BlueWater Divers - Key Largo

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colonelchuck

Contributor
Messages
168
Reaction score
0
Location
Portland, OR
# of dives
100 - 199
Reviews of places you just dived are always suspect. Most seem to have been posted by folks who have developed "Stockholm syndrome" (in which hostages begin to identify with their captors) or folks who are so mad that they can say nothing good. I sent the review below to Undercurrent, but provide it here, since those reviews are not available to all scubaboarders.



Blue Water Divers (BWD) is a two man operation which runs out of its berthing area at the Key Largo Marina next to the Holiday Inn. The “office” is a kiosk at parking lot level and can be found easily by its sign and proximity to the “African Queen” display.

Web savvy divers are well served by making contact with Brent Hilliard by email (keylargobrent@hotmail.com) or the phone numbers listed on their web page (http://www.bluewaterdiver.net/). We set up our trip and Nitrox instruction via email in advance and everything turned out exactly as promised.

BWD set up our accommodations at the Marina Del Mar which were provided at the agreed upon good price and proved to be exactly as advertised. Proximity to BWD’s boat was a plus, meaning that we didn’t have to drive to diving, but could get breakfast and walk to the boat conveniently.

The Diving: Because groups are small (nor more than 10 and more frequently 4-6 folks) where you go and what you dive can be both flexible and interesting. We dove with two other divers and were able to agree on where to go and what kind of dives we wanted very easily. Brent Hilliard dove with us, not as a divemaster, but as a fellow diver which made for great diving. Folks who have dived Key Largo before will find that a pleasant contrast with the general site brief, throw you off the boat, style practiced by some of the large operators. Brent’s site briefs were detailed and provided plenty of information for you to plan your dive. We met him on a couple of the wrecks we dove and he was able to point out interesting features (a pair of 7 foot Bull Sharks) on the fly. We came away from 3 days of diving with a very positive experience. We dove Spiegel Grove twice, Duane twice and Bibb.

My son and I wanted to qualify and dive Nitrox. We set up instruction in advance and were greeted on the first morning by an excellent instructor. After passing the required exam, we went down to Ocean Divers to pick up our tanks. The instructor walked us through testing and documenting our tanks. We rented our tanks and moved them to the boat. As the week progressed and all of us on the boat wanted to dive Nitrox, BWD made arrangements for us to pick up tanks at the Ocean Divers dock on the way out rather than having to get them on our own. That provided for cost savings and convenient access to Nitrox.

The Boat: BlueWater Diver is a Coast Guard inspected thirty foot custom open transom dive vessel. We found it comfortable and fast. The porta-pot is probably best saved for emergencies since some rigging is required. Electronics appear up to date and the boat briefing is well done. Captain Glen Marvel gets you to the dive site quickly and skillfully. Folks from the Pacific Northwest are sometimes surprised to find out that not every location is non-smoking. On BlueWater Diver, the Captain smoked on the boat as did other divers. It was not a big problem, but was certainly not what we were used to.

Summary: Good operator, dive where you want to dive, Highly Recommended.
 
Chuck Nice trip report-I may have to check them out this year,
Man that smoking thing on the west coast is a hoot!I dont smoke but did do a trip out State of Washington were my sister lives , with two smokers and by the time we were back I think they quit!
Brad
 
Perfect. I have a group of 7 or 8 going with them next Fri and Sat to the Grove, also staying at same motel. We'll also be getting Nitrox at OD.
 
Yep, I dove with them several times this summer. I would recommend them to anyone heading for the Key's. Brent and Glenn are great guys to deal with. Last time Brent made my room reservations at the Marina Del Mar and saved me money. They arranged me a guide on several deep wreck dives named Sally. This is one of the best smaller dive ops in the Key's. Communication is great both with email and telephone.

Tim
Fort Myers Beach, FL
 
Trwmodela:
Yep, I dove with them several times this summer. I would recommend them to anyone heading for the Key's. Brent and Glenn are great guys to deal with. Last time Brent made my room reservations at the Marina Del Mar and saved me money. They arranged me a guide on several deep wreck dives named Sally. This is one of the best smaller dive ops in the Key's. Communication is great both with email and telephone.

Tim
Fort Myers Beach, FL

Sally was the Nitrox instructor mentioned in my original review. She did well.
 
As one of the aforementioned divers from the above trip, I can verify Chuck's review. We had a great time diving with BWD and found them to be very flexible and had a great time. The last afternoon and morning dive there were just 2 of us diving. Wow a private charter so to speak. We also did some spearfishing and lobstering and had a great dinner preparred locally. Lastly, I didnt mind at all that Chuck and his son did not smoke. :) We will visit BWD again and would give them two thumbs up!
 
ReefHound:
Perfect. I have a group of 7 or 8 going with them next Fri and Sat to the Grove, also staying at same motel. We'll also be getting Nitrox at OD.

To follow up, our club CHUM turned out 9 divers and had a great time. Everyone so far has given the trip an "A" and a big part of that is due to the expertise, friendliness, and cooperation of Brent and Capt. Marvel. We were pretty much allowed to set our own dive plan and they patiently waited for us to eat lunch between trips. Thanks and kudos.

We were diving all Nitrox which added to the logistics but BWD arranged for our tanks to be ready at OD and we loaded/unloaded the boat at that location. We chartered the boat for Fri and Sat, both morning and afternoon. Put down 8 dives in 2 days, including 4 on the Grove and 2 on the Duane.

I wrote a trip report on our board and you can see followup and photos from others that attended. Some are still trickling back so more photos and comments will be added.

Also thanks to all the members of this board that helped over the last few months in our planning.
 
colonelchuck:
On BlueWater Diver, the Captain smoked on the boat as did other divers. It was not a big problem, but was certainly not what we were used to.

This drives me crazy. I went out with Rainbow Reef one time and 1/2 the people on the boat were smoking. Sure wish the no smoking laws were extended to boats. I realize I may get flamed by the smokers on the board but it sucks for us non-smokers.

Alex
 
SoCalOffshore:
As one of the aforementioned divers from the above trip, I can verify Chuck's review. We had a great time diving with BWD and found them to be very flexible and had a great time. The last afternoon and morning dive there were just 2 of us diving. Wow a private charter so to speak. We also did some spearfishing and lobstering and had a great dinner preparred locally. Lastly, I didnt mind at all that Chuck and his son did not smoke. :) We will visit BWD again and would give them two thumbs up!

Jordi's consideration in allowing us not to smoke was really appreciated. Like I said, it was no big deal. I would dive with BWD again in a heartbeat! I would even dive with Jordi again.
 
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