shaky6
Guest
Welp, I'm in the middle of my first trip to Key Largo and thought I'd do some diving since, well, I dive. It was a last minute trip, with about 4 days of planning involved before we made the drive down from St. Louis; stopped a few places on the way. While in route I did a minimal amount of research and booked a dive day (today) with Silent World, and based off their recommendation I booked at The Pelican for three nights. So, fast forward to today, dive day. I was really excited because Im used to making my dive vacations in Cozumel or booking a few dives in Beaufort, NC; but here was a new opportunity to find a new dive destination in the keys. I opted for a reef dive instead of the Speigel or any other wrecks because to be quite honest, the wrecks off NC just dont really do it for me. I like coral forests, deep crevices, and lots of crawly critters.
So I dove with Capt Joe today and Mike, who paired me up with another single. The first site was Christ of the Abyss, which was anything but an abyss. We had a falling tide and Christs arms were probably at about 10 feet. Other than that, absolutely nothing remarkable about the dive; it was an hour of maybe I might see something over there??, paired with my dive buddy who wanted to do circles around the bottom of the boat. Anyways, with a max depth of about 28ft, we quickly were in our second site at Key Largo Dry Rocks North North. Just about the same dive except no religious icons present. Hey! I saw a barracuda. Wait theyre all over.
So, I cant say I had a pleasant experience, but we all know that dive sites with a new-to-us dive Op are hit and miss. This was a miss, and next time Ill opt for the Spiegel and maybe a dive Op closer to the center of town, and hopefully a boat that doesnt pour black diesel smoke like the AmTracks I rode in back in the Corps.
The bright side, and the good stuff, Im liking The Pelican and its very mom and pop-ish feel, and its private waterfront area. Its quiet, very shaded with palm trees, has a hose outside which was nice for washing down my gear, and its got a grill outside. Close to some great restaurants too. The BEST thing today though, and quite at odds with our diving pastime; I took my girlfriend out with Sun Divers for a snorkel trip. I wish I could remember the reef they took us to. At first, thought it was gonna be a painful cattle herding considering there was a 30-girl high school science class with us, but it turned out pain free and a lot of fun. I saw more critters and bountiful reef than I did on two dives. There were lobster everywhere, a few crabs, live conchs all over the place, a cone jelly, stingray, turtle, hogfish, parrotfish, and a lot others. And the both of us cost less than one dive trip for me. Plus the boat didnt spew black smoke. Awesome, Im eating dinner a happy camper tonight and look forward to my next trip and a new Op, with another trip with Sun Divers of course.
So I dove with Capt Joe today and Mike, who paired me up with another single. The first site was Christ of the Abyss, which was anything but an abyss. We had a falling tide and Christs arms were probably at about 10 feet. Other than that, absolutely nothing remarkable about the dive; it was an hour of maybe I might see something over there??, paired with my dive buddy who wanted to do circles around the bottom of the boat. Anyways, with a max depth of about 28ft, we quickly were in our second site at Key Largo Dry Rocks North North. Just about the same dive except no religious icons present. Hey! I saw a barracuda. Wait theyre all over.
So, I cant say I had a pleasant experience, but we all know that dive sites with a new-to-us dive Op are hit and miss. This was a miss, and next time Ill opt for the Spiegel and maybe a dive Op closer to the center of town, and hopefully a boat that doesnt pour black diesel smoke like the AmTracks I rode in back in the Corps.
The bright side, and the good stuff, Im liking The Pelican and its very mom and pop-ish feel, and its private waterfront area. Its quiet, very shaded with palm trees, has a hose outside which was nice for washing down my gear, and its got a grill outside. Close to some great restaurants too. The BEST thing today though, and quite at odds with our diving pastime; I took my girlfriend out with Sun Divers for a snorkel trip. I wish I could remember the reef they took us to. At first, thought it was gonna be a painful cattle herding considering there was a 30-girl high school science class with us, but it turned out pain free and a lot of fun. I saw more critters and bountiful reef than I did on two dives. There were lobster everywhere, a few crabs, live conchs all over the place, a cone jelly, stingray, turtle, hogfish, parrotfish, and a lot others. And the both of us cost less than one dive trip for me. Plus the boat didnt spew black smoke. Awesome, Im eating dinner a happy camper tonight and look forward to my next trip and a new Op, with another trip with Sun Divers of course.