Key Largo trip report - detailed

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csaba

Registered
Scuba Instructor
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania, PA USA
# of dives
200 - 499
After completing our PADI OW certification at Dutch Springs, my 15 year old daughter Niki and I planned our first dive trip to Key Largo. Follow in is the blow-by-blow details of our trip …. If you don’t care, juts stop reading now!

Reservations made with Cristal Clear Charters; the original plan was to stay in the Tropic Vista Inn and dive with Upper Keys Dive center, but two weeks before the trip CCC gave us the option to go with a small boat (6 dives max) or a big boat 20+ divers. We choose to go with the small boat and we were scheduled to dive several days alone.

Tropic Vista as a motel was cheap and I don’t just mean in-expensive, you get what you pay for … but the air conditioning worked and the room was pretty clean and the shower strong and we were OK with that.

The dive shop we ended up diving with was Dive In by mile marker 97.5 and captain Pete did everything he could to make our trip a success. We did a two tank morning dives for 4 days and one night dive, for a package price of 55.00 a trip it was a great deal. Rental gear for Niki was brand new SeaQuest BC and AquaLung regulators, both were comfortable and worked great for her; I used my own gear.

All together we did 9 dives in shallow waters and enjoyed the marine life surrounding us. We have become more comfortable divers along the way and learned a few lessons in diving and handling equipment. Here are the daily details:

Day 1 (7/2/07)

Pickle Barrel Reef

16 ft 47 min 50-55 vis calm air 95 water 85

A very nice first dive, just dropped in got comfortable, get buoyancy under control and looked around. We found lots of fish and very nice healthy coral.

Pillar Coral Reef

28ft 47 min 50-55 vis calm air 95 water 85

Captain told us about an eel that lives in the reef, but we didn’t find it. There were a lot of healthy coral and lots of variety of fish.

Day 2 (7/3/07)

Snapper’s Ledge Reef

25 ft 1 hr 55-60 vis calm air 95 water 85

I didn’t think that there could be this many fish in one spot …. a remarkable dive, I will remember this for a long time. We swam through schools of yellowtail snappers and many other species of fish. The sand channels were nice and pretty deep. We saw a sting ray about 4 feet wide sleeping in the sand.

I didn’t tight down my tank after switching tanks and the tank fell over – busted my regulator hose (but not my foot) a 30 dollar mistake I will never do again. And if I was not told about this a dozen times in class … should of known better!

Molasses Reef

30 tf 45 min 55-60 vis calm air 95 water 85

Molasses is one of the most popular reefs in Key Largo, lots of fish and boats and snorkels. We were not alone on this dive, but there was room for everybody, fish and people alike.


Day 3 (7/4/07)

City of Washington

25 ft 38 min 50-55 vis light current air 95 water 85

This was the most remarkable dive. As we dropped in a 5-foot barracuda greeted us at the boat, at times coming so close we could touch it. Followed us through the wreck into the current. It was like the guard of the wreck. We also saw 3 5-6 foot nurse sharks; they didn’t want to have anything to do with us.

North North Dry Rocks

25 ft 50 min 45-50 vis calm air 95 water 85

This was captain Pete’s secret spot, where only the locals used to dive … “This is what Key Largo used to be like” said the captain. Very nice, healthy corral and deep sand channels make up this reef. We saw angelfish, puffer fish, parrotfish, a few barracudas, lobsters and a lot more.


Day 4 (7/5/07)

Benwood (wreck)

35 ft 42 min 35-40 vis calm air 95 water 85

This was our first wreck dive, captain said, “You can’t get lost, just stay on the wreck” It was amazing to see how nature can convert an old ship into a reef. It was alive with corrals and fish. We saw the prettiest little spotted eel and a big conch and a ton of parrotfish. Later at night we learned that they use the wreck as a hotel and come there to sleep.

Molasses Reef (north)

33 ft 45 min 55-60 vis calm air 95 water 85

For our second dive the current picked up in most dive sites and visibility was bad, so the only thing left for us was Molasses reef. Again this was busy with snorkels and divers, but it’s such a pretty reef you can’t go wrong there; a ton of fish everywhere you can just stay in one spot and look around for an hour.

Benwood (wreck – night)

36 ft 54 min 35-40 vis calm air 85 water 85

This was our final dive – a dive at night – our first night dive. We dropped in just before sunset at 8:10 PM and stayed down for almost an hour. As the sun was setting and got darker under water, the bigger the parrotfish got some as big as 4 ft long. They came to sleep in the wreck. We also spotted a jewfish that must have weighs 100lbs +. The lobsters got out and we could see them everywhere and we found the same spotted eel we saw in the morning. It was a remarkable dive.

This was a great vacation we will not soon forget! I have put some picktures into my album if interested.

Csaba
 
Sounds like you had a great time!
Dive In is an excellent operation- they are a REEF field station and I dove with them a few times when I was in the Keys. Top-notch people.
Glad you had fun!! I will def. check out the pics.
 
DiveDiva_Ashley:
Sounds like you had a great time!
Dive In is an excellent operation- they are a REEF field station and I dove with them a few times when I was in the Keys. Top-notch people.
Glad you had fun!! I will def. check out the pics.
Do these guys have a website at all?

ETA: I found it with Google... http://www.cristalclearwatersports.com/
 
Thanks for the report. I've been on all of these sites and they are great dives. I'm happy you had such a great time.
 
Csaba, I'm a 20 year old college scuba diver that needs to be adopted. Can I fax you the paperwork, lol? Crype, I wish someone in my family had the same interests as I do. As I said before in another forum about someone's daughter diving, it's a great thing you're doing. Congrats on your certifications! And that trip sounded like a blast!
 
Nice report! Thanks for posting!
 
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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