Key West December

[sportxlh]

I've made several dives with Captain's Corner on the Vandenberg site, on each trip, they told me when the boat would unhitch from the mooring line and let me plan my dives and surface intervals as I saw fit as long as i didn't got into deco. I just had to be back on the boat by the time they planned to leave. They also let me dive solo with redundant gear and a cert card: something some Keys operators won't let you do.

 

[Wookie]

Depends on who you go with. My issue with the big boat ops is that they don't get out until after 9. They want to be back to the dock by 12 to pick up the next load. The Key West ops take at least 1/2 hour to get out there, The Stock Island ops 15 minutes. So, show up at 9:30, 10 minutes of briefing and general chicanery, 40 minute dive, 40 minute SI, 40 minute dive. I don't find it to be safe, others have a different view. YMMV. But with 25 or fewer dives on a 95 foot wreck, without nitrox, you will have plenty of time.

 

[llBuckshotll]

Yea I dont have a problem with larger boats and more people in particular, but usually they limit bottom time to 40-45 mins.
We definitely want to use a dive op that will let us run our tanks, even if I only make it to 50 mins lol.

 

[scubadada]

You didn't say whether you are nitrox certified or not. I would certainly want to be nitrox certified to dive the Vandenberg. My son and I did 3 dives on the Vandenberg with @Wookie in 2015 off the M/V Spree (may she rest in peace). Our max depths were 96-112 feet, avg depths 68-73 feet, run times 45-53 minutes, on EAN32.

If you are not nitrox certified, you can do it online and then visit your LDS to analyze a couple of tanks.

Are these ops time restrictive or dive your own tanks?

Yea I dont have a problem with larger boats and more people in particular, but usually they limit bottom time to 40-45 mins.
We definitely want to use a dive op that will let us run our tanks, even if I only make it to 50 mins lol.

I have a feeling,, that if you dive the Vandenberg, the operation"s limits will not be your limits. We had steel 100s and were limited by deco.

 

[Texasguy]

You can always do a quick deco, specifically on nitrox. Just don't tell anyone. No one on the boat wants to hear that, unless they are forced to listen. If they ask why did you hang for so long, say you were admiring the view and had extra gas.

You do 3mins safety stop anyway. If you do a 10 min deco, you are taking only 7 extra mins. Go to 10 feet for quicker offloading and lesser use of gas, unless wavy on top.

 

[Wookie]

You can always do a quick deco, specifically on nitrox. Just don't tell anyone. No one on the boat wants to hear that, unless they are forced to listen. If they ask why did you hang for so long, say you were admiring the view and had extra gas.

You do 3mins safety stop anyway. If you do a 10 min deco, you are taking only 7 extra mins. Go to 10 feet for quicker offloading and lesser use of gas, unless wavy on top.

Oh, thank God for someone who gets it.

 

[scubadada]

You can always do a quick deco, specifically on nitrox. Just don't tell anyone. No one on the boat wants to hear that, unless they are forced to listen. If they ask why did you hang for so long, say you were admiring the view and had extra gas.

You do 3mins safety stop anyway. If you do a 10 min deco, you are taking only 7 extra mins. Go to 10 feet for quicker offloading and lesser use of gas, unless wavy on top.

For a number of good reasons, this is inappropriate advice for a couple with less than 20 dives who are not yet nitrox certified

 

[sportxlh]

To be clear, I've seen Captain's Corner allow a long deco dive for technical divers on their double dips as long as the divers worked that out beforehand. On most of my trips, there have been at least two tec divers doing a single long dive. I don't think they want Rec divers going into deco, especially on dive #2 which could delay departure back to the dock

 

[llBuckshotll]

We're not looking for any deco dives. Wife needs to learn to stabilize a full safety stop before that's even on the list

 

[llBuckshotll]

Does any one have experience with Dive Key West?