mastakebob
Registered
Trip report for me and my buddy's trip down to West Palm Beach, Key Largo, and Key West from 3 March through 8 March 2010.
3 March 2010, Wednesday:
Arrived West Palm Beach early afternoon. Picked up rental tanks from Pura Vida on Singer Island. ~$8/tank. Another few bucks for weights. Plus, got some good advice on local spots. Swung by Force-E on our way back to our lodging to get my buddy's spearguns set up. Pick up some additional gear that we forgot (weight belts, dive light).
4 March 2010, Thursday:
Did a coastal dive in by the Lake Worth inlet at high tide. Saw 2 hawksbill turtles and a bunch of sleeping nurse sharks, plus a bunch of fish.
5 March 2010, Friday:
Drove down to Key Largo for what was supposed to be a double-dip on the Spiegel Grove with Silent World Dive Center. There was a miscommunication somewhere within Silent World and we got put on a boat with a student. So we did one Spiegel Grove and one French Reef dive. Needless to say, my buddy and I were kind of upset about this change in plans. But Silent World made it right (more on this later). Spiegel Grove had ~20' vis, which is apparently pretty poor. Coming from Jersey, it looked pretty great to me. French Reef was a reef. 20-30'. Some cool swim throughs and photo ops, but nothing really wow'ed me. Finished the day by driving down to Key West and camping at Boyd's Campground.
6 March 2010, Saturday:
Was scheduled for a morning dive on the Vandenburg in Key West with Lost Reef Adventures, but Lost Reef called us the night before to cancel the dive due to 0 vis. We rescheduled the dive for the next morning (hopefully) and went for a spearfishing free dive under a bridge a few miles up US1 instead. Water was noticeably colder in Key West than Key Largo and Palm Beach.
7 March 2010, Sunday:
Lost Reef cancelled Vandenburg again cause of bad vis, offered to do it in the afternoon if the vis is better. We declined and started driving north to get on an afternoon boat up north. Decided to try Silent World again because we were hoping to get some free Nitrox outta Friday's schedule fiasco. Silent World's owner (Chris, I think?) came through with flying colors and made things VERY right. Did way more than we were hoping for to compensate us for the botched Friday. Can't recommend him and Silent World enough. Did a double-dip on the Duane. Best dive of the trip. Huge puffer. Didn't see the Goliath Groupers, unfortunately. Also saw a Lionfish up on the left side of the bow. Pic'd it and reported it to reef.org the next day. Finished the day by driving back to West Palm Beach.
8 March 2010, Monday:
Free dive at Blue Heron Bridge. Was very disappointed. Vis was pretty bad. Maybe 10' if you're generous. Also quite crowded. Even on a monday afternoon. And really didn't see much life. Guess it was an off day. Flew home in the evening.
Avg air temp: Mid-60s. Kind of chilly, little disappointing but whatayagonnado? Got really nice on the monday we flew out (figures).
Avg water temp: mid-60's. I was fine in a 3/2 full with boots, gloves, and hood. Didn't really get cold till the end of the second dive. My buddy was hurting in a 1.5 skin with boots and gloves. Got a little better once he added a hood to his outfit.
Moral of the story: Dunno, woulda been nice to get the Vandenburg in, but I heard that the Duane and Spiegel are better anyway. Also, if you're in Key Largo, dive Silent World. They got their stuff together, and if they do screw up, they'll make it right.
3 March 2010, Wednesday:
Arrived West Palm Beach early afternoon. Picked up rental tanks from Pura Vida on Singer Island. ~$8/tank. Another few bucks for weights. Plus, got some good advice on local spots. Swung by Force-E on our way back to our lodging to get my buddy's spearguns set up. Pick up some additional gear that we forgot (weight belts, dive light).
4 March 2010, Thursday:
Did a coastal dive in by the Lake Worth inlet at high tide. Saw 2 hawksbill turtles and a bunch of sleeping nurse sharks, plus a bunch of fish.
5 March 2010, Friday:
Drove down to Key Largo for what was supposed to be a double-dip on the Spiegel Grove with Silent World Dive Center. There was a miscommunication somewhere within Silent World and we got put on a boat with a student. So we did one Spiegel Grove and one French Reef dive. Needless to say, my buddy and I were kind of upset about this change in plans. But Silent World made it right (more on this later). Spiegel Grove had ~20' vis, which is apparently pretty poor. Coming from Jersey, it looked pretty great to me. French Reef was a reef. 20-30'. Some cool swim throughs and photo ops, but nothing really wow'ed me. Finished the day by driving down to Key West and camping at Boyd's Campground.
6 March 2010, Saturday:
Was scheduled for a morning dive on the Vandenburg in Key West with Lost Reef Adventures, but Lost Reef called us the night before to cancel the dive due to 0 vis. We rescheduled the dive for the next morning (hopefully) and went for a spearfishing free dive under a bridge a few miles up US1 instead. Water was noticeably colder in Key West than Key Largo and Palm Beach.
7 March 2010, Sunday:
Lost Reef cancelled Vandenburg again cause of bad vis, offered to do it in the afternoon if the vis is better. We declined and started driving north to get on an afternoon boat up north. Decided to try Silent World again because we were hoping to get some free Nitrox outta Friday's schedule fiasco. Silent World's owner (Chris, I think?) came through with flying colors and made things VERY right. Did way more than we were hoping for to compensate us for the botched Friday. Can't recommend him and Silent World enough. Did a double-dip on the Duane. Best dive of the trip. Huge puffer. Didn't see the Goliath Groupers, unfortunately. Also saw a Lionfish up on the left side of the bow. Pic'd it and reported it to reef.org the next day. Finished the day by driving back to West Palm Beach.
8 March 2010, Monday:
Free dive at Blue Heron Bridge. Was very disappointed. Vis was pretty bad. Maybe 10' if you're generous. Also quite crowded. Even on a monday afternoon. And really didn't see much life. Guess it was an off day. Flew home in the evening.
Avg air temp: Mid-60s. Kind of chilly, little disappointing but whatayagonnado? Got really nice on the monday we flew out (figures).
Avg water temp: mid-60's. I was fine in a 3/2 full with boots, gloves, and hood. Didn't really get cold till the end of the second dive. My buddy was hurting in a 1.5 skin with boots and gloves. Got a little better once he added a hood to his outfit.
Moral of the story: Dunno, woulda been nice to get the Vandenburg in, but I heard that the Duane and Spiegel are better anyway. Also, if you're in Key Largo, dive Silent World. They got their stuff together, and if they do screw up, they'll make it right.
