colonelchuck
Contributor
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.
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.
We will visit BWD again and would give them two thumbs up!
