Trip Report- Key Largo

[Jcp2]

i went to Key Largo for AOW certification with my daughter. Unfortunately, she got a pretty nasty cold the day that we left and couldn’t dive at all, so it was just me in the course.
Based on reviews from the board, I went with Conch Republic Divers, and that worked out well for us. Brenda was understanding about canceling my daughter.

First dives were Sunday 3/24. There were four divers, including me and Donna, my instructor. Windy, choppy ride out in their big boat to a couple of intermediate reefs. Small craft warning had canceled all morning trips, but was lifted by noon. Air temperature in low 80s, water 79, no current at all at depth, dive to mid 70s. Good visibility, don’t remember specifics as I was a bit focused on deep and PPB course.

Monday 3/25, went out in afternoon, air mid 80s, water 79, much smaller waves. Had 12 divers on big boat with some open water students. Went to two separate sites at Molasses Reef, one with no current, one with mild current. Lots of life, did navigation and fish ID. Because of my air consumption the day prior, Donna signed me up with discover Nitrox and put me on HP100 tanks. Did tank analysis. Got almost an hour both dives with leftover gas and NDL time at 28 feet.

Tuesday 3/26 went out in morning on small boat with 2 other divers to go to Spiegel Grove. Air in low 80s, surface even calmer than yesterday. Got to site and another boat reported heavy current. Rerouted to Duane, where all balls taken. Did hot drop near bow ball and went down. Water temp 77, very slight current at depth. Toured around perimeter, NDL ticking away at 100 feet. Came back up, deep stop and shallow stop on line. Boat had moored to middle ball, swam over on surface. Because conditions were so nice, we dove it again. This time we swam through a couple of doors, and I remember a lot more. Nurse shark, bull shark, green moray, Christmas tree worms, schools of permits, school of small barracuda, a few really big barracuda, lots of jellies at safety stop. Also on HP100 32 Nitrox.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale, rented car, stayed in Key Largo, ate at different local restaurants. Traffic can be a tricky at the beginning, Guy Fieri must have done a segment at every restaurant, state park was neat, bird sanctuary was neat, my tiny bit of Spanish served me well in Cuban cafes and bakeries.
Would come again and dive with Conch Republic Divers, maybe in the summer when water calmer. That first trip out felt very expeditionary.

 

[<*)))><]

Were did you stay and would you stay there again?

 

[caruso]

Thanks for the report.

Brenda is very understanding about last minute cancellations unlike many other dive Ops who will hold you to your reservation and the full cost of the cancelled dive. That by itself puts Conch ahead of the rest.

Interesting- you said all the balls were taken on the Duane and you hot-dropped. When we were there a few months ago Brenda canceled the dive to Duane because of the current. I requested a hot drop up current and get picked up down current and even though we are certainly qualified and she knew it, she said she couldn't do it because there wasn't enough crew. I still wonder about that and it was somewhat disappointing.

Do you recall how many crew were on the boat?

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Sounds like a good time. I got to dive the Spiegel Grove back in January. I didn't see as much critter diversity as you did (ex. No sharks), but there was a BUNCH of Barracuda, which was pretty awesome. As you said...some of them were pretty big.

Were did you stay and would you stay there again?

I'll throw out a recommendation for the Courtyard Marriott in Key Largo. I stayed there in January. The room was clean, there was a balcony to put my stuff out to air out overnight, and location wise... I thought it was great. It's close to food, dive shops, and dive boats.

Not much bang for your buck though (you're paying ~$240/night for a room that would be ~$120 anywhere else). That's par for the course for that area though.

Call around to the dive shops you're considering though. I know that some of them do package deals to stay there for a lower rate.

 

[iamrushman]

very cool...thanks for sharing your report.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

I found this place last year, I was going to Largo about every weekend. I guess other divers know about it because it is hard to get the divers den that sleeps 7. Not a fancy place by any means, but it is clean and super affordable. They do have paddle boards and stuff you can play with, also a cool area where people sit by the bay at night on the Gulf side. Each place has a small efficiency kitchen too. They even have a dock for your boat if it is not too big.

They also have some breakfast rolls and buns, good coffee and orange juice in the morning for free.

https://www.sunsetcovebeachresort.com/diver-dens

 

[Jcp2]

I stayed at Playa Largo because I went with nondiving family. We didn’t eat there, but there were resort things to do for everyone. With regards to the hot drop, it wasn’t really that hot. There was minimal to no surface current, one captain, and four divers, including myself and my instructor. The other two divers had been with the shop (and me) on several dives on prior days. The captain got really close to the float, turned the boat, and we just dropped in off the back. I had air in my BC, swam to the float and then went down the line. To give an idea of how calm it was, one ball was taken by Rainbow Reef and the other two by small private backwater boats that were fishing, each solo. I’m not very knowledgeable about boats, but one looked like the Disney safety patrol boats.