A Few trips with Silent World

[divad]

What annoys me about Silent World is they don't offer warm towels after each dive. Can you imagine?



Maybe they're pagans and are to busy being irresposible.

 

[vondo]

I think it's interesting that this thread has been bumping around for a week and a half now and only one person has appeared with a realistic beef, assuming everything said is true. That should tell people something. I doubt the same would be true of many businesses.

 

[gypsyjim]

This June we made our first trip to the Keys, staying in Key Largo and diving mostly with Silent World. The operator was definately low key, with a lot of do-it-yourself expected, which is not bad, just different from some of my experiences with dive boat operators. I found the marina portion of their operation a bit disorganised, but not overly so, and the captains and DM were friendly and helpful. I prefer to handle all of my own gear and that of my teenagers and GF. Safer that way.
Now, what really did impress me about SW was how they handled my GF's grandchildren. Nothing hands off there! 11 and 13yr olds got to do the Discover Scuba thing, and their instructor at SW was great with the kids, and helped them discover and develope a love for scuba diving. Two tanks and those kids were hooked! She was awesome with the kids, like a mother hen, and bubbling enthusiasum for the sport. I'd have to look her name up in my logbook, but I'd certainly recommend her to others.
Personally, not overly impressed with the Keys, I'd have to say. OK diving, for sure, but I'm hooked on Bonaire.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Is the OP still posting?
No towels the horror, the horror

 

[Speargirl]

What annoys me about Silent World is they don't offer warm towels after each dive. Can you imagine?


That's funny But here in the warm sunny Keys you have choices like put your towel in the sun (deck) and when you come up you have a nice hot dry towel or you could leave it in your dive bag and it be cool OR leave it in your dive bag on the floor and have a nice wet cold towel...

The Keys offers you so many choices and the beauty of it all is you get to pick how you want your day to be.

 

[thebes11]

...their instructor at SW was great with the kids, and helped them discover and develope a love for scuba diving. Two tanks and those kids were hooked! She was awesome with the kids, like a mother hen, and bubbling enthusiasum for the sport. I'd have to look her name up in my logbook, but I'd certainly recommend her to others.

Was it Deb, perhaps? She was my OW and AOW instructor when she worked up here in Jax. She's awesome. I wouldn't be the passionate diver I am today without the way she taught the classes. She also instructed my nephew's OW class when he was 16. Just fantastic. I can't wait to get down there and dive with her, now that she's at SW.

 

[gypsyjim]

Was it Deb, perhaps? She was my OW and AOW instructor when she worked up here in Jax. She's awesome. I wouldn't be the passionate diver I am today without the way she taught the classes. She also instructed my nephew's OW class when he was 16. Just fantastic. I can't wait to get down there and dive with her, now that she's at SW.

The name Deb does not ring a bell; I don't have access to my log book where I am, so I can't look it up right now, but I believe that her name was Pat. She was very good with the kids. Becky (Speargirl) hooked us up. (Thanks again Becky)

 

[deepstops]

The name Deb does not ring a bell; I don't have access to my log book where I am, so I can't look it up right now, but I believe that her name was Pat. She was very good with the kids. Becky (Speargirl) hooked us up. (Thanks again Becky)

Pat, aka Ms Paramedic here on SB.

 

[John_B]

I don't have access to my log book where I am, so I can't look it up right now, but I believe that her name was Pat. She was very good with the kids.

I've been on the shallow boat when Pat was doing OW checkout dives (including some youngsters), and that sounds exactly like her.

 

[Sinbad the Diver]

We were essentially dumped off at the sites with no reference on where to go or what to look for. It felt more like I was simply buying a taxi service from land to the sites.

QUOTE]

Everyone has their expectations and their own experiences. Two people in the same situation will often have differing views of what happened and no one's view is less important or valid than anothers, especialy to them. I was very happy with my dives with Silent World and didn't get that feeling at all (different expectations can lead to different opinions of the same event). Before every dive the Capt gave us detailed briefings of conditions, how the site laid out, what to look for, special items to keep an eye out for, etc. Maybe not what you expected, maybe the Capt had a bad day, who knows.

As for the OPs experience, it wasn't what they were looking for and I'm sure there are ops that the OP loves that I wouldn't care for. My experiences with Silent World were excellent. One of the value of a place like SB is that multiple views and opinions are espressed and if someone posts about an op not meeting certain expectations, others with those expectations become aware of it.