Dive trip report: Key Largo

[Alexandra]

Trip report: Key Largo Florida with Silent World Dive Center

Day one (Friday)
We get to the store around 8am and sign in for the 2 boat dives. Not the friendliest of greetings which is unusual in dive shops but maybe she was just not a morning person. We then headed down the street and around the corner to where the boat was docked. We found out that they were actually renting a boat out as theirs was having itÃÔ motor changed out. We waited around about 30mins for them to set things up and then finally were on our way. The weather was somewhat cloudy and with a storm coming in the water was quite choppy. IÃÎ not usually sea sick but my stomach was definitely feeling it as were most of the others on the boat. We were 6 total and a bit cramped on the boat. We got to the Spiegel Grove and got a very brief rundown of the dive site by Captain Bob. We were paired in 2 sets of 3 divers. Great dive!! The Spiegel grove is huge and you definitely canÃÕ dive it all in one go given the depth. You can swim through the galleys which is really cool and there was lots of sea life around it.
The 2nd dive was less memorable on the Bentwood -a blown up wreck in shallow waters (with lots of surge).

Since we left late we didnÃÕ get back to dock until 1pm and were literally give 10mins to go to the gas station to get a bite to eat (blekh). They also served us no food no fruit no drinks (save a dixie cup for water) on the boat which surprised me. Probably not a big deal if you prepare for that ahead of time but I didn't. Just expected to have 30-45 to grab lunch.

The afternoon we were 6 again on the small boat and were on the shallow dives. I thought that meant less than 90 feet but it literally meant shallow -15-25 feet! The Chris of the Abyss was cool but once you see it there is very little else around it besides an extremely shallow reef and some fishies. Worth going to if youÃ×e never been but certainly not worth seeing twice. As I was already not feeling well after the morning, and the surge in the super shallow water, I was not able to do the 2nd dive at north north dry rocks. Captain Bob was not particularly friendly nor helpful on any of the dives of the day. All he could say was that I shouldnÃÕ have come on the afternoon boat if I wasnÃÕ feeling well

Day 2 (Saturday)
First we were disappointed to see that we were going to have Captain Bob again on our morning dives. We changed to a bigger boat and were at max capacity with 12 this time. This time we went to Elbow and Fingers, both shallow dives. (and again that means SHALLOW). The weather was much better so everyone felt fine. I of course got several comments from the crew on my feeling queezy and asking if I took any medication for it. It rarely happens to me but they sure managed to make me feel uncomfortable and as if I were the only one who ever gets sicks and didnÃÕ prepare for it. The dives were nice nothing extraordinary preferred Eblow great sea life, lots of lobsters.

Conclusion: the ÅÔhallow dives are absolutely great for new dives. Excellent practice ground and nice things to see. For advanced divers, even though I was going really slowly, itÃÔ not the most exciting.
Silent World was not the most friendly. Not unprofessional or anything but given all the other upbeat and fun places to go diving with itÃÔ not worth hanging around captains who are dry and unpleasant.

 

[F106A]

Good report but I gotta disagree with you about one (and only one) thing; the Benwood is a GREAT dive. But, like you said, it is subject to surge on those sloppy days. Other than that your report gets an A+.

 

[scubadada]

Dasalomon,

I've always enjoyed the Benwood also, generally very fishy. There's also an interesting mini-wall a short distance on a SW heading straight out from the bow that is fun in addition to the wreck.

Too bad you did not get to dive the Duane, that's a great wreck.

Good diving, Craig

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thnx for the report I do disagree about the reefs though, I have over a hundred dives on the shallow reefs here in the keys and they still amaze me.

 

[TMoore]

Its all a matter of perspective. Well lets see, you dont like Capt. Bob. I don't know what you have against Capt Bob but I was on the boat with him for almost the entire week and I didn't feel or witness anything unfriendly about him. The same for the dive shop personnel. They were all friendly enough for me. You are right about the Spiegel Grove, it's a great dive. Its even better when I'm not paired with a diver who holds the other two up for over 5 minutes descending the mooring line or cuts my dive short cause his nickname should be Hoover. BTW when you dive a wreck you should wear gloves. They might keep you from getting hurt when you harass sea life by poking that fish like you did. This may just be a case of old Capt. Bob has a keen sense of people.

 

[Backscatter]

We did three days of diving with Silent World in November of 2007. While I have to say I find dasalomon's description of the shop experience at Silent World familiar, I had a different experience with Capt. Bob. We had him for two of our three days and found him to be friendly and helpful, in an unobtrusive way.

Perhaps being on a temporary, smaller than normal boat had him a little out of sorts?

I guess it also depends on the diving experience you are used to. Being from NC, I don't expect much more from the crew than a ride to the dive site.

 

[cappyjon431]

Benwood is a great dive (although it is subject to surge as the OP noted). In addition to lots-o-fish there is also a very large resident green moray.

Perhaps the DM or Captain should have told you that there is actually a deep reef just off the Benwood. Head southeast for about 100 feet from the wreck and it is easy to get to 90' or so. I have not dived it in many years but I used to do the deep dive when teaching the AOW class right off the Benwood.

 

[deepstops]

Benwood is a great dive (although it is subject to surge as the OP noted). In addition to lots-o-fish there is also a very large resident green moray.

Perhaps the DM or Captain should have told you that there is actually a deep reef just off the Benwood. Head southeast for about 100 feet from the wreck and it is easy to get to 90' or so. I have not dived it in many years but I used to do the deep dive when teaching the AOW class right off the Benwood.

Correct, it's SE, not SW as previously stated in this thread (might have been a typo given the proximity of the "e" and the "w" on the keyboard ).
I've gone over the drop off quite a few time myself and supposedly there's a memorial plaque there but I've never seen it.

 

[Offroad]

Thanks for the report, my wife and I also dove with the Silent World in July of 2007 and 2008. Captain Bob was our favorite, and we always hoped we would be on his boat. As mentioned perhaps the equipment problems were creating a bit of stress for everyone.

They normally run two 28 foot boats that will take up to 12 divers each so they were probably scrambling for enough capacity for the demand. They have some great package prices and so the service is more basic with them especially compared to other parts fo the world. They generally have a cooler on board where you can put drinks and also a water cooler.

 

[htn123]

Appreciated your report. I have dove with Silent World on three separate occasions and all three were great. We are heading down to Key Largo on August and will use Silent World again.

Agreed with you on the Grove. I have also dove the Duane and it was great also. Hope you will have a better time next trip to the key.