Russoft
Contributor
I hope this accounting of our experience will help others who are vacationing and diving down in the Florida Keys for the first time.
Six of us (myself, wife, 9 mo daughter, sister, brother in law, and 13 mo nephew) flew into Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International, rented a van, and hauled down to an AirBNB we rented in Tavernier for 10 days.
Our group had a total of 3 checked bags, a handful of carry-on bags, and two strollers. If my wife and I had brought all our dive gear, we would not have fit that extra bag into the minivan. We stopped at Cancun Grill (somewhere in Miami) on our way down and the food was excellent.
Fearing a lack of affordable groceries at our destination, we loaded up at the Walmart in Florida City.
We took the next day off to recover from the trip. Both babies (and all parents) were exhausted and irritable from the trip. We discovered a Winn Dixie located 5 minutes away with affordable groceries (we didn't know this was a grocery store initially). I wish we'd have known this ahead of time so we wouldn't have wasted time grocery shopping on the night we arrived.
The next day, my wife and I began our AOW and Nitrox courses. I won't discuss the course in detail, but focus on the dives themselves. We dived through Florida Keys Dive Center.
On day one we did a 2-tank morning boat trip. We dived shallow reefs in the 25 - 35 ft range which were called Runway and Sledge. There was no current or surge and excellent visibility (100 ft?). Ocean was calm. Water was almost bath water at 86 F / 30 C. No exposure suit was necessary nor needed. This is my kind of diving. Lots of fish, lively coral, and calm, clear, and warm water.
The following afternoon we did a double dip on the USCG Duane. We were diving on 30% Nitrox (which is apparently the only blend FKDC banks). It was the most exhilarating and by far the most advanced dive I've ever been on. While I've been deep before with multiple cowboy DMs in 3rd world countries, this dive stands out as unique because of the ripping current we had to fight. I was very glad for the SMB and finger spool located in my BCD pocket. I bought them before this trip and as I fought this very swift current, I was glad I had the right gear in case I lost the line. We were lent gloves to protect our hands against barnacles, fish hooks, and fire coral on the mooring line to which we clutched. We pulled ourselves down to the wreck. The descent to 106 ft took 4 minutes. This time excludes the time it took to work our way from the tag line to the granny line and around the boat to the mooring line. Our first dive was on the bow of the ship and the second dive was on the stern. At the bottom the water was still and we had about 40 ft of visibility. The water was 83 F / 28 C. A lone bull shark swam along the sand bottom where the wreck rests. Sighting the shark was the highlight of my wife's trip. She's been dying to see a big and potentially dangerous shark for a long time and it was a dream come true for her. Too bad the camera was on the boat in a bucket of water. Our bottom times were about 15 minutes, after which we spent 9 minutes on ascent and 3 minutes at our safety stop (this seemed unusually long, but perhaps it's common for this sort of dive).
With our AOW and Nitrox certifications in hand, We spent most of the rest of the trip doing group activities and baby sitting for my sister and brother-in-law so they could do some stuff together. I honestly found little else of interest to do. I like the water and am not accustomed to having no swimming beaches when on a tropical holiday. We visited Cannon Beach (Pennekamp Park) and Bahia Honda beach but found it difficult to enjoy these excursions very much with a couple infants in tow. Most family activities were confined to our air conditioned condo within reach of cribs for nap time.
We wrapped up our 10-day trip with another 2-tank charter. We debated between some relaxing reef dives and some exciting wreck dives. Unfortunately, no one in Tavernier was taking a boat out for wreck dives in the two days we had available, so we hauled up to Horizon Divers in Key Largo for a double dip on the Spiegel Grove. Horizon Divers seem to also use EANx30, because that's what we got when we analyzed our tanks. Despite rain, overcast skies, and rough water, the current was mild and the dive was thoroughly enjoyable. This time we had our own gloves (cheap rubber coated lobster gloves bought for $7 at Divers Direct) and were glad for them, if only for our own peace of mind. Visibility was only 30 ft and we read 84 F / 29 C on the bottom. We debated hiring a dive guide, but were ultimately glad we didn't. Having spent only about an hour familiarizing myself with the site during pre-dive planning, the wreck was easy to navigate and we took our time exploring the port crane in 75 - 100 ft of water as well as the aft section of the ship. On the second dive, we were on the port superstructure and explored the top decks and fore in 60 - 80 ft of water.
I've dived the Red Sea, Mozambique, Hawaii, and Cozumel. While they've all had their high points and strengths, my favorite experience so far has been this experience in the Florida Keys. The wrecks are great, the reefs are calm and beautiful, and the dive operations are safety conscious.
Six of us (myself, wife, 9 mo daughter, sister, brother in law, and 13 mo nephew) flew into Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International, rented a van, and hauled down to an AirBNB we rented in Tavernier for 10 days.
Our group had a total of 3 checked bags, a handful of carry-on bags, and two strollers. If my wife and I had brought all our dive gear, we would not have fit that extra bag into the minivan. We stopped at Cancun Grill (somewhere in Miami) on our way down and the food was excellent.
Fearing a lack of affordable groceries at our destination, we loaded up at the Walmart in Florida City.
We took the next day off to recover from the trip. Both babies (and all parents) were exhausted and irritable from the trip. We discovered a Winn Dixie located 5 minutes away with affordable groceries (we didn't know this was a grocery store initially). I wish we'd have known this ahead of time so we wouldn't have wasted time grocery shopping on the night we arrived.
The next day, my wife and I began our AOW and Nitrox courses. I won't discuss the course in detail, but focus on the dives themselves. We dived through Florida Keys Dive Center.
On day one we did a 2-tank morning boat trip. We dived shallow reefs in the 25 - 35 ft range which were called Runway and Sledge. There was no current or surge and excellent visibility (100 ft?). Ocean was calm. Water was almost bath water at 86 F / 30 C. No exposure suit was necessary nor needed. This is my kind of diving. Lots of fish, lively coral, and calm, clear, and warm water.
The following afternoon we did a double dip on the USCG Duane. We were diving on 30% Nitrox (which is apparently the only blend FKDC banks). It was the most exhilarating and by far the most advanced dive I've ever been on. While I've been deep before with multiple cowboy DMs in 3rd world countries, this dive stands out as unique because of the ripping current we had to fight. I was very glad for the SMB and finger spool located in my BCD pocket. I bought them before this trip and as I fought this very swift current, I was glad I had the right gear in case I lost the line. We were lent gloves to protect our hands against barnacles, fish hooks, and fire coral on the mooring line to which we clutched. We pulled ourselves down to the wreck. The descent to 106 ft took 4 minutes. This time excludes the time it took to work our way from the tag line to the granny line and around the boat to the mooring line. Our first dive was on the bow of the ship and the second dive was on the stern. At the bottom the water was still and we had about 40 ft of visibility. The water was 83 F / 28 C. A lone bull shark swam along the sand bottom where the wreck rests. Sighting the shark was the highlight of my wife's trip. She's been dying to see a big and potentially dangerous shark for a long time and it was a dream come true for her. Too bad the camera was on the boat in a bucket of water. Our bottom times were about 15 minutes, after which we spent 9 minutes on ascent and 3 minutes at our safety stop (this seemed unusually long, but perhaps it's common for this sort of dive).
With our AOW and Nitrox certifications in hand, We spent most of the rest of the trip doing group activities and baby sitting for my sister and brother-in-law so they could do some stuff together. I honestly found little else of interest to do. I like the water and am not accustomed to having no swimming beaches when on a tropical holiday. We visited Cannon Beach (Pennekamp Park) and Bahia Honda beach but found it difficult to enjoy these excursions very much with a couple infants in tow. Most family activities were confined to our air conditioned condo within reach of cribs for nap time.
We wrapped up our 10-day trip with another 2-tank charter. We debated between some relaxing reef dives and some exciting wreck dives. Unfortunately, no one in Tavernier was taking a boat out for wreck dives in the two days we had available, so we hauled up to Horizon Divers in Key Largo for a double dip on the Spiegel Grove. Horizon Divers seem to also use EANx30, because that's what we got when we analyzed our tanks. Despite rain, overcast skies, and rough water, the current was mild and the dive was thoroughly enjoyable. This time we had our own gloves (cheap rubber coated lobster gloves bought for $7 at Divers Direct) and were glad for them, if only for our own peace of mind. Visibility was only 30 ft and we read 84 F / 29 C on the bottom. We debated hiring a dive guide, but were ultimately glad we didn't. Having spent only about an hour familiarizing myself with the site during pre-dive planning, the wreck was easy to navigate and we took our time exploring the port crane in 75 - 100 ft of water as well as the aft section of the ship. On the second dive, we were on the port superstructure and explored the top decks and fore in 60 - 80 ft of water.
I've dived the Red Sea, Mozambique, Hawaii, and Cozumel. While they've all had their high points and strengths, my favorite experience so far has been this experience in the Florida Keys. The wrecks are great, the reefs are calm and beautiful, and the dive operations are safety conscious.
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