yak
Contributor
Sunday, April 15
Morning
Our last 2 dives for the weekend. Capt Bob decided that it looked good enough to take the 45 minute ride to the City of Washington wreck field. Capt Bobs dive prep indicated the presence of a few nurse sharks, a goliath grouper, and a 6 foot cuda. He said that other dive ops feed the fish, so theyre real friendly to divers.
Dive 1 - Elbow Reef, the City of Washington wreck. max depth 28 feet, 65 minutes, viz 40-50 feet, seas 3-6 feet
We were first in the water to check out this wreck field. Sure enough, there were 4 or 5 very friendly nurse sharks. A few divers were petting one of the smaller ones. I was just soaking it all in. The goliath was pretty friendly, and I spent a lot of time cruising alongside him (or her). Also checked out a large green moray on the northern end of the wreck. We were the last divers out, and we didnt want to leave.
Dive 2 - Elbow Reef, Civil War wreck. A paddlewheel boat towing a barge sank back in 1800s. max depth 25 feet, 64 minutes.
We jumped in first for our last dive of the weekend. Other than a pile of metal that totally screwed up your compass readings, not much to this wreck field. There were some ledges and channels that we cruised around in, and we all agreed we were bored. We hung out under the boat for 10 minutes and then boarded last with about 900 psi.
Horizon Divers
All of the crew were very professional. Capt Bob did sound a bit rehearsed every dive was one of my absolute favorite sites", but he did an excellent job of running the boat, and didnt give us a hard time when we would come up late after being first in.
</begin_rant>
Would I dive with Horizon Divers again? No, unless they offer a six-pack boat, and even then Id think twice about it. Jeff set up our trip, and was real specific about wanting to dive the Grove and the Duane. He was also very specific about me wanting the guide for both dives. About a week before, he called them again, and they seemed to have forgotten about the Duane request, so they put us onto the Aqua-nut, without telling us about the Aqua-nuts policy of no OW divers even with a guide. Turns out this is what happened to Jenns group as well.
And scheduling 3 dives the afternoon we did the Spiegel Grove was really annoying. If we had been told this in advance, and given the opportunity to dive a 3rd tank, it might have been acceptable, but this was not the case. Capt Bob and Divemaster Andre actually had a petition going around to stop this 3 dive nonsense. They indicated that its not the first time that customers havent been informed about it, and that in general theres a lot of communication between management and the customers that the Captain is not privy to, and in the end he has to tell the customers something different.
Unless I have no other options, this was my first (and last) trip diving a cattle boat that caters to OW check-out divers. Im not dissing the OW students, I was once one too, but it seems that Horizon made us suffer so they could accomodate their needs, and the shallow reefs became a bit boring. Maybe I should have done my homework a bit more on this trip. Jim seemed to like Aqua-nuts (probably because they let him smoke on board), but he said some of the tanks looked scary old.
If we come back to Key Largo, I would like it to be on a six-pack for multiple Spiegel and Duane dives (Im getting my AOW next month). But I managed to convince Jim and Jeff that next year should be 6-pack drift diving in Cozumel on steel 120s (hello Aldora).
</end_of_rant>
We got the Horizon rate at the Ramada Inn. Basic clean rooms, continental breakfast included. Right next door to Horizon.
We ate at Coconuts one night good food, medium expensive, and Sharkeys the next just as good food, less expensive and better bar with an under 80 crowd.
The little diner across from the Ramada Inn was good and cheap, we had a couple of lunches there.
Morning
Our last 2 dives for the weekend. Capt Bob decided that it looked good enough to take the 45 minute ride to the City of Washington wreck field. Capt Bobs dive prep indicated the presence of a few nurse sharks, a goliath grouper, and a 6 foot cuda. He said that other dive ops feed the fish, so theyre real friendly to divers.
Dive 1 - Elbow Reef, the City of Washington wreck. max depth 28 feet, 65 minutes, viz 40-50 feet, seas 3-6 feet
We were first in the water to check out this wreck field. Sure enough, there were 4 or 5 very friendly nurse sharks. A few divers were petting one of the smaller ones. I was just soaking it all in. The goliath was pretty friendly, and I spent a lot of time cruising alongside him (or her). Also checked out a large green moray on the northern end of the wreck. We were the last divers out, and we didnt want to leave.
Dive 2 - Elbow Reef, Civil War wreck. A paddlewheel boat towing a barge sank back in 1800s. max depth 25 feet, 64 minutes.
We jumped in first for our last dive of the weekend. Other than a pile of metal that totally screwed up your compass readings, not much to this wreck field. There were some ledges and channels that we cruised around in, and we all agreed we were bored. We hung out under the boat for 10 minutes and then boarded last with about 900 psi.
Horizon Divers
All of the crew were very professional. Capt Bob did sound a bit rehearsed every dive was one of my absolute favorite sites", but he did an excellent job of running the boat, and didnt give us a hard time when we would come up late after being first in.
</begin_rant>
Would I dive with Horizon Divers again? No, unless they offer a six-pack boat, and even then Id think twice about it. Jeff set up our trip, and was real specific about wanting to dive the Grove and the Duane. He was also very specific about me wanting the guide for both dives. About a week before, he called them again, and they seemed to have forgotten about the Duane request, so they put us onto the Aqua-nut, without telling us about the Aqua-nuts policy of no OW divers even with a guide. Turns out this is what happened to Jenns group as well.
And scheduling 3 dives the afternoon we did the Spiegel Grove was really annoying. If we had been told this in advance, and given the opportunity to dive a 3rd tank, it might have been acceptable, but this was not the case. Capt Bob and Divemaster Andre actually had a petition going around to stop this 3 dive nonsense. They indicated that its not the first time that customers havent been informed about it, and that in general theres a lot of communication between management and the customers that the Captain is not privy to, and in the end he has to tell the customers something different.
Unless I have no other options, this was my first (and last) trip diving a cattle boat that caters to OW check-out divers. Im not dissing the OW students, I was once one too, but it seems that Horizon made us suffer so they could accomodate their needs, and the shallow reefs became a bit boring. Maybe I should have done my homework a bit more on this trip. Jim seemed to like Aqua-nuts (probably because they let him smoke on board), but he said some of the tanks looked scary old.
If we come back to Key Largo, I would like it to be on a six-pack for multiple Spiegel and Duane dives (Im getting my AOW next month). But I managed to convince Jim and Jeff that next year should be 6-pack drift diving in Cozumel on steel 120s (hello Aldora).
</end_of_rant>
We got the Horizon rate at the Ramada Inn. Basic clean rooms, continental breakfast included. Right next door to Horizon.
We ate at Coconuts one night good food, medium expensive, and Sharkeys the next just as good food, less expensive and better bar with an under 80 crowd.
The little diner across from the Ramada Inn was good and cheap, we had a couple of lunches there.
