Dive Operator Recommendations Key Largo - April 2010

Looking for Dive Operator recommendations for Key Largo for early April 2010.

It's been years since I dove Largo, last with Ocean Divers. I'm a PADI MSDT, so no worries for me, but I'm bringing my(then 14 year old) daughter(she's JrOW certified) with me for her first ocean diving. Likely going to do her Jr AOW.

Looking for an operator who will work with me especially if we do her Jr AOW(with me as the instructor). As much as I'd love to do the SG, Duane and Bibb, that'll have to wait until I go with another older buddy. So shallow reef and wreck dives will work.

Also what kind of water temps can we expect for first week of April? Would a full 3mm suffice?

TIA

Dave Check out Silent World. We are more then happy to have you train your daughter off of our boats. Give us a call and we can chat details on it.

We have two Island Hoppers that seat twelve. Both boats run twice a day one to deep sites and one to shallow sites. Boats are crewed by Instructors not just Dive Masters.

Ask around Scuba Board you'll find a large number of people who swear by our crew and instructors. Phone number is (305) 451-3252.

If you need lodging we can take care of that as well, as we have a number of locations we have special arrangements with.

Temp wise you will be looking at high 70s by april and a 3mm should be fine.

I agree with the Silent World choice. I have not dove with them however, I have spoken with the male part of the ownership in person. The owner was very knowledgeable and nice. From talking to him, he sounds like the kind that helps people.

i dove with Scuba-Do (Tripadvisor ranked #1) and I like them. They have boat registered for 14 but limit to 10 divers. So it is not too crowded on board. Service is good. You sit on the back and they bring you your gear, help you put it on and from there it is just a step and you are in the water diving. Once done you climb on board, they help you out. You enjoy your surface interval while they change the tanks for you.

Quiescence - www.keylargodiving.com HUGE 27' six-packs. Thorough instruction, uber safety oriented, good dive sites, great crews. They go the extra mile. Rob Bleser still does it right, every time. (Was out with them a few months back. Rob was driving. Two newbies and me - I could show Jacques-Yves a thing or two. Anyway, newbies just had to see the statue. Rob says, "I'll swing over there between dives and you can snorkel it. Or SCUBA if you want." We snorkeled. Newbies were thrilled. AND understood why we just snorkeled. Smart newbies. Then Rob took us to the third, great site. No extra charge. On the way back Rob and I talked about Paul.)

Scuba Do - never had training with them but their boat is a HUGE 34'er carrying 10 max. You could swing a dead cat around your head without hitting anyone. And, like a previous poster said, you sit by the transom and they bring you your stuff and zip you up, you fall in the water.

HMS Minnow www.hmsminnow.com Jeff can get you a good instructor and chances are you'll have the boat to your twosome. He'll also take you to the best spots quickly. (Let him pick them unless you're familiar with the area.) HUGE 25' Parker and CapriSuns to boot. (Jeff has a warped sense of humor - probably not his fault; he's an ex-Army/Academy puke.) He also makes sure you have a good couple of dives.

Conch Republic Divers www.conchrepublicdivers.com in Tavernier (8.5 miles "south" of K.L.) Friendlier folks you'll never meet. Great op. Two boats; a biggun and a smallun. Nobody ever said a bad thing about them here on S.B.

My personal preference is:

HMS Minnow - Jeff is a great captain and it is possible that you will be the only ones on the boat. Choose your spot and Jeff will try and get you there. In any event, it won't be more than 6. He can hook you up with a good instructor as well.

Conch Republic - Great op & good people - used to have a great staff of instructors available and imagine that is still so. Large boat provides additional stability that is not available on smaller 6-packs - can be a factor in April

Silent World - My wife and I dove with them for the 1st time last year. Captain was great and took us to sites we wanted to dive - dives excellent sites further north that most ops in the Key Largo area do not go, carysfort, etc. - I have no experience with them concerning instructors. The only small issue I had is that for 4 days we went out with them (afternoon dives), we ended up waiting on their morning boat to get back so a diver on that boat could go with us. The morning boat was diving the Duane and the Grove so was a long haul back. We ended up waiting 1 hr past the scheduled depart time the first day and about 45 mins the other days. Again, overall I consider that a small issue given the excellent service by the captain and the great sites and suspect that it not the ordinary mode of operation for this op.

Wetsuit - In March/April, I normally wear a 5 mil with a hood. I get cold with a 3 mil.