Looe Key Dive Center

[wreckchick]

Just a quick note and update on this facility.

A few months ago the property was sold to a new ownership group but has been operating as it did prior to the sale. In the past few days, there has been a major shake-up and lots of people are out of work.

Anyone who has used Looe Key in the past would be advised to check on the status of the resort prior to booking any trips for the future.

I used to work for Looe Key and I've been a huge supporter in the past. I regularly recommended them for my customers as a place to stay or as an alternative to me if I couldn't accomodate a group. I have enjoyed an excellent post-employment relationship with them and I deeply regret that at this time, I am no longer recommending that facility to anyone.

Rachel

 

[MsParamedic]

Thanks for the heads up...I have recommended divers to them, myself

Pat

 

[wstein]

Thanks for the info, I know to wary of them until I heard otherwise.

 

[SmileMon]

I was there about a month ago, the dive op is great, the dive masters were really helpful, the captain was nice and organized.

When asked which air grade they have, the woman in the reception said "standard".

I will dive with them if I get another chance, but I'll bring my own tanks or get it someother place (they don't have nitrox) and try to squeeze a discount (its $80 a trip, including 3 tanks).

I wouldn't sleep there again though.

Don't be tempted to do the dives with a skin or shorties, I was there with 3mm and still got sick, 3 hours in the water even at 78 degrees is still cold I guess...

 

[wreckchick]

Smilemon,

What I'm trying to tell you is that everything has changed in the past 4 days! I know the crew you worked with a month ago and it's not the same management or staff there now.

Rachel

 

[Chaseh]

What about the Tiki Bar? Is it still the only place in the Keys you can't smoke?

 

[wreckchick]

Uh, they lifted that restriction about a month ago. The whole property has been decimated of all good staff.

R

 

[Misplaced Priority]

Just curious, what is it about the new people that makes you not want to recommend them? Service, Reliability, Safety etc.????

 

[wreckchick]

A dive shop manager that can't read tank markings, an owner that has never been in the dive business, and a full-on house cleaning of all employees that have a clue how to run the place.

A new captain was brought in who's never been around divers and had to ask the mate how to find Looe Key.

Many of the old employees have been fired and those that remain have been informed that they'll be training an entirely new crew that's being imported from Venice, FL. These are not people that know the Keys, diving, and certainly not diving in the Keys.

I truly wish it wasn't so, but it is.

R

 

[SmileMon]

biscuit, maybe its a sign for the good, their rooms (or at least the room I was in) were really terrible, the odor in the room was like mold is growing inside the walls.

About the dive op, perhaps they will do a clean house, replace the filters, learn how to service divers for the better.

Before marking the whole place with a big red X, I will wait a few more weeks and hopefully get a better review in the future.

New owners usually means people are seeing the potential in a place and wanting to make it better, for divers it means a better place to dive in, for owners, it means more customers.

To remind us all, there was a day we didn't know what a regulator looks like, what is 3000 psi or what "grade e" means.

If you hear in the next few weeks anything new, if the place became better then it once was, or worse, that you'll post it.
In my opinion its too early to judge.