Diveral
Contributor
Went out with Conch Republic Divers on 5/5. Conch Republic is a very friendly and professional organization it was my first trip with them. They ran a good and friendly dive operation. Went out with about 12 divers I had never met before. There were two instructors with three new divers one of whom finished his final two open water checkout dives on this trip (congrats if you read this) and a few divers working on AOW.
Got two good insta buddies out of Texas. One had a much nicer camera than I.
Because of the new divers we stuck to the nearer shore shallower reefs with minimal currents. First dive was on 40' ledge. First dive started about 9:15. Hit a max depth of 35 feet and had a total bottom time of 59 min. This is a patch reef saw lots of tropical fish, 1 big southern stingray, one lobster and one big green moray. Air temp was 81 and water temp was 79. Visibility was 70 feet or better.
Second dive was horseshoe reef. It was nice, like an underwater garden. It had a 6-7 ft ledge to the sand with lots of nooks and crannies for fish, lobster, and eels to hide in. Very abundant and varied life here. Healthy corals and sea fans. Lots of green morays, (I lost interest after 6), there were several southern stingrays buried in the sand below the ledge. Saw several large snappers and groupers. Saw a big anemone in a cranny in the reef, many large lobster and there were lots of queen conch footing it across the sand below the reef. Max depth was 24' and had a bottom time of 55 min. Came up with 1100 PSI at about 11:05. Air temp was 85 by this time. Visibility was 60-75 feet.
I would highly recommend Conch Republic and will dive with them again on my next trip to the Keys.
We stayed in Ocean Pointe condominiums. It was a nice place. My non-diving spouse was along and they had enough amenities to keep her occupied while I was diving. It's a bit much if you are primarily diving but if you are bringing along non-diving family members its a good place.
Took my wife snorkeling with Keys Diver to Banana Reef (Grecian Rocks), Dry Rocks (Christ of the Deep), and North Dry Rocks. My wife enjoyed it. Keys Diver had 26 snorkelers aboard for this trip and it was a good operation to take a newb with. These reefs had a good amount of life on them but didn't seem as healthy as Horseshoe reef on the southern side of Key Largo.
Met up with Jsgt and her dive buddy for a late lunch. Had a wonderful time. I regret that I wasn't able to dive with them. If Jsgt recommends a good resturaunt pay attention because she knows some good ones.
AL
Got two good insta buddies out of Texas. One had a much nicer camera than I.
Because of the new divers we stuck to the nearer shore shallower reefs with minimal currents. First dive was on 40' ledge. First dive started about 9:15. Hit a max depth of 35 feet and had a total bottom time of 59 min. This is a patch reef saw lots of tropical fish, 1 big southern stingray, one lobster and one big green moray. Air temp was 81 and water temp was 79. Visibility was 70 feet or better.
Second dive was horseshoe reef. It was nice, like an underwater garden. It had a 6-7 ft ledge to the sand with lots of nooks and crannies for fish, lobster, and eels to hide in. Very abundant and varied life here. Healthy corals and sea fans. Lots of green morays, (I lost interest after 6), there were several southern stingrays buried in the sand below the ledge. Saw several large snappers and groupers. Saw a big anemone in a cranny in the reef, many large lobster and there were lots of queen conch footing it across the sand below the reef. Max depth was 24' and had a bottom time of 55 min. Came up with 1100 PSI at about 11:05. Air temp was 85 by this time. Visibility was 60-75 feet.
I would highly recommend Conch Republic and will dive with them again on my next trip to the Keys.
We stayed in Ocean Pointe condominiums. It was a nice place. My non-diving spouse was along and they had enough amenities to keep her occupied while I was diving. It's a bit much if you are primarily diving but if you are bringing along non-diving family members its a good place.
Took my wife snorkeling with Keys Diver to Banana Reef (Grecian Rocks), Dry Rocks (Christ of the Deep), and North Dry Rocks. My wife enjoyed it. Keys Diver had 26 snorkelers aboard for this trip and it was a good operation to take a newb with. These reefs had a good amount of life on them but didn't seem as healthy as Horseshoe reef on the southern side of Key Largo.
Met up with Jsgt and her dive buddy for a late lunch. Had a wonderful time. I regret that I wasn't able to dive with them. If Jsgt recommends a good resturaunt pay attention because she knows some good ones.
AL
