Rates in Key Largo

[OldNSalty]

A buddy of mine wants to get certified and do a trip down south around April - May time frame. I'm looking for recommendations on boats and an idea of the going rate right now for planning purposes.

Thanks

 

[Rred]

Salty-
it is easy enough to go online, get the contacts for the dive shops in the area he is interested in, and see what they have to offer. A lot of the boat dives may be Advanced Open Water not plain OW. And the reefs...they ain't the Red Sea, even if they are a lot closer. Your buddy may also find his best deal is to actually TAKE A COURSE in the Keys, so his open water dives will be there, and the shop can give him a bundle on everything. More incentive for them. Most of the shops are PADI (as they are everywhere in the US) and that may or may not be an issue. PADI likes to deliver bite-size courses so they are easy to pass, but you've got to keep coming back every time you want to do anything extra. Like, dive on weekdays, or in months without an "R", or use a yellow tank instead of a silver one. Apparently a lot of people like that approach.

 

[bumcikaz]

Id recommend rainbow reef in key largo, they got good operation there

 

[Rocketman3]

Id recommend rainbow reef in key largo, they got good operation there

I used Conch Republic Divers in Key Largo for our AOW. On the same trip there were a couple of divers getting their open water dives. I liked them

 

[The Chairman]

I'm on board with Rainbow Reef myself. I really like the way they do things and I would ask specifically for Peter Bernal. He's as neutral as they come.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Take your course where you live and just do your check-out dives here. Also the winds and seas can be iffy in April.

 

[drrich2]

Rainbow Reef Dive Center moved their location a bit from when I did this trip report back in 2013, but it may give you some idea of the 'diving workflow' of a trip with them. I imagine prices have changed a bit, but buying a 10 2-tank (20 dive) package made the diving quite cheap, with no-added charge guides provided.

Don't get on a boat headed out for deep wreck dives in the morning, though, unless you've got AOW or similar cert. Then again, if someone just came out of a typical OW course, swimming around in some current at 85 feet on the Spiegel Grove with an AL80 tank is probably a 'dive for another day,' anyway.

Richard.