Pro Dive in Fort Lauderdale - Recommendation?

[DebbyDiver]

I never looked at my watch but I assure you it isn't 15 minutes. Also, his twin outboards are smokin' fast on that catamaran when he's not in an idle zone. He gets to the dive sites amazingly fast and I love how the four-stroke engines don't smoke.

I do love American Dream II too...and they are buddies.

 

[sportxlh]

Pro Dive has a nice boat and a professional staff. However, if you are diving alone (without a bunch of friends) you run the risk of being paired with a buddy group that you don't like. I dove with Pro Dive last year. Five of us single divers were matched up as a dive group and dropped with a dive flag (in a manner similar to Boynton Beach Dive operators). Pro Dive has a policy that divers in a group go down and come up together. One of the divers in my group blew through a 100 cf tank in a little over 20 minutes at 70-75 feet. I could have easily gotten another 20 minutes of diving with an 80 cf tank, but given the shop's policy, we all had to come up together. I was a bit miffed and felt a bit cheated. I don't have anything against the diver that consumed a bunch of air quickly, but I would have had no problem staying down longer by myself. As you probably already know, operators in Jupiter and WPB allow divers to come up as singles, if they desire: which is the way I am used to diving. If I were making a dive with five good friends with similar diving style, I would not hesitate to go out with Pro Dive: but as a single diver, I would never go out with them again.

 

[DebbyDiver]

I've sent air suckers back up to the boat on ADII and SEII. Heck, even did it on Horizon this past Saturday.

 

[mcgowman]

Thanks sportxlh. Good info on Pro Dives 'buddy group' policy. Am fairly decent on my air consumption, so I'd feel the same in similiar circumstances. If i remember correctly they were also a stickler for seeing a written dive log. I keep one, but think I'm in the minority these days.

Debby, I'm looking to avoid the snorklers altogether.

Thanks to all for the posts thus far.

 

[DebbyDiver]

McGowman, gotcha! I thought you were trying to get a snorkeling friend on board. I have not often seen snorkelers on Sea Experience II; and when they are on board they have no effect on dive operations. Unlike some dive ops in the Keys who will screw up the diving schedule to accomodate snorkelers.