handben
Contributor
This is my 6th dive trip out of Jupiter. We are fortunate to have parents who retired here in South Florida and can escape the wintry north for Christmas. Having in-laws who are newly certified and needing to rent gear, I decided to shop around for some deals. We were a group of 8 and needed to rent gear for 4. Scuba Works had a great deal going for weekday dives $80 for a 2 tank dive with all gear included. They also had a deal of $65 for the dives which included 2 nitrox tanks. We decided to give them a try and were very happy with their operation. We ended up going out for 4 days and were very satisfied by the helpful and cheerful service of all employees. Columbus the deckhand was most helpful schlepping our gear from the car to boat and back as well as helping don and doff our rigs. Between dives there was fresh served pineapple as well as ginger snaps and animal crackers. When a cold front hit, we were served hot Rama noodles between dives. There was plenty of cold water (bottled) as well.
The captains were laid back and seemed to enjoy their job very much. They were safety minded without being over-bearing. The dive masters seemed to change every day. They were all very experienced and good at what they do, but my favorite was Vance who happens to be the shop owners son. He has a very relaxed manner under water - take note of his zen like safety stop. He hangs by the hook of the surface marker in a near trance. Up top his enthusiasm for the local diving is infectious.
Our only issues during the week were a poor drop and redrop on one dive. I understand though that the currents were really odd that day (going east to west). We also were worried about the weather when a cold front pushed through. We wanted to back out but we were told that the conditions were fine and that the boat would be going out. The captain definitely made the right call as the sea state was just fine and we were very happy to have gone out that day. This was our last day out on the boat. When we went back to return the rental gear, Jay the shop owner graciously offered tanks for all and the rental gear free of charge for the next day so we could dive the Blue Heron Bridge. We took him up on his offer and had a great dive (2 bat fish!). We were very pleasantly surprised by the friendliness and value that we found. We will definitely dive again with scuba works.
The captains were laid back and seemed to enjoy their job very much. They were safety minded without being over-bearing. The dive masters seemed to change every day. They were all very experienced and good at what they do, but my favorite was Vance who happens to be the shop owners son. He has a very relaxed manner under water - take note of his zen like safety stop. He hangs by the hook of the surface marker in a near trance. Up top his enthusiasm for the local diving is infectious.
Our only issues during the week were a poor drop and redrop on one dive. I understand though that the currents were really odd that day (going east to west). We also were worried about the weather when a cold front pushed through. We wanted to back out but we were told that the conditions were fine and that the boat would be going out. The captain definitely made the right call as the sea state was just fine and we were very happy to have gone out that day. This was our last day out on the boat. When we went back to return the rental gear, Jay the shop owner graciously offered tanks for all and the rental gear free of charge for the next day so we could dive the Blue Heron Bridge. We took him up on his offer and had a great dive (2 bat fish!). We were very pleasantly surprised by the friendliness and value that we found. We will definitely dive again with scuba works.
