edoralive
Contributor
February 6-11, 2021.
By virtue of working at a Children's Hospital, I was able to secure both of my COVID doses, and celebrated with a trip to Key Largo for four days of diving with Rainbow Reef, where I completed my AOW and Nitrox cards. 11 dives over four days, which included all the wrecks in the neighborhood, swimthroughs and a night dive.
I'm a new diver, having logged just six dives prior to this trip. I'd been going back and forth on whether to just "fun dive" or tackle the AOW, and I'm super glad I did that AND the Nitrox card. The AOW was super fun, and while we worked on all the relevant skills, the diving felt far more tilted toward adventure than it did toward skill drills.
Outfit: Rainbow Reef
Rainbow Reef is a verrry large operator, and allegedly the largest or one of the largest instructor development pipelines in the world. Lots of boats, huge staff. In general, the boat crew were outstanding. Safety-minded, and playful. We had maybe 20 folks aboard for most of the trips, split between crew and divers, although there is certainly space for a lot more, so I imagine it gets quite cattle-car-y in more travel-friendly times.
Shore crew were a little more challenging. Check-in staff always seemed a bit bothered and overwhelmed with the task at hand.
Diving
Day 1:
Morning: Molasses Reef (North Star and Eagle Ray Alley) - lovely shallower dives with strong coral. Nothing too exciting to report here, except a reef shark immediately after descending and a friendly ray halfway through, but a nice introduction to the local area. I found myself wishing for death, as it was my first boat trip... and my first experience with sea sickness. Totally brutal. I skipped the afternoon dives.
Day 2:
Morning: Spiegel Grove and Benwood
Spiegel Grove was both my first wreck dive and my first deep dive. We were able to crack 100' briefly, and spent the rest of the time blowing my mind swimming around the outside of the structure. Pretty damn rad first wreck experience. Saw what I think is a bullshark off the line on the way down.
Benwood was solid - briefly saw a turtle disappear into the shadows. It was fun to see the difference between the two structures, but the Spiegel Grove has a special place for me now.
Afternoon: City of Washington and Mike's Wreck
Mike's Wreck is a wreck - not a lot to see there, sort of a mysterious origin, but cool to see the wreck amid the coral. Our guide for this trip was maybe new to this site, as he had to surface a few times to get a bead on the boat. My buddy for this dip wasn't great... lots of nice gear, but really bizarre swimming style. Dude seemed to propel himself more with his arms than his fins.
City of Washington is an old wreck - 1800s vintage, and as such there's not a whole lot left, but it's got a cool old vibe to it, and again it's surrounded by reef, which provides some cool environmental juxtaposition. Got to see a puffer here, which are my favorite, and another turtle wandering around.
Day 3:
Morning: Spiegel Grove double dip, with swimthroughs galore. My instructor and I had a blast on the SG the day before, and I'd asked about doing some swimthroughs, so I hired him as a private guide and we did just that - light swimthroughs which was SUPER COOL. Found a few goliath grouper under the helicopter pad and some huge pompano, and once again piles of barracuda. Also swam with a bull shark for a bit around the pad. Apparently there was a moray in the wreck with us, but I was so focused on not bouncing off the walls I missed it.
Night: A trip to the Benwood as the sun set, and my first night dive. Wow. I had been promised turtles, and we saw one hanging out under the bow pretty quickly. Mission accomplished, I thought. Except then we saw another, and another and finally had counted 14 sightings before the night was over. Wild. Saw some slipper lobster, which my instructor Eddie was SUPER JAZZED about, and a huge urchin, which are fun for me, as well as some crab who could have done well to take a shower. They were pretty muddy. Phosphorescence when we stashed out lights was wicked cool, too.
Day 4:
Morning: Bibb and Duane
Both deep dives. I had been encouraged to go air on this dive, as the majority of the Bibb is below 111', but in hindsight I wish I'd gone nitrox, as my computer really played it conservative and I spent most of my time so far above the wreck I may as well have been swimming in open ocean. The Bibb is on its side, which Eddie particularly loves. I'm sure it was cool, but I didn't get close enough. ALLEGEDLY there was a hammerhead right under the wreck line on return, but I totally missed it. A few bull shark in the distance, though.
Duane was cool - I appreciate CG history, and this boat I'm told was a real pain in the rear in terms of maintenance. This wreck has a crow's nest, which is sort of a fun feature. Lots and lots of barracuda, and a few bull shark swimming around. The structure is a bit higher than the Duane, so air was actually a fine choice on this dive.
Conditions:
The week's weather was excellent. A bit choppy on day one, but the rest of the days it was gentle and the skies were clear. The strongest current was on the Benwood at night, and visibility was great compared to my check out dives in Lake Superior. Lowest water temp I recorded was 70 at 108', but the spread was from 74 at the surface to 70. Not bad.
Conclusion:
While I don't know if I'll end up back at Key Largo, it was a great place to spend the week learning some skills and exploring some wrecks. Rainbow Reef were great the whole week, for the most part, and Eddie is an outstanding instructor. I was warned February can be iffy for conditions and weather, but the stars aligned and everything was about as great as it could have been.
Edited to add: there was an alleged sighting of a great white on the Spiegel Grove the day we were on the Bibb/Duane.
By virtue of working at a Children's Hospital, I was able to secure both of my COVID doses, and celebrated with a trip to Key Largo for four days of diving with Rainbow Reef, where I completed my AOW and Nitrox cards. 11 dives over four days, which included all the wrecks in the neighborhood, swimthroughs and a night dive.
I'm a new diver, having logged just six dives prior to this trip. I'd been going back and forth on whether to just "fun dive" or tackle the AOW, and I'm super glad I did that AND the Nitrox card. The AOW was super fun, and while we worked on all the relevant skills, the diving felt far more tilted toward adventure than it did toward skill drills.
Outfit: Rainbow Reef
Rainbow Reef is a verrry large operator, and allegedly the largest or one of the largest instructor development pipelines in the world. Lots of boats, huge staff. In general, the boat crew were outstanding. Safety-minded, and playful. We had maybe 20 folks aboard for most of the trips, split between crew and divers, although there is certainly space for a lot more, so I imagine it gets quite cattle-car-y in more travel-friendly times.
Shore crew were a little more challenging. Check-in staff always seemed a bit bothered and overwhelmed with the task at hand.
Diving
Day 1:
Morning: Molasses Reef (North Star and Eagle Ray Alley) - lovely shallower dives with strong coral. Nothing too exciting to report here, except a reef shark immediately after descending and a friendly ray halfway through, but a nice introduction to the local area. I found myself wishing for death, as it was my first boat trip... and my first experience with sea sickness. Totally brutal. I skipped the afternoon dives.
Day 2:
Morning: Spiegel Grove and Benwood
Spiegel Grove was both my first wreck dive and my first deep dive. We were able to crack 100' briefly, and spent the rest of the time blowing my mind swimming around the outside of the structure. Pretty damn rad first wreck experience. Saw what I think is a bullshark off the line on the way down.
Benwood was solid - briefly saw a turtle disappear into the shadows. It was fun to see the difference between the two structures, but the Spiegel Grove has a special place for me now.
Afternoon: City of Washington and Mike's Wreck
Mike's Wreck is a wreck - not a lot to see there, sort of a mysterious origin, but cool to see the wreck amid the coral. Our guide for this trip was maybe new to this site, as he had to surface a few times to get a bead on the boat. My buddy for this dip wasn't great... lots of nice gear, but really bizarre swimming style. Dude seemed to propel himself more with his arms than his fins.
City of Washington is an old wreck - 1800s vintage, and as such there's not a whole lot left, but it's got a cool old vibe to it, and again it's surrounded by reef, which provides some cool environmental juxtaposition. Got to see a puffer here, which are my favorite, and another turtle wandering around.
Day 3:
Morning: Spiegel Grove double dip, with swimthroughs galore. My instructor and I had a blast on the SG the day before, and I'd asked about doing some swimthroughs, so I hired him as a private guide and we did just that - light swimthroughs which was SUPER COOL. Found a few goliath grouper under the helicopter pad and some huge pompano, and once again piles of barracuda. Also swam with a bull shark for a bit around the pad. Apparently there was a moray in the wreck with us, but I was so focused on not bouncing off the walls I missed it.
Night: A trip to the Benwood as the sun set, and my first night dive. Wow. I had been promised turtles, and we saw one hanging out under the bow pretty quickly. Mission accomplished, I thought. Except then we saw another, and another and finally had counted 14 sightings before the night was over. Wild. Saw some slipper lobster, which my instructor Eddie was SUPER JAZZED about, and a huge urchin, which are fun for me, as well as some crab who could have done well to take a shower. They were pretty muddy. Phosphorescence when we stashed out lights was wicked cool, too.
Day 4:
Morning: Bibb and Duane
Both deep dives. I had been encouraged to go air on this dive, as the majority of the Bibb is below 111', but in hindsight I wish I'd gone nitrox, as my computer really played it conservative and I spent most of my time so far above the wreck I may as well have been swimming in open ocean. The Bibb is on its side, which Eddie particularly loves. I'm sure it was cool, but I didn't get close enough. ALLEGEDLY there was a hammerhead right under the wreck line on return, but I totally missed it. A few bull shark in the distance, though.
Duane was cool - I appreciate CG history, and this boat I'm told was a real pain in the rear in terms of maintenance. This wreck has a crow's nest, which is sort of a fun feature. Lots and lots of barracuda, and a few bull shark swimming around. The structure is a bit higher than the Duane, so air was actually a fine choice on this dive.
Conditions:
The week's weather was excellent. A bit choppy on day one, but the rest of the days it was gentle and the skies were clear. The strongest current was on the Benwood at night, and visibility was great compared to my check out dives in Lake Superior. Lowest water temp I recorded was 70 at 108', but the spread was from 74 at the surface to 70. Not bad.
Conclusion:
While I don't know if I'll end up back at Key Largo, it was a great place to spend the week learning some skills and exploring some wrecks. Rainbow Reef were great the whole week, for the most part, and Eddie is an outstanding instructor. I was warned February can be iffy for conditions and weather, but the stars aligned and everything was about as great as it could have been.
Edited to add: there was an alleged sighting of a great white on the Spiegel Grove the day we were on the Bibb/Duane.
Viz. can vary over the course of a dive, site-to-site, vertical vs. horizontal, day to day, etc... It's supposed to be the distance at which you could recognize another diver as such, IIRC. My rough impressions go something like this...
