inter_alia
Guest
Who we are: I am a 29-yr-old female with 30 dives going into the trip. Dads a DiveCon with SSI, has over 150 dives and is in spectacular shape. We are used to diving in the Gulf out of Panama City (wrecks, bridge spans usually in about 70 fsw) but hes been all over the world diving and Ive spent a week in Bonaire.
Who we dove with: Horizon Divers, mm100 at the marina. 45' catamaran, on a canal six minutes from the open water. We were happy with their performance and hospitality but were thrilled with the deal: four two-tank trips at around $50 each (purchasing a punch card) and they got us a suite at the Best Western literally next door for $79 a night. Their boats are later than most, a 9:00 and a 1:30. Only one day did we do both trips, but we had planned ahead and had sandwiches in our fridge for the 45 minutes between boat trips. It would be a tight turn around for an actual lunch but some others did get to Wendys and back without much rush.
Where we stayed: The Best Western Suites. (All rooms are identical, down to the view.) Covered parking, upstairs bedroom/ bathroom and downstairs pull-out sofa/ bathroom/ kitchen/ screened-in porch overlooking the canal. Extremely good a/c, etc. Kitchen not fully stocked (no fork?!) but gave full-size fridge/freezer which was certainly a bonus. Also a full-size stove, range top and dishwasher. Did I mention covered parking? Car was never hot whenever we had to get in it which was not often. It was about fifty paces to the boat...
There is a pool there, but its small and dad only used it once after a run. They offer the bread-based breakfast options that likely wont please some but we dont usually eat before morning dives anyway.
Weather, seas: Sunny and cloudy, a tiny bit of scattered showers in the afternoons, 90 degrees with humidity playing a part. Seas were generally calm to 1' sometimes 13" swells. Divine. Visibility was reliably in the 50 - 70 foot range.
Water temp was between 80 and 83 degrees. Wear a skin at most, my 3mm fullsuit was obviously too much. Were I to go back, Id probably wear a rash guard and be very comfortable.
What we dove:
1. Spiegel Grove
This was considered an advanced dive, only advanced divers on the boat except a small handful (including me) that were assigned to a guide.
Currents were ripping.
I have to admit I aborted the dive by the time I had pulled myself to the mooring ball. My arms were about to give out and I decided to be my own problem on the surface than someone elses problem at 70'. Most of the others made it to the wreck but couldnt do much down there apparently the current on the wreck, while better than on the surface, was an upswell that tried to pull you over the ship. I think the longest bottom time was about 15 minutes and all were winded when they returned. Getting onto the boat was not an easy task.
For the balance of our time in Key Largo, the Grove was considered undiveable due to the currents.
2. French Reef (drift dive.)
Max 64 feet, 43 minutes.
The guide that was on for the Grove led us on a drift dive over a nice part of French Reef. Currents were not ripping, but were still an issue. My log book doesnt say much about particular fish... I might have still been upset about calling the Grove dive.
3. Snapper Ledge
Max 32 feet, 59 minutes.
Light current, self-navigation was an issue because huge schools of yellow fish (I should get the names of these from dad) were wonderfully disorientating. Saw a few small yellow rays in the sand, got good pictures of them. Reef was interesting, kind of scattered over sandy locale and aided to that self-navigation problem. Surfaced once to find the boat but at these depths thats the recommended course of action.
4. Pillars
Max 21 feet, 44 minutes.
The only dud of the trip, and not a complete loss since diving at all is better than most other options.
Never found the pillars. Got completely disorientated and swam against the light current over lots of sand and patchy reef places until boredom actually set in. I practiced buoyancy control and used about 1000 pounds of air. Ho hum.
5. Benwood
Max 32 feet, 42 minutes.
Amazing.
Its not really a wreck, but pieces of a 1942 British freighter scattered over a fairly large area. Barracuda everywhere, small schools of 3 foot barracuda, then up above thered be the occasional enormous one sooo gorgeous. Below, in the wreck pieces, cleaning stations were easy to pick out and the variety of small- and medium- size colorful fish was astounding. Couldnt name them all... Schools of these, either hiding from current (not much current though) or scurrying from the loud diver approaching.
This place kept my attention the entire time. Even with two boats on it, plenty of space to spread out and be fascinated. Could have happily stayed there all day.
6. Hourglass Cave on French Reef
Max 34 feet, 41 minutes.
The thing I remember most from this one were the shapes and arrangement of the reef. Some swim-throughs (dad liked these, I didnt try because I hate to think Id hurt something) and the current had picked up some, so you had to get low and find the fish under ledges, etc.
7. Molasses Reef, Winch Hole
note: before this boat trip, we were told that the seas had picked up a bit. We took our TripTone and then discovered that they meant 3' swells were possible. Gotta love that this was cause for warning.
Max 30 feet, 45 minutes.
I had a barracuda trailing me on this entire dive. I like barracuda, so we just struck an agreement and I ignored him. Currents had picked up again, hard to kick against it and make much progress so we just sort of stayed around the boat and would drift, then move sideways and forward and drift a little more. We were puzzled by these parades of blue parrotfish (plate-size) that seemed to like showing off.
There was life here, but again, with the currents you had to seek out and under ledges to see them.
8. Molasses Reef, Aquarium
Max 23 feet, 40 minutes.
Last dive of the trip, and my most memorable one since I found a gorgeous Nurse Shark (an estimated six feet to the tip of the tail) under a ledge and stayed there half of the time watching her. We called over anyone that was swimming by to look at her, too, and I just sort of beamed with pride that I had seen her first... my first good find.
Currents, again, were an issue and swimming against them was difficult. I think I found the shark about ten minutes in and then held onto a rock with a finger to keep myself stationary. Otherwise, this location was incredibly rich with fish of all kinds, more barracuda, hogfish, etc. Loads of color around here, would have been easy to hover in one place and watch all these things swim by with curiosity. These animals were not put off by bubbles or even approaches. Theyd school under the boat for shade and hang out as you moved around in the current.
But the nurse shark. I just was looking under the ledge and first saw the gills, then backed off when I realized how long the thing was I motioned to dad look, shark, under there and he admits he was less than optimistic as he lowered to the rock and peered under. He twitched when he recognized the find and applauded.
Small pleasures!
Overall, the diving was shallower than I had expected. Much warmer than I had expected. I had not briefed myself well enough on the varieties of smallish colorful fish Id see so I apologize for the lack of nomenclature here. Maybe today Ill steal dads logbook and pick his brain for all the names. A lot of the time on the shallow reefs its like diving in a literal aquarium and the currents we had (I think) were not usual.
Key Largo would be a great destination for novice divers. Key Largo wrecks (Spiegel Grove, Duane, Bibb, etc.) need to be lined up ahead of time and likely will require either proof of AOW or the additional cost of a guide. At first I thought that was silly, but now that Ive had the currents on the Grove (and the Duane is similar, dads done that a couple times) I understand why the operations just cant take the chance. If I had not aborted the Grove early on, its likely I could have gotten halfway to the wreck and then let go, drifted to God knows where and been a major problem for the Captain. Dads comment on the Grove is: Ive never had a dive when my fins were completely useless.
Nonetheless, it was a good three days. Horizon Divers were wonderful and the suite was just perfect. All of our costs were below what we had figured initially and our long drive there was broken with a night in West Palm Beach (I'll post that separately) and the drive back was broken with a stop in High Springs/ Ginnie Springs (also posted separately.)
A great vacation!
Who we dove with: Horizon Divers, mm100 at the marina. 45' catamaran, on a canal six minutes from the open water. We were happy with their performance and hospitality but were thrilled with the deal: four two-tank trips at around $50 each (purchasing a punch card) and they got us a suite at the Best Western literally next door for $79 a night. Their boats are later than most, a 9:00 and a 1:30. Only one day did we do both trips, but we had planned ahead and had sandwiches in our fridge for the 45 minutes between boat trips. It would be a tight turn around for an actual lunch but some others did get to Wendys and back without much rush.
Where we stayed: The Best Western Suites. (All rooms are identical, down to the view.) Covered parking, upstairs bedroom/ bathroom and downstairs pull-out sofa/ bathroom/ kitchen/ screened-in porch overlooking the canal. Extremely good a/c, etc. Kitchen not fully stocked (no fork?!) but gave full-size fridge/freezer which was certainly a bonus. Also a full-size stove, range top and dishwasher. Did I mention covered parking? Car was never hot whenever we had to get in it which was not often. It was about fifty paces to the boat...
There is a pool there, but its small and dad only used it once after a run. They offer the bread-based breakfast options that likely wont please some but we dont usually eat before morning dives anyway.
Weather, seas: Sunny and cloudy, a tiny bit of scattered showers in the afternoons, 90 degrees with humidity playing a part. Seas were generally calm to 1' sometimes 13" swells. Divine. Visibility was reliably in the 50 - 70 foot range.
Water temp was between 80 and 83 degrees. Wear a skin at most, my 3mm fullsuit was obviously too much. Were I to go back, Id probably wear a rash guard and be very comfortable.
What we dove:
1. Spiegel Grove
This was considered an advanced dive, only advanced divers on the boat except a small handful (including me) that were assigned to a guide.
Currents were ripping.
I have to admit I aborted the dive by the time I had pulled myself to the mooring ball. My arms were about to give out and I decided to be my own problem on the surface than someone elses problem at 70'. Most of the others made it to the wreck but couldnt do much down there apparently the current on the wreck, while better than on the surface, was an upswell that tried to pull you over the ship. I think the longest bottom time was about 15 minutes and all were winded when they returned. Getting onto the boat was not an easy task.
For the balance of our time in Key Largo, the Grove was considered undiveable due to the currents.
2. French Reef (drift dive.)
Max 64 feet, 43 minutes.
The guide that was on for the Grove led us on a drift dive over a nice part of French Reef. Currents were not ripping, but were still an issue. My log book doesnt say much about particular fish... I might have still been upset about calling the Grove dive.
3. Snapper Ledge
Max 32 feet, 59 minutes.
Light current, self-navigation was an issue because huge schools of yellow fish (I should get the names of these from dad) were wonderfully disorientating. Saw a few small yellow rays in the sand, got good pictures of them. Reef was interesting, kind of scattered over sandy locale and aided to that self-navigation problem. Surfaced once to find the boat but at these depths thats the recommended course of action.
4. Pillars
Max 21 feet, 44 minutes.
The only dud of the trip, and not a complete loss since diving at all is better than most other options.
Never found the pillars. Got completely disorientated and swam against the light current over lots of sand and patchy reef places until boredom actually set in. I practiced buoyancy control and used about 1000 pounds of air. Ho hum.
5. Benwood
Max 32 feet, 42 minutes.
Amazing.
Its not really a wreck, but pieces of a 1942 British freighter scattered over a fairly large area. Barracuda everywhere, small schools of 3 foot barracuda, then up above thered be the occasional enormous one sooo gorgeous. Below, in the wreck pieces, cleaning stations were easy to pick out and the variety of small- and medium- size colorful fish was astounding. Couldnt name them all... Schools of these, either hiding from current (not much current though) or scurrying from the loud diver approaching.
This place kept my attention the entire time. Even with two boats on it, plenty of space to spread out and be fascinated. Could have happily stayed there all day.
6. Hourglass Cave on French Reef
Max 34 feet, 41 minutes.
The thing I remember most from this one were the shapes and arrangement of the reef. Some swim-throughs (dad liked these, I didnt try because I hate to think Id hurt something) and the current had picked up some, so you had to get low and find the fish under ledges, etc.
7. Molasses Reef, Winch Hole
note: before this boat trip, we were told that the seas had picked up a bit. We took our TripTone and then discovered that they meant 3' swells were possible. Gotta love that this was cause for warning.
Max 30 feet, 45 minutes.
I had a barracuda trailing me on this entire dive. I like barracuda, so we just struck an agreement and I ignored him. Currents had picked up again, hard to kick against it and make much progress so we just sort of stayed around the boat and would drift, then move sideways and forward and drift a little more. We were puzzled by these parades of blue parrotfish (plate-size) that seemed to like showing off.
There was life here, but again, with the currents you had to seek out and under ledges to see them.
8. Molasses Reef, Aquarium
Max 23 feet, 40 minutes.
Last dive of the trip, and my most memorable one since I found a gorgeous Nurse Shark (an estimated six feet to the tip of the tail) under a ledge and stayed there half of the time watching her. We called over anyone that was swimming by to look at her, too, and I just sort of beamed with pride that I had seen her first... my first good find.
Currents, again, were an issue and swimming against them was difficult. I think I found the shark about ten minutes in and then held onto a rock with a finger to keep myself stationary. Otherwise, this location was incredibly rich with fish of all kinds, more barracuda, hogfish, etc. Loads of color around here, would have been easy to hover in one place and watch all these things swim by with curiosity. These animals were not put off by bubbles or even approaches. Theyd school under the boat for shade and hang out as you moved around in the current.
But the nurse shark. I just was looking under the ledge and first saw the gills, then backed off when I realized how long the thing was I motioned to dad look, shark, under there and he admits he was less than optimistic as he lowered to the rock and peered under. He twitched when he recognized the find and applauded.
Small pleasures!
Overall, the diving was shallower than I had expected. Much warmer than I had expected. I had not briefed myself well enough on the varieties of smallish colorful fish Id see so I apologize for the lack of nomenclature here. Maybe today Ill steal dads logbook and pick his brain for all the names. A lot of the time on the shallow reefs its like diving in a literal aquarium and the currents we had (I think) were not usual.
Key Largo would be a great destination for novice divers. Key Largo wrecks (Spiegel Grove, Duane, Bibb, etc.) need to be lined up ahead of time and likely will require either proof of AOW or the additional cost of a guide. At first I thought that was silly, but now that Ive had the currents on the Grove (and the Duane is similar, dads done that a couple times) I understand why the operations just cant take the chance. If I had not aborted the Grove early on, its likely I could have gotten halfway to the wreck and then let go, drifted to God knows where and been a major problem for the Captain. Dads comment on the Grove is: Ive never had a dive when my fins were completely useless.
Nonetheless, it was a good three days. Horizon Divers were wonderful and the suite was just perfect. All of our costs were below what we had figured initially and our long drive there was broken with a night in West Palm Beach (I'll post that separately) and the drive back was broken with a stop in High Springs/ Ginnie Springs (also posted separately.)
A great vacation!
