I just got back from the Keys and was very happy with Rainbow Reef. I chose them because they put a guide in the water at no extra charge, publish a schedule, have a shallow and deep boat and because of the convenience to my hotel (Holiday Inn) and several others. I had wonderful dives Monday. The water was warm (no wetsuit needed) and shallow (20-40ft), the vis was great and the seas were calm. Saw 6 spotted eagle rays swimming in formation, nurse shark swimming along the reef (not just lying on the bottom), reef shark, big green moray eel, lots of big groupers, trumpetfish, honeycomb cowfish and lots of colorful tropical fish and healthy coral. We saw lots of stuff on the dives Tuesday but a tropical weather system had the water stirred up. The waves were rough but the current and surge were really tough. It didn't get better the rest of the week so we drove on to Key West and did the sunset party at Mallory Square and left a day early to do the Everglades on the way home. I buddied up with Suzette (on Scubaboard) who is a local always looking for dive buddy and her husband Alan is a DM at RR and local musician. She even offered to take me kayaking through the mangroves, which I wish I had taken her up on, but I was concerned about the rough water and current.
The folks at Rainbow Reef were very friendly and made me feel very welcome. They put the tanks on the boat and change out the tanks between dives and remove the bc's from the tanks after the dives (unless you want to that yourself). You can stick with the guide or do your own thing. When the first person runs low on air, the guide circles back to the boat so the people low on air can go on up, but the others can stay down as long as they want. I've heard people say that RR runs a cattle boat. I suppose it can get more crowded on a weekend, but we only had 6 on a boat that is built for about 24 on Monday and 12 on Tuesday afternoon. The Tuesday morning boat didn't make, but they arranged for us to go out with nearby Horizon Divers instead. I decided to wait until the afternoon boat. They didn't even take my money for the first dive. They said just wait to see how much I dove that week and I could pay them at the end of the week. If I had done 3 days or 5 days of diving, there would have been additional discounts. You can dive with their other boats in Islamadora as part of a multiday package. The hotels do give coupon books with a 10% discount for Rainbow reef along with several other businesses at that marina.
The Holiday Inn was quite nice. Great pool area with palm trees, tiki torches, tiki bar and hot tub with very powerful jets, good restaurant, comfortable beds. Ramada is closest to RR, but Holiday Inn is also very close. I parked my car near RR and walked around the marina to/from Holiday Inn so I wouldn't have to carry my gear far. They all share a parking lot at the marina.
