pamawi
Contributor
We went out with Dive Locker for the first time this past Sunday and were very pleased for several reasons.
The booking process was so easy. I called Friday to ask about Sunday boats. They didn't have an in-shore boat already planned but they were willing to add one for 4 divers on their comfortable Newton dive boat. I asked if they needed my credit card over the phone or if I needed to come in Saturday to pay and they didn't seem concerned at all about the money and said I could just pay Sunday morning when I came to the shop to sign paperwork and to just let them know if anything changed if we wanted to cancel. We did go by the shop Saturday to buy a few things and paid for the dives so we could go straight to the boat Sunday morning.
We learned that they only charge $5 to use their tanks on a boat dive or $5 to fill your tanks and they will load/unload them either way (I guess they'd let you tote your own if you wanted).
I really liked the Pirate's Cove marina where they dock their boats. They had nice carts for transporting your gear from the car to the dockside and very nice clean bath rooms with granite countertops and upscale looking tile. Be sure to get the keycode because it is locked.
The Newton dive boat was very comfortable even though they did add a few more divers to the trip. The dive platform and ladders made entry and exit a breeze.
They provided cold drinks and snacks including animal crackers and other things that would have helped settle upset stomachs if we needed it. Of course the seas were so calm Sunday I doubt anyone got sick.
They asked us where we wanted to go, but no one spoke up. We went to the Black Bart and Bridge Span 14, which was fine with me since I have done the Red Sea and BS12 last month. Vis was about 30ft and there were still alot of baitfish with amberjack and mackerel picking them off. Saw lots of large barracudas and Queen Angels on BS14 and spadefish on Black Bart.
On the way back in they stopped at the jetties to look for dolphins as promised and we were treated to a dolphin who swam right up to the boat and seemed to pose for pictures. Of course, my camera battery was dead by that point. None of the other diveops I used in the panhandle have done that and it was such a nice treat.
We also really enjoyed talking to the DM Justin. We had read good things about Joe on SB and spoke to him on the phone, but Justin did a great job also. Joe said you can hire a DM as a guide for $25 per diver on a boat dive or a jetty dive. That might be a good option for people who are tentative about diving the jetties the first time.
No problem with our air fills as someone else mentioned having with Dive Locker.
The booking process was so easy. I called Friday to ask about Sunday boats. They didn't have an in-shore boat already planned but they were willing to add one for 4 divers on their comfortable Newton dive boat. I asked if they needed my credit card over the phone or if I needed to come in Saturday to pay and they didn't seem concerned at all about the money and said I could just pay Sunday morning when I came to the shop to sign paperwork and to just let them know if anything changed if we wanted to cancel. We did go by the shop Saturday to buy a few things and paid for the dives so we could go straight to the boat Sunday morning.
We learned that they only charge $5 to use their tanks on a boat dive or $5 to fill your tanks and they will load/unload them either way (I guess they'd let you tote your own if you wanted).
I really liked the Pirate's Cove marina where they dock their boats. They had nice carts for transporting your gear from the car to the dockside and very nice clean bath rooms with granite countertops and upscale looking tile. Be sure to get the keycode because it is locked.
The Newton dive boat was very comfortable even though they did add a few more divers to the trip. The dive platform and ladders made entry and exit a breeze.
They provided cold drinks and snacks including animal crackers and other things that would have helped settle upset stomachs if we needed it. Of course the seas were so calm Sunday I doubt anyone got sick.
They asked us where we wanted to go, but no one spoke up. We went to the Black Bart and Bridge Span 14, which was fine with me since I have done the Red Sea and BS12 last month. Vis was about 30ft and there were still alot of baitfish with amberjack and mackerel picking them off. Saw lots of large barracudas and Queen Angels on BS14 and spadefish on Black Bart.
On the way back in they stopped at the jetties to look for dolphins as promised and we were treated to a dolphin who swam right up to the boat and seemed to pose for pictures. Of course, my camera battery was dead by that point. None of the other diveops I used in the panhandle have done that and it was such a nice treat.
We also really enjoyed talking to the DM Justin. We had read good things about Joe on SB and spoke to him on the phone, but Justin did a great job also. Joe said you can hire a DM as a guide for $25 per diver on a boat dive or a jetty dive. That might be a good option for people who are tentative about diving the jetties the first time.
No problem with our air fills as someone else mentioned having with Dive Locker.
