SoCal Diver Coming to Dive Keys March 30 Weekend

[LAJim]

Greetings:

One or two of us are planning to be in the Keys diving for 3 days at the end of March. In SoCal I dive drysuit, BP/W, steel tanks (130 or double 100s by then). I like wrecks, nitrox, and depths to 110. I'm DIR provisional.

In places like Roatan I've tended to dive wet in the past, but I like diving my TLS whenever I can.

Two questions for the Florida forum:
1. Which dive ops should I think about, especially with a view to steel tank availability and quality?

2. Any tips on drysuit diving the Keys that time of the year?

Any other comments from any of the above perspectives would be appreciated as well. Enjoy your diving and post on SoCal if any of you are coming out my way.

Jim

 

[MsParamedic]

Silent World has steels and doubles for rent!

Pat

 

[WyCal]

Be careful. I'm from L.A., came out here for a dive vacation and never left.
You certainly can wear a drysuit, just wait 'till the last minute to get into it and don't wear much underneath.
The people at Silent World are very nice, and apparently will rent you steel doubles. I am at Ocean Divers; we have steel tanks, but don't rent doubles.
The Spiegel Grove and Duane are great deep/wreck dives out of Key Largo, and the Eagle is visited by the ops in Tavernier.
Hope you have a great time.

 

[Mossman]

1. Which dive ops should I think about, especially with a view to steel tank availability and quality?

As other posters responded, the new owners of Silent World do indeed carry LP steel tanks in varying sizes (which I found out after getting my nitrox 120s all the way up in Boynton). However, they apparently need plenty of notice for nitrox fills so don't expect to show up in the morning and get what you want without calling first.

2. Any tips on drysuit diving the Keys that time of the year?

The main problem with diving dry in Florida any time of the year is that it's hot and humid. Hot and humid outside makes a drysuit diver even hotter and humid inside. That's why you don't see too many people diving dry in warm water. (The apparent exceptions are Red Sea divemasters, but they do it all day every day, and Florida cave divers, but that water is chilly and they're in it for hours and hours.)

Diving dry also makes one uncomfortable relative to a thin wetsuit, due to constricted movement, seals around wrists and neck, and the inability to pee. There's another hose to get entangled, and another buoyancy source to regulate. They're a necessary evil for cold-water diving, but an evil all the same. Most of us dive warm water for the ease and comfort, the ability to leave the dry suit at home, but apparently YMMV.

 

[abskw]

For DIR diving in the Keys, check out Silent World www.silentworldkeylargo.com (our only Halcyon shop/DIR faclity in the Keys). Chris and Alison, the owners will take very good care of you and the staff is fantastic. For DIR diving in the lower keys...shoot me an email, I am always looking for DIR folks to dive with. I can probably set you up with steel tanks with enough notice.

Andrew in Key West