Key Largo Dive Report

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socaldiver

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Maui
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This past weekend I had the chance to take the g/f, who is also my dive buddy down to the Keys for a couple of days of diving. This would be her first experience diving in the Keys, mainly her dives have been off the coast of Socal. We hooked up with KeyLargoBrent and his dive op, Blue Water Divers, and as usual, we had a great time. Brent and Capt Glen are the best in my book and I would highly recommend them if you are looking for a first class operation that caters to your individual needs and desires.

Saturday, 3/22, we arrived at the dock, unannounced and they gave up their afternoon to take Kath and myself out for a couple of shallow reef dives as she hasn't been wet for 5 months. We were the only 2 on the boat so you could say we were pampered pretty good. They didn't have to go out for just the 2 of us but being the type of people they are they did.

We went to Molasses Reef and dove Spanish Anchor on our first dive. The seas were flat, the air temp was a balmy 86 and the water temp a blistering 75 degrees. We cruised thru the reefs and saw plenty of marine life that I got some pretty good pics of. Kath sucked up her air pretty quick and so we ended the dive after 40 minutes. As we were going back to the bouy to do our safety stop a spotted eagle ray went cruising by. It was a beautiful sight to see this huge ray floating around. Max depth was 27 fsw.

The second dive was at Winchell, this time the water temp was 77, our max depth was 35 fsw and Kath did a little better but we still were only down for 44 minutes bottomtime. The highlight to this dive was seeing 2 southern stingrays and a GIANT barracuda. It was hanging out under a ledge and had to be 4 to 5 feet long, biggest one I have ever laid eyes on.

The plan for Sunday was to do a couple of dives on the Spiegel Grove. We got to the dock and loaded our gear, met the 3 other people going out with us that morning and off we went. We tied up on the bow of the Grove and dropped down the line. Kath ran into equalizing problems at 99 fsw and so we called the dive. The water temp was 72 at depth but the dive only lasted about 16 minutes. We were both disappointed that she ran into problems but knew it was better to be safe than sorry.

We moved over to the Benwood for our second dive and so when we jumped in we immediately descended to the bottom to avoid the mild current. We were down to 33 fsw with a water temp again of 72. A lot of marine life on the ship but then I started having coughing spell so I called the dive after 28 minutes with still 2000 psi left in my tank and a much disappointed dive buddy as she was finally getting things back in order.

We were planning on going back out Monday but a cold front with rain came thru during the night and the wind was gusting pretty good so we decided to call the day off and packed our bags and headed north, plus Kath wasn't feeling good after being up most of the night. A good thing because we both actually came down ill on our return drive back to Ky.

All in all, a good weekend of getting wet. Thanks to Blue Water Divers for their patience and understanding and we hope to come back in a couple of months to try again if they will have us.
 
but sorry to hear that you both ended up getting sick on the way back. Hope you get well soon.
 
Great description of your dives .... makes me want to be there now .... but have to wait till May trip!! Sorry you both ended up ill, but sounds like the good dives made up for the rest .....:)
 
We were down there in Januray but due to lack of diver participation we didn't get to go out with Blue Water for 2 days, so we had to go with another OP as a recommendation by Brent. Would have liked to dive with those guys though...maybe next trip. Gonna try and go down in July again for a week...

Funny you guys came down sick. On the way home on the plane, I began to come down with a cold myself. Lucky I felt great the entire 8 days we were in Florida!
 
Ah, I love Key Largo. (The Duane is my favorite wreck dive ever).
Great hearing about your trip!

I have to get back to dive the Spiegel Grove--the last time I was there, we watched it sink (accidentally, oops). Now that. is. a. big. boat. We just buzzed it while it was still topside. It was like a floating city.
We had hopes of diving it that weekend, but that certainly didn't work out then. :out:

How is that dive anyway?
 
3 more days till we make our annual trek to Key largo as well....cant wait. No offense to Key Largo Brent, but we'll be staying/diving with the folks at Kelly's/Aqua-nuts again this year.
Marty
 
is awesome! Baitfish flow in and out of every nook and cranny on the ship. Huge schools of jacks cruise the decks in search of an easy meal. Big Snapper, Hogfish, and Groupers are routinely spotted. A couple of Jewfish have taken up residence too! The Spiegel Grove is already teaming with life... and she hasn't even been down for a year. She's sporting a nice beard of algae, along with a growing assortment of anemones, sponges, and soft corals. Arrow Crabs and Coral Banded Shrimp are all over the place, as are Bristle Worms and snails.

No offense taken Marty... have a great time!
 
Brent,
You have to post a photo on your profile of you and your assistant! We sure had fun chatting with you guys in the mornings we can to try and go out diving...
 

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