Just for anyone who may be interested, I have gone out with Looe Key Dive Resort twice for their three-tank Looe Key trip.
(Just a note: The first time I went as a diver (2010); the second time (2011) I went as a snorkeler because I was not on a dive trip overall. I tried to go one other time as a diver in 2010 but the trip was cancelled due to weather. I did find out that other ops went out from Marathon (not to Looe Key though). I don't know if that's because Looe Key would have been rougher, or because Looe Key's boat is more catamaran/pontooney.)
Things I liked about it:
- I love Looe Key. It's a really nice spur-and-groove type reef with lots of relief. I think it's my favorite (or one of my favorites) Keys reef.
- I like being able to do three dives all in a row. Two never seems like enough; four can sometimes seem a bit long because Keys boats typically head back in, disembark/embark, then go back out, and so the day can get long (not that the four dives themselves are necessarily too much
). The dives are shallow so it works out, and the day is not much longer than a two-tank trip.
- I'm not a morning person, and they go out a touch later and yet it's still a morning dive.
- I love Looe Key
Things I am (personally) a bit more ho-hum on:
- It's a large-group boat, lots of snorkelers/one-timers, and you literally are a number (they give you one to wear).
- Office staff seems a bit indifferent (but they are dealing with mobs, so understood; the people on the boat are very personable).
- There's a bit more "song and dance" than on a typical dive boat, with the crew entertaining the passengers, music playing, the crew making/selling hot dogs much of the day (although if you are a diver you'll be scrambling just to get your tanks switched over between dives as they just move to a different ball in between). Much is made of the Tiki Bar and there's lots of drinking talk, etc. I don't mean that it's horrible (and the group on the boat all seem happy); it's just that it's not what I seek out. (And I have brought my own snacks and water which they don't mind.) I basically go because it's three tanks on Looe Key.
- This actually doesn't bother me, but just FYI, it's a bit "taller" of a giant stride into the water than on other boats I've been on in the Keys (I'm sure it's nothing compared to some though; just something to know).
- I had a few leaky o-rings and one leaky valve before I got three "good" tanks for the day. They replaced them cheerfully, so it was no big deal, but you might want to check them before you leave the dock.
Blue Sparkle
