Diving the Keys on a budget

[DebbyDiver]

Well not to toot my own horn but I guess I will:blinking: for $125 a night you get a 2/2 fully furnished in a very nice Yacht Club in Key Largo. The kitchen is fully furnished so all you have to do is go buy some food. Which is always cheaper than going out to fast food places. By a box of cereal some milk (Breakfast) lunch meat for sandwiches some chips and soda and some waters. For dinner heck cook out on the grill. Now that's a low cost vacation. Just wanted to toot my horn
Becky

Hey Becky, I'll toot your horn...Kawama at $125 a night is the best deal around, it's a beautiful place with marina, beach, and pool; the condos are much more spacious than a hotel room (they are regular-sized residential condos and you can sleep four SUPER SUPER comfortable and privately in two bedrooms, and you can sleep eight comfortably if they will shut up and go to bed already ). When my partner and I go, we make and eat all our meals there. Becky is right, all you need to bring is your food and beverage. Hey, where would you rather spend your money...in a restaurant or in a dive shop? Don't get me wrong, we love the eateries down there but I'm on a budget. You don't even have to factor the cost of food into your vacation budget...you have to eat, right, and you'd eat if you were home too.

 

[deepstops]

At $125 a night, Kawama might be a bargain for what you're getting, especially with the ability to have four or six or even eight people in the room splitting the cost but for the OP and his son, the Hungry Pelican is probably a better deal for him.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Does Hungry Pelican have kitchen facilities? The money we saved by cooking our own food more than made up for the extra cost of Kawama, even though we just had the condo for the two of us. On the other hand if they are living on granola bars and cokes out of a cooler, HP could be cheaper.

 

[motorcitydiver]

I see i'm on page three of this post so who knows if you'll ever read this but I'll take the chance anyway. Here it goes....

I live in Michigan and travel to the Keys a couple of times a year. The diving is pretty good but as far as finding a great deal good luck. Lodging can be pricey and with the price of gas the dive ops are charging more now. If you decide to dive the Keys I would use Conch Republic Divers. They come highly recommended by me and many others.

Now that being said I took a long weekend a few weeks ago and went to Fort Lauderdale. Actually it was Pompano Beach about 10 miles N/O Fort Lauderdale. I dived (dove?) with South Florida Diving Headquarters and had a great time. The wrecks were very good and the reefs were really healthy. The reef diving was all drift which makes diving that much easier. No need to look at a compass, you just jump in, dive, and surface and the boat picks you up.

I stayed at a place called the Stratford House which was just down the street from the dive shop. This place was very clean and $59 a night. The rooms are actually apartments with kitchens, dinettes, etc. They have a pool and the rooms all face the inlet that takes you out to the Ocean. The charge for diving was $78 for a two tank dive. I had all of my gear except for tanks and weights and I was diving Nitrox. The Nitrox charge alone was about $10-$12 more per trip.

Anyway have fun. You can't go wrong at either place (unless you pick the wrong dive op)

 

[deepstops]

Does Hungry Pelican have kitchen facilities? The money we saved by cooking our own food more than made up for the extra cost of Kawama, even though we just had the condo for the two of us. On the other hand if they are living on granola bars and cokes out of a cooler, HP could be cheaper.

Men cooking?? Too funny

Besides, who wants to cook while on vacation?

 

[DebbyDiver]

Let's see, cereal for breakfast, just like every other day of my life...

...sandwiches for lunch, just like every other day of my life...

...fruit, yogurt, salads, etc. for snacks...

...burgers on the grill (provided on your balcony) for dinner...or spaghetti, we did that and it was easy peasy.

yup, this divorced gal on a budget might prefer eating in restaurants...but I really can't afford to go to the Keys, dive, AND eat out so...well let's face it, that is not really a lot of cooking.

p.s. Maybe I DON'T prefer it...go to Keys restaurants to eat...wait for an hour to be seated...mediocre service, even at the best places (because they are so darn busy), it's too noisy to talk with your table mates, mistakes on your order, pricey drink tabs, possibility of screaming kids running around wild, and it takes about three hours out of your day...yup, we loved eating in the condo which left us lots of free time for other activities. And lots of spare cash for buying some toys like more dive gear and stuff for our kayaks.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Men cooking?? Too funny

Maybe not so funny, I really don't know how to cook and my ex-husbands took care of it...they liked cooking and so do lots and lots of other guys I know. I guess I've always known the right guys...at least where meals were concerned. :blinking:

 

[deepstops]

Maybe not so funny, I really don't know how to cook and my ex-husbands took care of it...they liked cooking and so do lots and lots of other guys I know. I guess I've always known the right guys...at least where meals were concerned. :blinking:

Outside of Rachel Ray, the most publicly known chefs in the world are for the most part MEN. In fact I love to cook and I'm pretty good at it if I do say so myself. But I definitely eat out when I'm vacation.

ps. You need some more variety in your diet

 

[DebbyDiver]

Must be nice to be so rich...Jay and I are divorced (clarification: not from each other, ha!) and both kept our really expen$ive-to-keep-up homes...which, of course, we have no chance of selling at a reasonable price...we manage to have a rich, full vacation life by cutting corners where it doesn't count. I'd rather spend three days in the Keys and eat the food I love anyway than not be able to go because I can't afford accomodations, diving, and restaurants. We take lots of trips and we eat very cheaply (and healthy) to afford the trips. Lots of divers on a close budget here, I guess you are just one of the lucky ones who can afford it all.

ps. You need some more variety in your diet

No I don't...Jay and I are both really, really, really fussy eaters and we are very happy with what we eat. :blinking:

 

[deepstops]

I guess you are just one of the lucky ones who can afford it all.

I married well, I guess she liked my cooking