Key Largo - Looking for Seasoned diver thoughts

[Jason]

If one goes out for the afternoon Rainbow Reef dives, what time would one get back to shore and be off the boat?

 

[CajunDiva]

It depends on what time the afternoon boat is able to depart. They really try to stick to a schedule. IIRC, you get back around 4:30 or so

 

[PhatD1ver]

Hey there, thanks for this thread, it comes at a great time while I'm planning my CHINA FLORIDA INVASION (don't worry, I won't bring bringing anybody from China with me). But, this is my summer freedom dive trip and this year, my wife is taking the grandkids so my daughter (who got preggers three weeks before our last family dive trip) can be sure to go along.

That said, this is what I'm bringing along to S Florida:

Me - 260 dives, MSD&DM, Tec40/45/50, SM, Deep, Wreck, Nitrox, and others (obviously) Last: 22 Jul 2017

Trey - 55-60 dives, AOW/Deep Last: Oct 2016

Trina - 10 dives, OW, Dec 2014

Tess - 20 dives, OW, Oct 2015

Stephen - 30 dives, OW, Oct 2015

Tristan - 6 dives, OW, July 2017 (yes, fresh meat)
But, long story short is that I'm not bring a group of highly experienced divers with me.
The plan is this as it stands now: (we are staying in south of Miami near Homestead)

Day 1 - morning - shore dive off Hollywood beach (to do a refresher with them, and let my new OW son show off his new skills to his siblings)

Afternoon - Ft Lauderdale dive sites (shallow and drifts), as long as the current is decent, a nice drift at 12-18 meters should be fun. The problem I see as I look over the dive sites in the Ft Lauderdale area is that 'drift' diving seems to be fairly common.

The depths are great for the target range for this mob, but I guess my question is if the drifts are manageable for us so we can keep the group together. I've heard some boats put a DM in the water, others just "drop and drag" (drop you off and let you drag a buoy). Good operator recommendation for this are welcome.

Day 2 - Morning & Afternoon - Key Largo w/ RR - to make things easy on me, I think what we will do since we plan to be with RR for 5 trips total, is take advantage of their deal for AOW. That hopefully allows us to all dive Duane or Spiegel Grove the last trip out.

This day we hope we can also do a night dive.

Day 3 - Morning and Afternoon - Key Largo w/ RR - originally, the thought was to go down the hwy to Key West, but I don't see any reason with this crew to do that with what Key Largo offers and the bennie that everyone will be AOW at least after this trip (which while it isn't anything more than 4 dives and some background, is better than spit in a cup).

The plan after we get back then though is to drive the rest of the highway to Key West and get dinner there. This is where I wonder if we ware wasting the trip. Is it worth the drive? Should we just go down, look around for an hour or two and drive back and get dinner?

Are we wasting time up north? I noted that you all said there was no beach diving near KL, so where would I do the refresher otherwise?

Anyway, thoughts and comments are welcome, and Doc, if you are around, you can join our posse that day.

So, you might have figured this thread was dead, but I still have questions!!! so fire away!! There are no stupid answers as they say.

 

[sportxlh]

Phat1: I like spending time in KW, but one afternoon or evening isn't enough in my opinion. The drive is really long, about 100 miles from RR and parts of the road have 35 mph speed limit. On some days, like Thursday and Friday nights, that's about as fast as you can go in some sections because of the traffic. 2-3 hours down and 2-3 back make for a long afternoon/evening. I was just in KL and one of the guys in our group did the KW round trip one afternon and regretted it when he pulled back into KL at 2 in the morning and was dead tired on the dive boat the next day. He was exhausted, the marine action was bad that next day and he spent the morning puking over the side ...... everyone tried to warn him......

If you want to do KW, I'd advise to carve out a night and day, at least, to sightsee and visit a couple restaurants. If you mostly want to dive, stay in KL.

Most Pompano and FLL dive shops don't include a guide. When shops include guides in south Florida, it's not really a true guided experience (the Keys are an exception to this.... RR guides are truly guides). They are just there to hold the float ball line and let the trailing dive boat know where drifting divers are approximately located. If you want a true personal guide, you'll need to hire one. If your family are disciplined divers, you should be able to hold them together on a drift dive: maybe you should try a shallow boat dive with your team first to see if they are disciplined. Pompano has a really nice 25-30 foot reef line that can be drifted or dove tied off to mooring balls. The current usually isn't too bad in Pompano or FLL on the shallow sites.

South Florida Dive HQ, Pompano Dive Center and Scubatyme are the boats I've used. Force-E and Gold Coast are independent shops that can arrange for other boats or guides too.

 

[CajunDiva]

(don't worry, I won't bring bringing anybody from China with me).

I will be! My BFF is from China

Me - 260 dives, MSD&DM, Tec40/45/50, SM, Deep, Wreck, Nitrox, and others (obviously) Last: 22 Jul 2017

Tristan - 6 dives, OW, July 2017

Am I missing something? We have not yet reached July of 2017. Looks like your dates are off?
I'm sure you have spoken with the dive op already, but depending on the dates of last dives, a refresher may be required.

I think what we will do since we plan to be with RR for 5 trips total, is take advantage of their deal for AOW.

Brilliant idea! They have many great instructors on staff...all will be well cared for.

The plan after we get back then though is to drive the rest of the highway to Key West and get dinner there. This is where I wonder if we ware wasting the trip. Is it worth the drive? Should we just go down, look around for an hour or two and drive back and get dinner?

To be sure I understand...you plan to do both the morning AND afternoon trips (4 dives total) and THEN drive to Key West for dinner and THEN drive back...all in the same day? I don't even see how that is humanly possible. You do understand that Key West is 100 miles from Key Largo? Depending on traffic, it could be a total of 4 to 5 hours just for the drive there and back. Just something to consider...

Are we wasting time up north? I noted that you all said there was no beach diving near KL, so where would I do the refresher otherwise?

I guess that depends...do you have something else going on up north that you need to be there for? If it's just the diving, it seems you would be much better off staying in Key Largo and having easy access to everything. That might free up a day for you to spend in Key West. If a refresher course is in the plans, Rainbow Reef could take care of that for you quite easily, especially since you're planning Advanced certifications with them.

Whatever you decide, I hope your family has a WONDERFUL time in the Keys! The folks down there are such great ambassadors When are you planning to travel?

 

[PhatD1ver]

I will be! My BFF is from China

That's great, I don't wanna be mean, but living where I do, and diving around SE Asia, good , nature friendly divers are the exception not the rule.

Am I missing something? We have not yet reached July of 2017. Looks like your dates are off?

The dates right, he's taking his OW just before the trip, he starts his classes next week. So except for me (who has a trip Jul 19-22 in Subic), he will be the most current of them unless I get to take them to the Crater in June.

I'm a DM, I've done refreshers before, and I actually know all their experience better than anyone at RR will. So, that's mostly what diving up north is about, a morning refresher and beach dive off Hollywood, then an afternoon on the shallow reef.

Next two days, all RR.

To be sure I understand...you plan to do both the morning AND afternoon trips (4 dives total) and THEN drive to Key West for dinner and THEN drive back...all in the same day? I don't even see how that is humanly possible. You do understand that Key West is 100 miles from Key Largo? Depending on traffic, it could be a total of 4 to 5 hours just for the drive there and back. Just something to consider...

Well, until you all enlighten me, we thought about it, I always pictured that road as a freeway, with freeway speeds, but it's more like a China backroad so we will be spend all but our sleeping hours in KL, and our housing is just 30 minutes up toward Homestead.

Whatever you decide, I hope your family has a WONDERFUL time in the Keys! The folks down there are such great ambassadors When are you planning to travel?

We will be there 2-6 Aug, diving 3-5 Aug. (yep, we have a 24 hour SI before flying)

Cheers for the ideas.

 

[CajunDiva]

Thanks for the clarifications...now I get it I didn't realize you were considering FUTURE dives in your experience levels...

There is a compromise opportunity for you. Instead of driving to Key West, just drive a few miles down the overseas highway to get an idea of the beauty it holds. You could drive down to Mile Marker 88 and have dinner at "Marker 88" to watch an amazing sunset. There are plenty of other restaurants along the way as well. You don't have to drive all the way to Key West.

It looks like you have everything else worked out. That refresher dive you are planning is critical. Rainbow Reef will ask you the date of everyone's last dive. If it's been too long, they will require a refresher course. So by diving before you start at RR, you'll all be qualified.

I have to tell you...I think it's so awesome the way your whole family is involved in the sport. Thanks for getting your kids into the game of scuba diving!

 

[The Chairman]

Are we wasting time up north? I noted that you all said there was no beach diving near KL, so where would I do the refresher otherwise?

I actually use Canon Beach in Pennekamp and there's also Jules Underwater Lodge for shore dives in KL. The diving isn't pristine in either place, and you can actually rent tanks at Jules where you can see an underwater hotel and there's reports of seahorses in there from time to time. Canon Beach has a reconstructed 250+ year old wreck in the shallows. This is a nursery dive with lots of juveniles like a 4 inch cudas and 6 inch lobsters. You never know who will join your dive there and I've had dolphins play in our bubbles, an 8ft nurse shark, six foot tunas, manatee and my favorite: a Sargasso Frog Fish. Neither Jules nor Canon beach has current and there's no need for a Diver Down flag if you stay in the roped off areas. Depths at both places are about 20 ft.

Anyway, thoughts and comments are welcome, and Doc, if you are around, you can join our posse that day.

I'll do my best. Send me a PM the week before!

 

[PhatD1ver]

I actually use Canon Beach in Pennekamp and there's also Jules Underwater Lodge for shore dives in KL. The diving isn't pristine in either place, and you can actually rent tanks at Jules where you can see an underwater hotel and there's reports of seahorses in there from time to time. Canon Beach has a reconstructed 250+ year old wreck in the shallows. This is a nursery dive with lots of juveniles like a 4 inch cudas and 6 inch lobsters. You never know who will join your dive there and I've had dolphins play in our bubbles, an 8ft nurse shark, six foot tunas, manatee and my favorite: a Sargasso Frog Fish. Neither Jules nor Canon beach has current and there's no need for a Diver Down flag if you stay in the roped off areas. Depths at both places are about 20 ft.
I'll do my best. Send me a PM the week before!

That sounds like a nice answer to diving up north (since it is the only reason we are going north of Miami). We could just come down to KL, rent kit, and then go to Canon Beach and do the refresher training. Then just enjoy a nice easy dive. That would even let us catch a pair of shallow reef dives with RR and let their instructors get familiar with our divers. I'm not worried about missing anything up north, I figure Key Largo has plenty to keep us busy.

Also since that means no driving thru Miami during rush hour (i don't know what it's like, but I'm sure it's not just a 'sunday drive')

 

[PhatD1ver]

Thanks for the clarifications...now I get it I didn't realize you were considering FUTURE dives in your experience levels...

There is a compromise opportunity for you. Instead of driving to Key West, just drive a few miles down the overseas highway to get an idea of the beauty it holds. You could drive down to Mile Marker 88 and have dinner at "Marker 88" to watch an amazing sunset. There are plenty of other restaurants along the way as well. You don't have to drive all the way to Key West.

It looks like you have everything else worked out. That refresher dive you are planning is critical. Rainbow Reef will ask you the date of everyone's last dive. If it's been too long, they will require a refresher course. So by diving before you start at RR, you'll all be qualified.

I have to tell you...I think it's so awesome the way your whole family is involved in the sport. Thanks for getting your kids into the game of scuba diving!

Hahaha, yeah, well, I have no pure motives here. I figure the more people in the family that can dive, the more opportunities I create for myself. For instance, my sister and BIL are now stationed in Okinawa, I'm in Shanghai. They got certified two weeks ago, going to get their AOW the next two weeks. End of the month, I have a business trip that will allow me to hop to Okinawa for the holiday weekend.

Like I say, ulterior motives.

BTW, the "kids" are 31, 29, 27, 25 and then my SIL 31.. so, they don't mind at all if Big Daddy schedule a dive trip and helps pay the way.