Trip Report The Road to Becoming a Better Diver - Key Largo Trip Report Part 1

[boulderjohn]

Lady Luck?

yes

 

[Tigerpaw]

Nice you still like diving. Don't focus on the amount of dives, I prefer also a lot of dives, but the quality must be good.
Go diving as much as possible and really, enjoy, don't forget to enjoy.

Thank you,...yes I was obsessed with training and buoyancy but my Divemaster told me to loosen up and relax. We compromised, I would train for half the dive and the other half I would relax, sightsee and have fun.

 

[Tigerpaw]

Hi @Tigerpaw , you got your OW in Dec 2021, and then went to dive the Spiegel on March 2022? Did you work on your AOW in between these dates ?

Yes, I started working on certs with the ideal I'd have the proper training to do certain dives. After my Open Water, I earned Nitrox and AOW. After AOW I went on to earn Deep and Wreck.

 

[TravelGas]

Lady Luck? I've had that exact same experience on both the LL and the Castor in Boynton.

How deep is the Castor and which dive boats go there?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

How deep is the Castor and which dive boats go there?

100-110 to the sand, top of the wreck starts around 70-80ish (going from memory). The Boynton Beach boats are the ones that run to the wreck typically. Loggerhead & Starfish are both excellent charters that do the Castor, especially during the Goliath Grouper aggregation in later summer/early fall.

Here is a video I did of diving the Castor during the GG aggregation on a rare no current day.


Info on the wreck:

Force-E Scuba Centers - M/V Castor Wreck Dive Site

The M/V Castor was sunk on December 14, 2001. It measures 258 feet long by 37 feet wide by 50 feet tall rising to within 60 feet of the surface.

www.force-e.com

 

[Divin'Papaw]

A bit more on the Castor. This video is very unusual. There is more commonly a strong to ripping current. The boats don't hot drop the wreck (for whatever reason), rather they send a DM down to attach a mooring ball and chain. They then drop you up current and you drift into the mooring ball. The boat isn't moored to the wreck but you dive it like a moored wreck dive regardless. At the end of the dive you come up the line, do your safety stop, come up at the mooring ball and the boat comes to you. They have you let go of the mooring ball when they are positioned, and you drift to the boat.

I've dived this wreck in current so strong (1) the mooring ball was almost fully underwater, (2) half the boat could not pull themselves down to the wreck due to the strong current and (3) I lost a fin when the current ripped it off because I did not have the heal guard pulled high enough up the back of my bootie. Those conditions are honestly more common than what you see in my video above.

 

[cfberry]

In December 2021, I earned my Open water in the calm waters of Tahiti. A few months later in March 2022, I went to Key Largo to dive and reality hit. The Atlantic Ocean is a wee bit rougher than the South Pacific. I had never been seasick before, yet on this particular trip I puked out my guts. This particular dive was on the Spiegel Grove. After I entered the water I was overwhelmed by the waves crashing into me, as we were making our way towards the mooring ball it was hard for me to breathe. I remember reading that is a symptom of hyperventilating. Between everything happening, I called the dive. The Divemaster I was with was very supportive and encouraging. Needless to say, during that trip I ended up doing 2-3 shallow reef dives instead of 8 planned dives. While those reef dives restored my confidence, I learned a valuable lesson and that was that as a diver, I need to dive to gain experience as well as dive in different conditions. At that point I had less than 10 dives and I vowed I would return. After Key Largo, I did some diving at our local lake as well as when the wife and I would go on a cruise or vacation. I had also contacted the scuba shop (Scuba Fun in Key Largo) to set up the trip for the following year, a huge undertaking, 32 dives spread out over 8 days! My intent was to focus on scuba diving the entire week!

Fast forward to April 2023, I arrived in Key Largo, anxious but ready to go. I met the Divemaster who would be my guide for the week, Scuba Joe, I told him of my plan and we both were excited. The next day, the first dive of the day was the wreck of the Eagle a deep dive, I actually started to second guess myself, thinking I should have scheduled a shallow dive first. I'd earlier explained to Joe what happened the year prior and to get me underwater as safely and quickly as possible. The waves weren't as bad but I was still a bit anxious, I think he saw it on my face, he reassured me and he took me to about 10 feet under and we sat there for a minute. By then I was good and away we went. Because this was my first dive with him, he did not want me to take my camera and he also wanted to evaluate me as well. Visibility was excellent, it was crystal clear and there were fish everywhere. Once Joe saw that I was having fun and enjoying the dive he asked if I wanted to go to 100ft. I quickly nodded yes and away we went. We stayed there for a minute then we came back up. (Prior to that the deepest I've dove was 77ft.) After swimming around we made our ascent, did our safety stop and was back on board. I completed 4 additional dives that day and finished the 1st day with 5 dives. I felt relief, vindication and was so happy that I came back and didn't give up. Three days later I returned to the Spiegel Grove and it was a triumphant return and dive! When we made it back to the dive shop, I asked them to let the Divemaster from last year know that I redeemed myself.

dive at your own pace and get comfortable!

 

[cfberry]

100-110 to the sand, top of the wreck starts around 70-80ish (going from memory). The Boynton Beach boats are the ones that run to the wreck typically. Loggerhead & Starfish are both excellent charters that do the Castor, especially during the Goliath Grouper aggregation in later summer/early fall.

Here is a video I did of diving the Castor during the GG aggregation on a rare no current day.


Info on the wreck:

Force-E Scuba Centers - M/V Castor Wreck Dive Site

The M/V Castor was sunk on December 14, 2001. It measures 258 feet long by 37 feet wide by 50 feet tall rising to within 60 feet of the surface.

www.force-e.com

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