With over 3000 dives, I'm not sure what you're complaining about.........
Sorry, my "sympathy level" is pretty low on this one.
flots.
the way I read Amazz's original post was simply giving divers a 'heads up' that a dive boat in the Keys operates in a way that is completely out of the norm. Yes, I suppose she was complaining a bit too. While I don't have 3,000 dives, I do have 450 or so and most of them are 80 feet or deeper. If I had spent good hard earned money on such a dive as she experienced with Southpoint, I would not have been happy. With Amazz's 'heads up', I won't ever have to be unhappy diving the Vandy since I'll never use Southpoint. Maybe Southpoint gets a disproportionate share of cruise ship oriented divers or divers that don't dive regularly so they keep strict policies: if I'm right, then that's fine, but anyone with any amount of experience who dives similar profiles often would be disappointed and should avoid Southpoint. In a sense, the operator should be thankful since there are plenty of divers who won't be complaining about the policy in SB or giving poor reviews in Trip Advisor since those divers who read Amazz's post will just avoid the shop.
Sharing experiences: both good and bad is what SB is all about. At least that's what I think.
For kicks and grins, I grabbed my log book to see what other operators allowed me to dive on the Vandy and similar profile wrecks/reefs in the Keys and here's what I found:
-May 2013:
Silent World, Spiegle Grove. First dive 49 minutes, second dive 48 minutes- hit 102 feet on both dives but most of dives were shallower
-Sept 2012:
Conch Republic, Eagle wreck. 51 minutes- hit 105 feet but most of dive was shallower
-Sept 2012:
Conch Republic, Conch Wall. 66 minutes- hit 99 feet but most of dive was shallower
-May 2012:
Captain's Corner, Vandenberg. First dive was 45 minutes, Second dive was 40 minutes- hit about 100 feet on both but most of the dives were shallower
-Sept 2011:
Conch Republic, Duane wreck. 38 minutes- hit 105 feet and the current was ripping fast!
-Feb 2011:
Subtropic (RIP): Vandenberg. First dive was 41 minutes, second was 40 minutes- hit 100 feet on first dive and 95 on second however most of the dives were shallower
I only note the above to demonstrate the fact that other operators are much more willing to let divers dive within their experience and skill level rather than looking for the lowest common denominator. Restricting dive times so severally is not the norm in the Keys, at least in my experience.