Key West/Lower Keys suggestions

[sharky60]

hey all,

my wife and I are looking into going to Key West/Lower Keys area in late April.
I need suggestions for Dive ops and sites, should we dive Key West or Looe Key Parks?
I'll take both pros and cons on dive ops and sites.

I'd also like suggestions of places to stay, I'd like to go buget mined so to speak, clean and safe but nothing fancy will do. either a hotel with at least a fridge and maybe micowave or a kitchenette, or a one bedroom condo. we plan on spending time in Key West in the afternoon and evenings after diving so something in KW or not too far out of town.

The third delima is weather any dive ops do day trips to the Dry Tortugas, I know it's 70 miles out, and all's I've found on the internet is live a boards or day snorkel trips.

any other info would be greatly appreciated as we've only been down there once and only for a short day trip with no diving, just a visit to Mallory Square and Margaritaville, great calamari by the way!!!

thankx so much
marc

[MSilvia]

Since free camping is available on Wisteria Island for a 5$ water taxi trip, I've never bothered to get a room when in Key West. It sounds like you want something a little bit more finished than that though.

[moneysavr]

[QUOTE=sharky60]hey all,

my wife and I are looking into going to Key West/Lower Keys area in late April.
I need suggestions for Dive ops and sites, should we dive Key West or Looe Key Parks?
I'll take both pros and cons on dive ops and sites.

Stay North young man! Prices are much less, food,fuel,ect,. We stay in or near Tavernier, one pick is TropicVista dive resort,
www.tropicvistadiveresort.com
web site is same name, Jeri has an older hotel with stove and frige,heated pool restaraunt on site,new dive boat sweet!price not bad even less in April,If the boat dose not fill they will get you a dive boat next door same rate. A motel the wife and kids love is the Dunns, "Ocean view"& sports pub,
www.theocean-view.com
just down the road totaly new rooms and pool on gulf side, with bar and food nice rooms all tile and frige and micro,he is a retired NFL player,Place rocks at night with the locals!
Dive sites Duane,Bib,Grove,heck they are all north keys dive sites-just do west as a day trip!

[Bob3]

Big Pine area is within a half-hour drive (on a good day) & there are trips to Looe Key from there. Little Torch has some hotels going, the one on Big Pine is a tad "iffy"
There's also a campground (Fish Camp) at the east end, have showers, etc.
Little Torch & Ramrod Keys are both good places to run out of.
http://www.fla-keys.com/lowerkeys/index.htm

[100days-a-year]

Looe Key likely will have better vis and more life.Downside is that it is often so crowded we call it "Waterworld" as it looks like a floating conglomeration of vessels similar to the one in that movie.For a pricey but spectacular dinner try Latitudes on Sunset Key(booked at the Hilton on Mallory Square)for a sunset seating.A classier joint does not exist in the Keys and the food is awesome.

[BILLB]

Looe Key Dive Resort is OK. About the nicest for the least amount of money (this is relative).
www.diveflakeys.com/

They dive Looe Key and the Busch.

The best little dive boat is Capt. Jim Wyatt:

www.reef-divers.com/

Go to Marathon and dive the Thunderbolt with Capt. Hook:

www.captainhooks.com/

A little out of the way shop on Sunshine Key and friends of mine will take you to all three sites:
http://www.paradivers.com/

There are no decent dive sites in Key West. Well, the exception is the Cayman Salver but most shops do not go there. There is one shop who dives the Cayman and also does the Atoucha dive (for a King's ransome):

www.captainscorner.com/

Expect to pay $100's per day for any decent hotel in the lower keys.

[sharky60]

ok, here's another thought...is the diving up at Largo at Pennicamp Park better than in the lower keys? a buddy of mine really likes Marathon also. nothing has been decided at this point so we're pretty flexable.

[Desa]

ok, here's another thought...is the diving up at Largo at Pennicamp Park better than in the lower keys? a buddy of mine really likes Marathon also. nothing has been decided at this point so we're pretty flexable.

I liked the diving arround Key Largo much better than Key West. But then in all fairness, I left here with the intentions/expectations of diving the Spiegle Grove. After diving it every thing else was just another cool dive.

There is some great drift diving arround Fort Lauderdale if you go back on the mainland. Just my 2 cents worth

[lowedaph]

You may want to let the main focus of your vacation dictate where to stay. If your idea of a vacation has lots of night life activities, fine dining, walks along the waterfront, and some diving thrown in, Key West (or accommodations in the Lower Keys) is the best choice. If your idea of vacation is dive, eat, dive, sleep, dive then Key Largo (or the Upper Keys) is the place to be. If you want to dive on some days and daytrip on other days doing the typical sightseeing and shopping (i.e. be chic in SoBe, airboat gatoring in the Everglades, hangout in the Grove, catch one of the innumerable festivals in Key West) then Key Largo's central location means anything on the mainland or in the Keys is within two hour drive. There's no advantage to being based in Marathon unless there's something you want to do there specifically.

The diving operations at Pennekamp are run by concession (private op) not the park. I see no reason to choose them over the ops recommended on this board. The only accommodations offered at Pennekamp is camping. If that's what you want, you need to book immediately. Right now its full through Mar or Apr (I forget the exact date).

Have fun planning your trip!

Daphne