Key Largo shops/diving

[AZdiver1279]

Hubby and I used Garden Cove in December. Their boat is a very roomy 6-pack and the sites Capt. Anna took us to were great. Unfortunatly weather only permitted us to dive 1 day with them, but they are definatly on our list to use again.

Thanks - these folks have been mentioned a couple of times too. sounds like a good operation.

What's interesting is who has not been spoken for, that might tell as much of a story as who is spoken for

Take care!

 

[Scubastud16]

Ocean divers is a large cattle boat and I've had several bad experiences with them. Based on support from here I would check out either Conch or Silent World.

 

[AZdiver1279]

Ocean divers is a large cattle boat and I've had several bad experiences with them. Based on support from here I would check out either Conch or Silent World.

Thanks - I called them and they don't even try to fake it - they flat out admitted they pack their boats. Not what I would consider a good relaxing time. Now, if I got 50 of my own divers together - maybe not so bad

I'm sure there's some good people there but as big of an operation they are I've noticed not one good thing said about them.

Take care.

 

[Scuba-Do Dive Company]

Mark from Scuba-Do,

Just to give you an idea of how we get peps off the boat... We have you sit on the stern with your feet on the dive platform, we have racks behind you for your gear to sit on. Buckle up, stand up, and take a giant stride. It flows quickly. Our customers love the fact that you are not walking around a moving boat deck fully geared!

 

[AZdiver1279]

Mark from Scuba-Do,

Just to give you an idea of how we get peps off the boat... We have you sit on the stern with your feet on the dive platform, we have racks behind you for your gear to sit on. Buckle up, stand up, and take a giant stride. It flows quickly. Our customers love the fact that you are not walking around a moving boat deck fully geared!

Ok - Thanks for the clarification - that makes sense! From the pictures of the boat I couldn't see that angle. So, it's not really a one diver at a time thing.

I understand - depending on conditions it can be a bit of a pain trying to navigate to the back of the boat with gear strapped on.

Thanks!

 

[MsParamedic]

I just got back from diving with Silent World, nice boats and crew except for this one DM who gave me a hard time about my reg.....I like my yellow hoses. (lets see if she shows up to defend herself. ) About 12 or so is their max per boat. I would also recommend Island Ventures. I have used them on several trips and would have this trip except they were booked full. You can't go wrong with either op.

Now Herman....I said they were pretty!

 

[Diveral]

Designerdiver - Sure thing! I'll probably create my own survey based on what I think are important areas to rate and then post it so others can refer to it later.

I plan to go down again by the end of summer and spend a longer period of time, this short trip in April should make up my mind who to dive with here on out.

Problem now is there's real positive fedback on 3 ops and now I want to dive with all 3. Silent World, Conch & Minnow. It's like somebody reccomending 3 good beers - don't you want to try them all?

We get in Thursday afternoon so I want a night dive, I want two tanks in the morning and afternoon both Friday and Saturday and then we fly out late Sunday afternoon, I'll be using Nitrox except for the Speigle.

I would like to split the time so I could get to know each op better - problem with that though is we wouldn't qualify for the multiple trip dicounts - I've heard a couple of times though that Conch is closer to where I'm staying. I just worry if they get a little crowded.

Can anyone shed light on that - did Conch ever seem crowded?

Thanks For all the feedback - after scanning websites for two weeks I finally put the question to the board and this had been great! With this and the phone calls I made I have something to go on now, I do need to make a couple more calls though.

Take Care!

The reason you've got positive feedback on those three are that they're all great to go diving with. Conch Republic is close and easy to find from Ocean Pointe. i don't remember Conch's boats being crowded when I dove with them.

AL

 

[Capt Gary]

Capt Gary -

Thanks! Where is the good food? We did Islamorada Fish Co. last time there, the grouper sandwich was good and the beer was cold - probably do that again! Other than that I think we mostly did protien bars, slept and dove! Probably like to eat more this time - any recomendations would be great!

Speaking of food - sorry we missed your turkey invitation last November - I bet it was great!

Also, exactly how far is Ocean Point Suites from your dock? Do you have a place to store the gear for the duration or at least hang wetsuits and BCs?

And.....you go up to French Reef and Spiegle right? Not just Islamorada sites?

Thanks for the info!

Take care.

AZdiver1279,

There are a bunch of great places to eat all from mile marker 72 to 106. My favorites are Island Grill, Islamorada Fish Company, Made-2-Order, Snappers, Bayside Grill, The Fish House/Encore, Hobo's and Buzzards Roost. Lots of great places besides this, but these are the one's I frequent.

• So to answer your questions we are 1 1/2 miles from Ocean Pointe Suites.

• Yes we have gear storage right at the shop. You get off the boat, rinse your gear, hand it up on the rack, and we wheel it inside the shop every night. No need to carry any gear back to the condo with you.
• Yes we dive all the reefs and wrecks from Spiegel Grove off Key Largo to the wreck of the Eagle off Islamorada.....Including Molasses, French, Benwood, and Pickles Reefs. We also hit some of the little dove areas south of Key Largo off Tavernier and Islamorada, but our main diving is from Molasses Reef to Davis Reef.

We don't have a preset dive schedule so you get to choose the location if no one is booked on that charter. This has worked well for us during the last 6 years we've owned the shop.

Also for your information the entire Florida Keys is a Marine Sanctuary which extends out to 300' of depth. Pennekamp was set aside in the 60's as an underwater marine park, but in 1990 the entire Florida Keys became a sanctuary with certain rules and regulations governing it. There are special areas up and down the Keys called Special Protection Areas (SPA's) that are set aside only for diving. No fishing or taking anything from theses area are allowed. There are 4 such areas in the 24 miles of reef we frequent. We also like to dive the less traveled reefs in the area giving our guest a good feel of the animal life in the Upper Florida Keys.

If you have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to ask....and I hope you enjoy your dive vacation in the beautiful Florida Keys.

Good Diving,

 

[Divergirl4U]

Conch Republic has my vote.

 

[Jupiter31]

Thanks - I called them and they don't even try to fake it - they flat out admitted they pack their boats. Not what I would consider a good relaxing time. Now, if I got 50 of my own divers together - maybe not so bad

I'm sure there's some good people there but as big of an operation they are I've noticed not one good thing said about them.

Take care.

Just to clarify Ocean Divers -

They are not a "bad" operation; could not stay in business in the competitive upper Keys if they were.

However, they are a cattle boat OP and I MUCH prefer a smaller number of divers on the boat.