Key West

[Wijbrandus]

I'll be in Key west for one day in late August, I'm taking a cruise to Cozumel.

My wife and I are interested in taking a dive with a local operator. Does anyone have a recommendation on who is good down there? This will be my wife's first dive past OW cert, and I was wanting a nice easy and good experience for her. I myself will have had a few ocean dives in by then, and will be AOW certified.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Wijbrandus]

Never mind. The damn boat leaves port at 3 pm. Won't have enough time to do anything there I think.

Grr.

 

[iflyprops]

To my knowledge the only place close to key west with good diving is Big Pine Key. I think thats about 20-30 minutes north of Key West.

 

[Saturation]

Cruise ships dock at the port close to Duval St and the Old Bight. There are 2 operations right on the Old Bight. Call them as they want divers there 1 hr before the trip to hold a spot and fill paperwork. Captain's Corner leaves at 9AM, returns 1PM, then leaves at 2pm for the pm trip. Lost Reef Adventures leaves at 8AM, returns by 12n, could leave by 1pm for a pm trip. LR is a 12 pack and Capt's Corner is a 25 packer. Both have their boats right on the dock and will pass your ship going to the dive sites.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

You might want to try South Point Divers. Their morning boat leaves around 9 and gets back at around noon and is located near the cruise ship docks. The shop is in town, but the boat is at the marina near the Hyatt.

Dave Krause was my instructor for my advanced OW a couple of years ago and was a great DM. The entire staff was friendly and efficient. Nice big boat, too. I think the morning boat does the Cayman Salvager (95 fsw) or Joe's Tug (60 fsw) and a shallow reef.

http://www.southpointdivers.com/

Good luck with the logistics,
Grier

Never mind. The damn boat leaves port at 3 pm. Won't have enough time to do anything there I think.

Grr.

 

[Scubaroo]

Well for anyone else looking for Key West info, I did dives with Subtropic in August.

Not a bad operation, nice dive shop, okay dives sites given the traffic they must get, boats had all the safety gear, bit of a scramble for rental gear though amongst the crowd. Diving was well orchestrated - shame about all the smokers on board though (including the cigar the captain had). Also a shame abou the tourists who simply ignored the captain's dive briefing, and surfaced 200 yards from the boat - but that can happen anywhere. It would be really nice to find a boat with a smoke-free policy one day. I would use them again though if I took my own gear - collecting rental gear at the shop was a bit of a joke - simply too many people crowding aroudn the doorway shouting out what size BCs, fins and weightbelts they wanted. Nitrox is available.

 

[archman]

To my knowledge the only place close to key west with good diving is Big Pine Key. I think thats about 20-30 minutes north of Key West.

If you can get to Big Pine key from Key West in less than 30 minutes, it's early in the morning and you're dangerously exceeding the speed limit.

 

[wstein]

You might want to try South Point Divers. Their morning boat leaves around 9 and gets back at around noon and is located near the cruise ship docks. The shop is in town, but the boat is at the marina near the Hyatt.

I agree Grier, I have used South Point the last 2 years I have been to Key West. They are a great operation. They have all the gear you need to rent right at the docks and the docks is a easy 5-10 min walk from the cruise ship landing. Have fun in Key West.

Wstein