Key largo

[Boiler_81]

Another vote for Silent World. I did a two tank with them over Spring break and it was a very nice operation.

Pat was on the boat that day doing check out dives with a student. She is a very nice lady and fun to be around. My daughter, who was on the fence about getting certified is now planning on doing her class and pool work at home and traveling to the Keys so she can do her OW check outs with Pat.

I teach for Silent World, and we run 30ft Island Hoppers with a max capacity of 14 people.

As far as the Spiegel---yes it is definitely a AOW dive (especially in December with the seas tend to be a tad rough). If you don't have your AOW, you may consider getting it while on your dive vacation and make the Spiegel your deep dive. Another option would be to hire a guide/DM/Instructor to accompany you on your dive.

Pat

 

[MikeSSS]

A couple more comments about Key Largo.

I don't care where I go as much as going someplace that has good visibility and low current speed. The dive boat captians talk to each other on the radio to find out where the good vis and low current are at that time. This sort of overides wanting to go some place in particular. There are lots of good places to go.

The deeper it is the more it just looks blue, and the less time you have uw. I'm getting less interested in deeper, shorter bottom time diving. There is a lot of good marine life to be seen on the shallow reefs.

Look under ledges for barracuda, lobsters and other fishies. I carry a UK 8 D-cell light on day dives to see the colors or at least an SL6 pocket light. A uw mirror will let you send light under overhangs but it will not show the colors like a battery powered, regular bulb, incadescent light.

Follow a moving moray from enough distance that he doesn't get worried. If a moray goes into a coral head there is a chance that lobsters will come popping out and running away!

Take a magnifying glass to look at the small things, but remember that it has less magnification in the water than in the air.

Look around, people will tell you something like "did you see the (shark, eagle ray, etc)?", when you say no they tell you it was right next to you. Go up and over the coral ridges to look down into the sand valleys. There might be a nurse shark there, they sit on the bottom or under a ledge. Sharks don't have to keep moving, they can sit for a while.

A light lets you identify 'fire coral', sometimes you can't see the brillant red without a light. See the red or not it still stings the same. (Don't let the current pin you against the side of a fire coral encrusted shipwreck. Don't ask me how I know.)

Buy some of those $10 Kodak underwater cameras that are good to 50 feet. Supermarkets and Walmart have them and they work really well. They don't have a flash to ruin the pics by lighting up the debris in the water. Tie them on the BC, they float, if you lose it look up. The big rubber band they give you with it can come right off the camera. A really bright dive light can show the colors of something you photograph, but the light has to be near the subject and the camera farther away because the cameras are fixed focus.

Fish love hotdogs. They love spray cheese but I hear it constipates them to death. They also love animal crackers, cheerio's, bread, doughnuts and stuff. I have not had much luck with cat food or dog food though. Little cans of vienna sausages are convenient to put into a BC pocket and always have along.

If there is an underwater photographer along...watch what they look at, they see the good stuff the rest of us miss.

Have fun in Key Largo and take lots of uw pictures so you can relive the dives thousands of times.

 

[TavernierBob]

"A light lets you identify 'fire coral', sometimes you can't see the brillant red without a light. See the red or not it still stings the same. (Don't let the current pin you against the side of a fire coral encrusted shipwreck. Don't ask me how I know.)"


Most fire coral that I've seen is not a brilliant red but kind of a mustard color. It's good to be able to idendify it but if you have the control of your buoyancy that you should, fire coral will not be a problem. It doesn't swim after you and if you're not too close to any structure, reef or wreck you'll never come in contact with it. If there's sufficient current to "pin" you against the side of a fire coral encrusted shipwreck you probably shouldn't be in the water anyway. Currents can be strong but you should never put yourself in a position to be "pinned" against anything.

"Fish love hotdogs. They love spray cheese but I hear it constipates them to death. They also love animal crackers, cheerio's, bread, doughnuts and stuff. I have not had much luck with cat food or dog food though. Little cans of vienna sausages are convenient to put into a BC pocket and always have along."

Any type of feeding wildlife within State waters is against the law and in the Sanctuary it's simply asking for problems. Even though there are a number of divers that "feed" and claim that it doesnt' condition the animals to expect it but I can tell you from experience that it does.

Wild aquatic life does not normally eat hotdogs, crackers, cheerios, bread, doughnuts and stuff. They certainly don't have in their diet Vienna sausages or any type of cheese. Any type of activity like this can easily cause a feeding frenzy where the animals simply care about getting their share and not about what they're snapping at. It does condition the fish to expect more every time they see a diver and if you don't believe it simply look down when your boat gets to a popular dive site. The fish start to congregate even before divers get in the water because they "expect" to be fed. It may be cool to watch the smaller fish but there is a food chain that attracts larger predators such as sharks, barracuda and goliath grouper. When they expect to be fed they can sometimes get quite aggressive. Even while diving you may encounter sharks or eels that come charging out of a coral head expecting to be fed. They just expect to be fed and have been conditioned to expect it. If you remain calm and don't move around a lot, when they find that you're not going to feed them, they'll usually just hang around or go bother someone else but usually give you more than amply amount of time to get a good photo.

Ask many of the DM's that thought it was cool to feed and how many of them have been bitten and given up the practice. There are still those that put on the "circus" act and feed and they don't care about the environment, just like Ringling, Barnum and Bailey, they just want your money.

Please, go into the underwater world and enjoy it in it's natural beauty but don't recondition the aquatic life to become competitive to the point that they will have to be destroyed. That's the price you'll have to pay and we're losing some of these magnificant creatures fast enough to over fishing, poaching and simple stupidity.

Dive safe and enjoy the underwater environment and leave it for others to enjoy without having to wonder if that critter is attacking them or simply looking for a hand out. Not all divers have a level of comfort that allows them to remain calm when they see something come charging at them underwater.

For those that continue to feed, sooner or later you'll regret it.

 

[Misplaced Priority]

I have had the pleasure of diving the Key Largo area a couple of times a year for the past 6 years. I always went the the same outfit but last time, they had really changed so I won't dive with them again. I hear that Conch Republic is a good outfit and I will give them a try this summer. Hope you have a great time and let us know how it goes.

 

[Diver324]

I just came back from a great week of diving. This is Quescence Charters. Excellen service, great courtesy, and a max of 6 people per boat. Can easily have a dive on a beautiful site and only see you buddy. Awesome.

http://www.keylargodiving.com/