Rainbow Reef Dive Centre

[Steve_C]

I like larger boats. I do not like having to stick with a group guide when I want to stop and look for a pictures or two. In fact the only group guided dives I liked were out of the east side of Grand Cayman. Guide floated fairly high in the water column and our group spread out. Slow drift and plenty of time to poke around. As long as she could see us (and viz was awesome) it was ok. But all of our group were decent divers.

There are people like me who love reefs. Fish move around. The same site can have new critters the next day. There are others who once they have seen one reef they have seen them all. It is an individual thing.

There are LOTS of dive sites out of Key Largo. You can go over just a buoy or two and terrain is different. Between elbow reef and molasses reef there are several dozen sites. You are not going to hit all the good sites in just 3 or 4 dives.

 

[mselenaous]

I dove with Rainbow Reef last summer. I also did my AOW while there. They were very professional, safe, and helpful. It is a well run operation. Lots of 'interns' as guides and other labor.

As others have said, it depends on what you value.

Here's what I liked:

1. Guide provided, no worries about a buddy (I was alone)
2. Guide provided, no worries about getting lost.
3. Exceptional Value
4. Big boats, so little concern over getting a spot
5. Cheap AOW ad-on

Here's what I didn't like:

1. AOW was bare minimum, only following the letter of the law and nothing more.
2. AOW specialties were limited to the available dives for that boat. I could not do wreck and deep, and had to do navigation instead.
3. Dives were time limited. I NEVER used my whole tank, often surfacing with >1000psi
4. Dive sites seemed redundant
5. Big boats with lots of people and guide resulted in lots of floating around and waiting for stragglers to get in...

AOW requires minimum of 5 dives, including navigation as a must and Deep as a must. If you didn't get to the deep wreck for AOW, it's probably because conditions on the wrecks those says we're too rough and unsafe. We did have some wicked strong currents for several weeks last summer...I had a heck of a time teaching a wreck class and for deep all those dives ended up being deep drift dives along the reef walls. Some of the reefs were also strongly affected. I am assuming at some point you got in at least 1 deep dive though it might not have been on a wreck.
No one can guarantee any specific dive site on any given due to changing sea conditions. No matter what site may be on the schedule, if the Captain deems conditions unsafe to dive there, the Captain will find an alternate dive site.

Dives are usually 1 hr or 500psi which ever comes first. When any person in the group reaches gas turn pressures, everyone in the group comes back. It might not feel fair when you have a good SAC rate.

Rainbow Reef is an excellent dive op as are many here in Key Largo and I dive with them often. Search this forum to read about everyone's favorites and why. Everything depends on matching your expectations with what the dive op is best at. There are more dive ops than gas stations in the Upper Keys (>30).

If I can be of assistance, please let me know.

 

[CajunDiva]

Choosing a dive op is a highly personal choice. Everyone has different preferences and is looking for something different.

We have been diving with Rainbow Reef for approx. 15 years. Key Largo is our "home" diving base in the U.S. and Rainbow Reef is our only choice there. Our personal preference revolves around relationships. From the first time we showed up on Rainbow Reef's doorstep...way back when they were operating one small dive boat...we have been treated like the loyal guests we are. And we behave like loyal guests. I have never felt the need to dive with other ops in Key Largo because every single need I can imagine is met and exceeded by the staff at Rainbow Reef.

Their boat captains are outstanding, their dive staff is outstanding, their course directors are outstanding, and no matter their position at Rainbow Reef, every single staff member has treated us with respect and affection. And we love them all!

Along with different perspectives come different dive styles. Rainbow Reef accommodates many different types of divers, and they manage to please most of the divers on the boats. Whether you are a technical diver, a newbie diver or an underwater naturalist who likes to search for a variety of critters on the many dive sites visited (like Steve_C...and me), there is literally something to please everyone.

As others have mentioned, dive guides are available (AVAILABLE...not mandatory) at no additional cost. We don't NEED to dive with a guide. We got our Advanced Certification with Rainbow Reef many moons ago, and we know how to navigate, etc. We have 600 dives under our belts. But we truly ENJOY all of the guides at Rainbow Reef and we have a blast diving with them! They dive those sites often and are most up-to-date on where to find the cool critters. They know what has been spotted where, and they're happy to share it with you. What's not to like about that???

So while there are certainly many qualified dive operations to choose from in Key Largo, the reason we continue to return to Rainbow Reef is because of the relationships we have formed with the great staff there. Everyone has their priority...that's ours!

 

[The Chairman]

When you go to Rainbow Reef, watch out for that really, really, really old captain that served as gunnery officer on the Spiegel Grove: @Capt Jim Wyatt. Also watch out for @that guy too. They are brothers in mayhem and both will make sure that you'll have a really good time while you're down there. Actually, the whole crew there will see to it that you'll have a great time.

 

[gr8jab]

AOW requires minimum of 5 dives, including navigation as a must and Deep as a must. If you didn't get to the deep wreck for AOW, it's probably because conditions on the wrecks those says we're too rough and unsafe. We did have some wicked strong currents for several weeks last summer...I had a heck of a time teaching a wreck class and for deep all those dives ended up being deep drift dives along the reef walls. Some of the reefs were also strongly affected. I am assuming at some point you got in at least 1 deep dive though it might not have been on a wreck.
.

I went back to the log book to check... since I was obviously confused. We did deep, nav, drift, boat, and night. We did the deep on the Spiegel Grove. I know I really wanted to do 'wreck', but got stuck with 'boat' and 'drift' which I didn't value much.

I don't remember skipping a wreck because of current. There was some other logistical reason that was disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset about it. Just was hoping to do deep and wreck, that's all.

We did dive the Duane several days later in a moderate current. We descended on the upstream buoy. While we explored, the boat moved to the downstream buoy. It was a nice dive, without having to fight against the current. The Captain said they can't usually move the boat, but we were there alone at the time.

All of our reef dives were 45-50 min.