Key Largo Deep Wreck dive questions

[SharkEsq]

Hi - from reading threads here (and a few prior trips), I'm looking at RainbowReef and HorizonDivers for a short trip in a few weeks. I've enjoyed the Duane and Spiegel Grove on prior trips, though I've never done a double dip to one of them. So a couple of Qs' - does a double dip turn out to be not-so-great due to limited depth time on the second dive? And does flipping the order and doing a deep wreck in the afternoon (like Horizon offers) result in limited bottom time due to residual nitrogen from morning reef dives? Or has that mostly off-gassed by the time the afternoon dives start? I'd be diving nitrox, for what it's worth...

 

[Manatee Diver]

Depends how much do you want to dive the Benwood? Would you rather have a 45 minute dive on a site like that or a second 15-20 minute long dive on the SG or Duane?

Your afternoon first dive will be reduced quite a bit if the first was a double dip. So I would go shallow for one of the trips each day, if you are doing two trips.

 

[SharkEsq]

Yeah - I wouldn't try to do two deep wreck dive trips in one day. Just a question of whether doing it in the afternoon is a dumb idea. And, not having done a double-dip, just curious if the 2nd dive is really short. Not so interested in the Benwood - done it before and am more interested in the deeper/bigger wrecks. My experience on some of the shallow reef dives has been that they are indeed shallow enough that I could imagine it not having much of an effect on a subsequent deep dive, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Manatee Diver]

The second dive can be short, it depends on the computer on what the depths were. I did a double dip where I stayed "shallow" on both dives and got a 45 minute dive on both. I've done double dips where I went deep on the first dive, and poked down on the second which resulted in 30 minutes and 15 minutes.

And while doing a shallow trip first can affect NDL it probably won't be much. I personally would do the deep first, as then you have the option of just not going shallow trip at all. Personally I rarely do more than a half day of diving.

 

[SharkEsq]

The second dive can be short, it depends on the computer on what the depths were. I did a double dip where I stayed "shallow" on both dives and got a 45 minute dive on both. I've done double dips where I went deep on the first dive, and poked down on the second which resulted in 30 minutes and 15 minutes.

And while doing a shallow trip first can affect NDL it probably won't be much. I personally would do the deep first, as then you have the option of just not going shallow trip at all. Personally I rarely do more than a half day of diving.

As I'll only be there for 2 days, I want to get in as much diving as I can. But thanks for the info!