We went to Key Largo 7/1-7/6 as part of a group that was staying at Kelly's on the Bay and diving with Aquanuts. We'd planned on going over that time but were looking at other hotels and shops. Friends of ours were going with a group and it seemed like a good deal, so we went.
Kelly's - Clean rooms, but be very careful when you book. Pick your room and reserve the exact one you want. As part of the group we didn't have a choice and we got a very tiny one with 1 dbl bed. I kid you not, we couldn't open the bathroom door without having it hit the bed, and the min-fridge could only be opened if the room door was closed. The only place to hang close was right in front of the door over the fridge so, anything longer then a shirt and you were out of luck. Some rooms with 2 dbls or the queens with a kitchenette are ok size. The dock area and sundeck are nice, and the pool was ok.
Aquanuts - We dove over the holiday and before. The crew is freindly and do a good job, but they will really pack the divers (and a few snorkelers) on during the weekend, especially the afternoon boats. Way too crowded onboard. There's no special consideration or preference given to hotel guests or groups. We had to sign up every day for the dives and they are VERY disorganized. The office makes you initial that you're signing up for dives and makes a really big deal about it, however, in 4 days of diving, not once did the boat get the correct manafest. On a couple of afternoons this was a problem since they had full boats and we had to actually get a bit testy to get on, even though we'd signed up a day or 2 ahead for both AM and PM dives. The turnaround is ridiculous. You have about 30-45 min to eat, get geared up and get back on the boat. They are not set up well for divers who want to do more then 1 trip/day. Also had little variety in reefs. They said conditions, we felt it was all about their convenience. In 4 days we did 3 trips to Molasses and 3 to French Reef. Different moorings but still, a little more variety would have been nice. And the 2nd dive they went about 2 min to the next ball. We also did 2 dives and a night dive on the Benwood, 2 on the City of Washington.
The highlight of the 4 days was the awesome conditions we had for the Spiegel Grove and a pretty good dive on the Duane as well. The vis, conditions etc on the reefs were pretty good. A bit choppy on top and strong surge on a few dives. Lots of marine life. It was great for photography.
The convenience of having your room, gear storage and the dock within a few steps of eachother was nice, but, overall, I probably wouldn't dive again with Aquanuts. I like doing AM and PM most days and they are just not set up for that. I'd say that if you are a 1 trip/day diver and not looking for anything too advanced, and only going for a couple days, you'd find them to be ok. I'd only stay at Kelly's if I chose my exact room and got a good deal on it.
Next trip to the Keys we're going to go a little further south to Tavernier or Islamorada. But, I won't be rushing back to the Keys anytime soon. When we added up the flight, car, hotel and diving, it's about the same as we usually pay for Mexico and several places in the Caribbean.
Kelly's - Clean rooms, but be very careful when you book. Pick your room and reserve the exact one you want. As part of the group we didn't have a choice and we got a very tiny one with 1 dbl bed. I kid you not, we couldn't open the bathroom door without having it hit the bed, and the min-fridge could only be opened if the room door was closed. The only place to hang close was right in front of the door over the fridge so, anything longer then a shirt and you were out of luck. Some rooms with 2 dbls or the queens with a kitchenette are ok size. The dock area and sundeck are nice, and the pool was ok.
Aquanuts - We dove over the holiday and before. The crew is freindly and do a good job, but they will really pack the divers (and a few snorkelers) on during the weekend, especially the afternoon boats. Way too crowded onboard. There's no special consideration or preference given to hotel guests or groups. We had to sign up every day for the dives and they are VERY disorganized. The office makes you initial that you're signing up for dives and makes a really big deal about it, however, in 4 days of diving, not once did the boat get the correct manafest. On a couple of afternoons this was a problem since they had full boats and we had to actually get a bit testy to get on, even though we'd signed up a day or 2 ahead for both AM and PM dives. The turnaround is ridiculous. You have about 30-45 min to eat, get geared up and get back on the boat. They are not set up well for divers who want to do more then 1 trip/day. Also had little variety in reefs. They said conditions, we felt it was all about their convenience. In 4 days we did 3 trips to Molasses and 3 to French Reef. Different moorings but still, a little more variety would have been nice. And the 2nd dive they went about 2 min to the next ball. We also did 2 dives and a night dive on the Benwood, 2 on the City of Washington.
The highlight of the 4 days was the awesome conditions we had for the Spiegel Grove and a pretty good dive on the Duane as well. The vis, conditions etc on the reefs were pretty good. A bit choppy on top and strong surge on a few dives. Lots of marine life. It was great for photography.
The convenience of having your room, gear storage and the dock within a few steps of eachother was nice, but, overall, I probably wouldn't dive again with Aquanuts. I like doing AM and PM most days and they are just not set up for that. I'd say that if you are a 1 trip/day diver and not looking for anything too advanced, and only going for a couple days, you'd find them to be ok. I'd only stay at Kelly's if I chose my exact room and got a good deal on it.
Next trip to the Keys we're going to go a little further south to Tavernier or Islamorada. But, I won't be rushing back to the Keys anytime soon. When we added up the flight, car, hotel and diving, it's about the same as we usually pay for Mexico and several places in the Caribbean.
