel," he says, and the...
  15. buckled plates

    Trip review week of 8/21/2018: Key Largo, Key West, Marathon & Looe Key

    For another opinion about Keys diving see this: Alert Diver | Looe Key
  16. buckled plates

    Looe Key vs Key largo

    Looe Key is a very popular dive site and fills up with private and headboat operators when the weather is good. Try to avoid the herd. Best area of the reef for diving are the southwest sites with well defined sand channels and vertical growth in the spur and groove reef. Also deeper farther...
  17. buckled plates

    Looe Key vs Key largo

    If you're on the 6-pac boat, just ask the captain to avoid the fleet at the reef as much as possible. Looe Key can be magnificent and, on a good day, if you dive it right (SLOWLY), you can come into extraordinarily close range with a large variety of the most sought after species: goliath...
  18. buckled plates

    Looe Key vs Key largo

    If you've got a party of five divers and are diving the Adolphus Busch with Looe Key's 6-pac boat, then you might consider asking them to do a a wreck / reef combo. Rather than spend an hour surface interval and doing a double dive on the relatively small wreck, you can surface and immediately...
  19. buckled plates

    Help me choose a once-in-a-lifetime SCUBA trip!

    Truk Lagoon; Blue Lagoon Dive Shop: Take an economy non-stop from DTW to Honolulu. Collect your gear and layover a day or two to acclimate to the time change and lose some of the travel fatigue. Then grab your gear (cheating the airlines out of the chance to lose it) and board an island hopper...
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