Well, I'm sad to report that I'm back. It was a good trip and the weather wasn't too bad. It rained almost all day on the 27th and we got a couple other shorter down pours.
My wife and I ended up diving with Low Key Water sports and Cruz Bay Water Sports. While I'm new to diving I consider myself a pretty observant individual. I did notice differences in the operations and I quickly learned that every instructor is going to lead a different dive. With saying that, I enjoyed diving with both operations and refuse to say anything negative about either, but I will try to give some additional information and would be more than happy to answer any questions.
Oh yeah... I'm hooked.
Low Key - We did our checkout dives with Low Key. They picked us up every morning at the hotel and took us to their shop free of charge, which saved us $10 in cab fair each morning. St. John is brutal about that. I chose them because their checkout dives were substantially less than the other dive shops. We dove with two different instructors at Low Key, Jason and Terry, and we really liked both of them. Bob is a heck of a nice guy too. Their boat was large, spacious and pretty well kept. Their equipment was also fairly well maintained. Their BC's don't have a top buckle, which I like, and on one dive my primary regulator seemed a little tight so I used my secondary regulator. Other than that everything was great. Both shops used weight belts, which was unexpected, but no big deal. Just seems standard for the area. Dive time was about average compared to the other shop. I will also say that Terry is very observant and knowledgeable with the aquatic life. A pleasure to dive with. We also did a night dive with Jason. We entered the water a little early in my opinion, but it still was a good dive.
Cruz Bay Watersports - We dove with Cruz Bay because they had a night dive that fit into our schedule and we didn't know Low Key moved theirs to later in the week. Ended up diving with them a couple more times out of convenience. They're also about the same prices for night and two tank day dives. The boat we dove from is also large and it may have been a little newer and well kept. They also had a freshwater shower. We did a night dive and a two tank morning led by Michael and James was our captain. We loved them both. Michael was also very knowledgeable about the aquatic life and was very good about spotting and identifying different species. We had a private morning dive with Michael, which was a really good time. We also did a morning dive with Josh, which was very much into doing your own thing and just exploring a given area. James was also one heck of a guy. Very nice, very personable. With saying nothing negative, if I had to choose an instructor and captain for one dive I would choose Michael and James. We heard some good stories and learned alot about the island. Cruz Bay's BC's had a top buckle, which I'm partial to, but can go with out. Gear was also well kept.
Cruz Bay Watersports was a little more convenient because they are located out of our dive hotel.
We made a total of 10 dives at the following sites. A couple were doubled because of the different shops, but still enjoyable. (ignore spelling)
Grass Key
Steven's Key
Lavongo
Mingo
Congo
Deevers
Did I mention I'm hooked...
We also snorkeled Leinster Bay (Waterlemon Key), Hawksnest Bay and Trunk Bay.
My wife and I ended up diving with Low Key Water sports and Cruz Bay Water Sports. While I'm new to diving I consider myself a pretty observant individual. I did notice differences in the operations and I quickly learned that every instructor is going to lead a different dive. With saying that, I enjoyed diving with both operations and refuse to say anything negative about either, but I will try to give some additional information and would be more than happy to answer any questions.
Oh yeah... I'm hooked.
Low Key - We did our checkout dives with Low Key. They picked us up every morning at the hotel and took us to their shop free of charge, which saved us $10 in cab fair each morning. St. John is brutal about that. I chose them because their checkout dives were substantially less than the other dive shops. We dove with two different instructors at Low Key, Jason and Terry, and we really liked both of them. Bob is a heck of a nice guy too. Their boat was large, spacious and pretty well kept. Their equipment was also fairly well maintained. Their BC's don't have a top buckle, which I like, and on one dive my primary regulator seemed a little tight so I used my secondary regulator. Other than that everything was great. Both shops used weight belts, which was unexpected, but no big deal. Just seems standard for the area. Dive time was about average compared to the other shop. I will also say that Terry is very observant and knowledgeable with the aquatic life. A pleasure to dive with. We also did a night dive with Jason. We entered the water a little early in my opinion, but it still was a good dive.
Cruz Bay Watersports - We dove with Cruz Bay because they had a night dive that fit into our schedule and we didn't know Low Key moved theirs to later in the week. Ended up diving with them a couple more times out of convenience. They're also about the same prices for night and two tank day dives. The boat we dove from is also large and it may have been a little newer and well kept. They also had a freshwater shower. We did a night dive and a two tank morning led by Michael and James was our captain. We loved them both. Michael was also very knowledgeable about the aquatic life and was very good about spotting and identifying different species. We had a private morning dive with Michael, which was a really good time. We also did a morning dive with Josh, which was very much into doing your own thing and just exploring a given area. James was also one heck of a guy. Very nice, very personable. With saying nothing negative, if I had to choose an instructor and captain for one dive I would choose Michael and James. We heard some good stories and learned alot about the island. Cruz Bay's BC's had a top buckle, which I'm partial to, but can go with out. Gear was also well kept.
Cruz Bay Watersports was a little more convenient because they are located out of our dive hotel.
We made a total of 10 dives at the following sites. A couple were doubled because of the different shops, but still enjoyable. (ignore spelling)
Grass Key
Steven's Key
Lavongo
Mingo
Congo
Deevers
Did I mention I'm hooked...
We also snorkeled Leinster Bay (Waterlemon Key), Hawksnest Bay and Trunk Bay.