Key Largo diving 6/11-12

[ScubaMarine]

I was worried about this weekend since Arlene came and unsettled everything. However, both days turned into really great dives.

Day 1:

I dove with Silent World Divers, a great opperation. Seven People on a 40ft+ boat. Our first dive was the Spiegel. I tagged along with an instructor and two students doing their AOW. (Wish I had a buddy) Anyway, we descended to the top of the wreck which is the port side I believe. Took a few minutes looking at the loading dock near the at the stern then moved on up the wreck. Water temp was 80F, max depth 80ft, time 29 min, vis 50 ft, and their was only a very light current off the top of the wreck. The surface was a different story with 6-8ft+ breakers. We moved along fairly quickly and saw two American flags, likely hung by patriotic divers. Some very large (4ft) barracudas and one large grouper (3ft). I guess I expected a little more. A very clean wreck, as I was told prior but fun none the less.

2nd dive of the day was the Benwood, which I did'nt dive as I ran out of air during the saftey stop. I shared with the instructor and was luckily fine. Ive posted under incidents on this.

3rd dive was near the City of Washington, called Train Wheels. We never saw the wheels!? We did see some wreckage though. I buddied up with two new people and we did a 58min dive. My max depth hit 29ft and water temp here was 83F. The waves at the surface had calmed considerably but the surge below was extremely strong and low current. Vis was probably 25-30ft. We saw a medium sized southern ray with a mark on its back. Also witnessed a 4-5ft reef shark as it swam within 20 ft to check us out and then went on its way.

4th Dive we moved south just a bouy or two to what they called Southern, Southern Ledges. This time our depth hit 30ft, vis dropped to 20ft everything else was the same. We struggled with the surge at times and other times we just let it push us back and forth calmly. The dive went 52min and we saw a bunch of lobster but not much else worth mentioning.

see next day

 

[ScubaMarine]

Day 2:

I dove with the same group and we went back to the City of Washington as they expected the vis to be the best there. Basically, every boat in Key Largo was there or on there way there. Lucky for us Silent World had faster boats. The only boat that beat us was Its a Dive and that happened to be a good thing. They were doing an AM shark feed! Stats: Max 28ft, 51 min, temp 83F some surge. Vis 40-50ft
I was able to buddy up with another diver and he basically had me lead most of the dive. We headed in and out of the reef looking for the nurses and grouper they had told us about in the dive brief. Then I noticed a larger sting ray off the reef in the sand. I got my buddys attention and swam over about 3-4 ft from it and checked it out. I love rays! Anyway, after it got skiddish and swam away we were making our way back to the reef when a big grouper came right up in front of me and looked in my mask. I mean like 18inches. It startled me. As I was pointing it out to my buddy a grouper maybe 3-4 ft, 200lbs swam right past my hand. I almost had a hear attack. My buddy saw it and we watched for a bit and as I turned to swim back to the reed my buddy pointed again and I turned to see a 7 ft nurse swimming up behind the grouper. We watched as it circled around on the sand. Then my buddy pointed down right below me I looked down to find 3 nurse sharks had gathered not 3 ft from me and were rubbing on each other. We watched 3-4 minutes and then saw that the other dive group was feeding them 20ft away. Very cool! Awesome experience! We saw probably 5-8 sharks on this dive. I also saw my friend the southern ray from yesterday.

2nd dive: We moved farther down the reef the South Ledge. 28ft, 52min, vis 40ft. My buddy and I swam in and out of the reef. We saw two more nurse sharks a small eel of unknown type. Lots a lobsta! Also a file fish that was about as big as my arm. 20-22inches and as thick as a pop can!

3rd dive: By now they think Im sick of the same dive spot so we opt to go to the North Dry Rocks aka Minnow Cave. The vis wasnt nearly as good maybe 20ft. I was now buddied up with a new girl whose friends were getting OW. I was a little nervous as she hadn't dove for 3 years and I was leading. I took a bearing and we went North. We stayed on top of the reef a lot maybe 10-15ft but that was where we saw everything. I wanted to be a good little leader and point out cool stuff. We saw a green long tentacles anemone, a lot of spiny sea urchins, a couple of big barracuda that looked fierce. The second of the two was about 4ft and had teeth like my dogs. We probably got about 3 feet away before it took off. We also saw the head a moray eel it was probably as big as a half gallon of milk, that probably not big right? It still was very cool! I was able to get us back to the boat although the vis was so bad we went up to see if we were close and were only 10 ft from the bow. Nobody on the boat was able to find Minnow Cave!Max 28ft, 53min, strong surge still present.

4th dive: Best Dive! We moved a short distance to the North, North Dry Rocks. They name a lot of reefs like this? A another guy joined our little group as his wife wasnt feeling well. The three of us headed due South from the boat and quickly lost track of everyone else. We moved over a low reef for a bit then came to the big wall like part of the reef. This was cool, it felt like a swim through without the overhead. Again, I was playing tour guide trying to show the others neat stuff. Some lobster, a pencial urchin, arrow crab. A yellow tail snapper, at which I rubbed my tummy.
Then I saw a 6ft nurse on the sand, not under a ledge but in a corner of the reef. I motioned the other two up to see and we swam to about 5-6ft. Eventually it got skiddish and swam off, doing so it startled a 2-3 barracuda. That was funny!! I was feeling good they got to see something cool then I saw something I thought I recognized, I swam closer and noticed. A 4-5ft sea turtle wedged up under the reef!! The other to came closer as I pointed to the large shell with flippers sticky out the bottom. They didn't see it! Then as we got to about 8ft away it backed itself out of the hole and of course they saw it. My adrenaline was pumping, very awesome! It swam past us to get away coming within 3 ft. I was told later it was a Loggerhead(spelling) Turtle. By far one of the coolest things I have seen yet. We saw a couple more sting rays and finished the dive. This one only 39min, vis 25-30ft, surge still there and max depth of 23ft. Awesome dive!!!!

 

[ScubaMarine]

Sorry my report is so long.

 

[Jade]

Thanks for the report. The hubby and I were just talking today about diving in that area and so I starting searching the forum. Does Silent World have dive masters that will lead the dives? I'm still not comfortable going it alone.

 

[Foo]

Sorry my report is so long.

Never apologize for taking the time to post an exciting and detailed dive report! Most of us are hanging on every word and reliving or own dives through your descriptions, we love it! Thanks for the play by play. I just returned from a trip that included one day of diving in Key Largo, we had a blast. We dove the Benwood, I'm sorry you missed that dive, as it is full of life, so many animals of so many varieties. But sounds like you had some awesome dives anyway, good for you! Now, you're hooked.

Foo

 

[Foo]

Thanks for the report. The hubby and I were just talking today about diving in that area and so I starting searching the forum. Does Silent World have dive masters that will lead the dives? I'm still not comfortable going it alone.

Jade, most of the operators will be glad to send a dive master down with you for an additional fee (I think the going rate is around $50.) This would be well worth the fee, for the additional peace of mind it will give you, if you're not comfortable with an unguided dive. Just call the operator you want to use, and ask them. If you like their answers, you could book while you have them on the phone. Good luck choosing a good op. I've heard Silent World is very good, and their shop is easy to find, I saw it while driving. Quiessence in Key Largo is the op we used, they did a great job also.

Foo

 

[ScubaMarine]

Thanks for the report. The hubby and I were just talking today about diving in that area and so I starting searching the forum. Does Silent World have dive masters that will lead the dives? I'm still not comfortable going it alone.

As Foo mentioned most operators do have a DM that will guide your dive for a fee. The DM at Silent World was in the water most of the time as she had several groups of students. Give them a call or go online silentworld.com