Hello again.
I am unfortunately back in rainy Atlanta, but the trip to Key Largo was great. So read on if you want the details.
First off let let me tell you about Azul Del Mar... it was fantastic. It is a little more expensive than most hotels in the Keys(from what I saw) but it was worth every penny. We stayed in a Deluxe Seaview Suite. The room was impeccable. We had a small kitchnette area with a mini fridge, microwave, sink and mini-dish washer. It was equiped with plenty of silverware and untensil and even grill utensils if you wanted to use one of the 2 gas grills outside. We had leather furniture in the "living" area and a suede couch in the sitting area where you could look at the bay. DirecTV is there if you wanted to keep on world events or the Braves (for me). The bedroom was sizable witha king bed with high thread count sheets ( I love that, and I'm not trying to gay up the report or anything
) and a down comforter.
There were also to small Hobie Cats and kayaks on the premises if you wanted to rent them. We didn't we were usually exhausted from diving. We basicall... ate, dive, sleep, repeat. And I loved every minute of it.
The owner of Azul, Dominic, was great. He went out of his way to make sure our stay was the best possible. We had a small shower problem one day, which required a plumber over the Memorial Day weekend (not an easy feat to accomplish) and it was fixed by the time we got back from our night dive. He still has his British accent even though he has been in the states a long while, and I was also pleased to see he still has the British sense of humor... which I love. When he isnt busy he will chat with you for a great lengths, and from what I have been told has a wealth of sailing knowledge. His sailboat is parked right out back of Azul.
We will definitely stay at Azul Del Mar again... if anyone does not mind the extra cash it is worth the stay. Even if it's just for a day or two. You'll love it and will be hooked. I might also add that there is no smoking in the rooms (thank you) and small children have to be pre-arranged for (as a childless married couple, for the moment, I also thank you Dom). Serenity, seclusion, and tranquility are Dom's goals... he accomplishes them in spades. Thank you for a wonderful stay Dom.
Now onto Quiescence. As advertised they were great. Very professional and friendly even while running around like chickens with there heads cut off due to the VERY busy holiday weekend for them. They were also very accomodating, my wife is a petite thing (5' 2" and 120lbs) and she asked if she could dive AL 63s and Quiescene happily accomodated her. It made diving for her alot easier and she enjoyed herself even more because of it. As most know their three boats are six-packs. There's enough room for six divers to go about there business with some bumping into each other but I'll take that over a cattle boat anyday.
Alright so onto the diving:
DAY 1 Afternoon Dives.
North North Dry Rocks - The surface was very choppy. We had 3-4 foot seas and were being kicked around. Everyone was very happy to get into the water. My wife had her mask come off on a back roll entry (she could have giany strided, lesson learned) but she kept her wits and calmed herself down. We saw a decent sized stingray on descent but that was as the "coolest" thing we saw on that dive. Other than that your usual reef life. Or it could have been I was paying attention to getting myself worked out since it was my fisrt dive since October. Visibility was about 25-30ft. in my estimates. 43 min/29 ft.
Christ of the Abyss - People were having issues with seasickness in the short move to this site. One woman was hit hard, and was basically laying on the deck wanting to die. My wife succumbed and puker oer the side. I rarely get seasick but I felt a little nauseous for a moment or two... onlt the second time I've ever felt it! Anyways, onto the dive. I guess God does live underwater. Anywho, the vis was a little better on this dive. It was neat to finally get to see the statue. There were lots of young grouper around the reef, as well as plnety of lobster seekin refuge from the holy statue... maybe they were on a pilgrimage. 62 mins/30 ft.
Jon was our captain for the day. He was great. We liked him alot even though the seas were throwing us a beating.
DAY 2 Afternoon dive
Benwood - The seas were calm this day and everyone was a lot happier and chatty. I loved this site as did my wife. I guess it can be classified as my first real wreck. I saw a huge Loggerhead turtle. I got my wife's attention, she loves turtles, her eyes got wide and happy! But in her delight she decided to swim towards the turtle and it spooked him and he went on his merry way. I just shook my head. Alot more interesting things on this site, coral crab, saucer coral, biggest trumpet fish I've ever seen, 2 big cobie above the stern of the wreck, and got real close to a barracuda before he decided he had had enough. One of the best dives I have ever had and my wife concurs. 56 min/41 ft
French Reef - Another great dive. Some swimthroughs on this reef added to it's enjoyment. Apparently my wife and I were the only ones on the boat who found the swimthroughs. I found a green moray and was watching him for a while before he decided to move me out of his way. He then proceeded to swim over and through the reef. I followed him to see where he was going, and he didnt much care about my presence. He did take issue witha grouper that got in his way and didnt care about moving until the moray gave him a little nudge. I laughed through my reg at that. The moray was baout a 4 footer. 55 min/35 ft
Jon was once again our captain, and he was once again great.
DAY 3 Afternoon dive
Molasses Reef North - Started the dive day on a bad note. I broke a clip on the shoulder atrap of my BC. A few expletives flew out of my mouth about that, but Captain Jon came to the rescue with some zip ties. He saved me from having to rent the rest of the trip. It held the entire dive trip and I didnt think about until after the trip was over. It wasnt very stylish but it got the job done. Now I'll be off to the dive shop when I'm done wrting this so they can send it off to the maunfacturer. It was a sign of bad things to come... The dive itself was great, alot of nurse sharks of all sizes were present. One was even chasing a grouper around (poor grouper seem to get no respect in the Keys). AT one point my wife and I just knelt in the sand and let the reef go by us. A nurse shark swam right over my wife's head. We also saw what I think was a reef shark, I know it wasn't a nurse shark, but couldnt properly identify which kind it was. He was swimming towards us, but once he checked us out he left. He was probably about 5 ft from what I could tell. Sharks kinda leave you speechless underwater. So awe inspring. I also happened along a scorpionfish as I was swimming along a few inches of the sand. Nearly ran into him! First one I've ever seen up close. <<Moron Diver Alert>> We were psuedo paired with a 3rd diver. His wife was snorkeling as he dove. He stayed with us for a while then went off on his own. We ran into him a few times throughout the dive and I and my wife signaled him as to how much air he had left numerous times. He never responded to us and sort of had a cluless look in his eyes like he didnt know what were were asking? Obviously he didn't know much of anything. I tried to keep track of him in the beginning, but he was more concerned about taking pictures on HIS 3RD OPEN WATER DIVE. We again met up with him at the ascent line and signaled if he was ready to go up. He agreed. We ascended to 15 feet to do our safety stop. My wife and the moron diver were a little above me. I look up and see my wife giving him her primary while she switched to her AIR2. The first though than ran through my mind was, "I don't ******ing believe this!!" My wife gave me the same look. Apparently he signaled he was out of air. Never even gave us a hint that he was low on air all the times we signaled him. My wife was about 200 psi less than I was and I was at about 800 on the line. I knew she was concerned about her psi so I kept close eye on her. I monitored the stop time and gave them the signal to ascend when appropriate. Then did ascend a little to quickly, which I told my wife about after all was said and done. Overall she handled herself very, very well. I was a little ticked off, but I held y tongue once we were back on the boat. The way I see it, this idiot should not have been in the water on his 3rd open water dive without a divemaster, and he needlessly endangered my wife's life (that may be extreme, but thats the way I see it). When we got back to shore I politely told one of the staff members about the incident and requested not to be on the same boat as that idiot again. They appreciated the way we handled the situation and abided by our request.
51 min./35 ft.
Molasses Reef (South) - The moron diver styed with an instructor whose student bailed on the seond dive due to seassickness. Thank heaven above. Lots of nurse sharks and grouper. More lobsters, some out and about on the reef. Barracudas galore. Another nice dive, even better without the moron.
It's also a little more that a dive trip as our Anniversary is the 26th.
). One thing I could not find is if they put a DM in the water with you. I dont care either way... just curious. Of course, my wife isn't looking forward to the backroll entry (I am assuming this is the entry given the pics of their boats, correct me if I'm wrong).
