Amberjack,
Don't worry. We'll take you to sites that are compatible to your experience level. The folks that were out had never done that type of diving but they all listened to our instructions, and none had any problems. That's the key to safer diving. Listen to the recommendations from the crew and make sure there is a "what if" plan. Hot dropping is positioning the boat up current or up wind and dropping divers ahead of the place they want to be. It's much easier than pulling yourself against the wind and current to a mooring ball/line. You simply drift a short distance to your target and go down. Picking up hot is after reaching the surface, you simply let go of the mooring and drift a short distance and the boat will come in and pick you up. This makes it much more comfortable than trying to hang on to the line and getting beaten up by the sea state. While being picked up you and the boat are riding the waves at the same time so instead of fighting the conditions, you're going with them. We always try to take experience levels into consideration and make the dive as easy as possible.
It doesn't have to be hard. If, for some reason, you're not able to get back to the designated place for your ascent, we're ready to move the boat and come pick you up rather than making you fight your way back to the boat. Many of the boats in the Keys tie up to a mooring ball and won't move it until everyone has made it back. We've had to "rescue" numerous divers from both private and commercial boats that weren't able to "make it back". We do the work, you enjoy the dive. If you're open to our instructions, we have the experience to help you learn and grow while enjoying the experience. If you insist on doing something that we don't recommend, we're not going to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with and we'll be there to pick you up if your plan doesn't work out. Don't get the wrong impression. Conditions down here are generally pretty good but when they are more challenging we're able to change our type of operations to cope with the changes. Don't worry. We'll take good care of you and if you have any further questions don't hesitate asking. You may want to e-mail through our web site rather than on a discussion board as we're much quicker that way. We're just taking a break this AM and having a nice cup of coffee before hitting the work scene. See you in May!
Bob