I misquoted myself in a previous post... SSI OW 1978, not 88. Maybe there is some justification for changing the rules of instruction after all these years other than trying to create additional revenue for the LDS. The only one I can think of is that maybe people were smarter back then and I know were a little more ballsy. The equipment was somewhat primitive compared to that used today and all the while the conditions remain the same, so that has to be it! Big, big safety margin. Smart and ballsy - opportunity... dumb and ballsy - funeral procession... smart and timid - not much fun... dumb and timid - sell your gear and take up golf.
Seriously... are some people so overwhelmed with trying to manage just 4 things while in the drink, that they have to have all the hand holding? All that aside, I have some pertinent info..
I just came back from a 2 week stay in the keys - Largo and West. At Largo, I dove with Ocean Divers and they were great. 2 big boats, dive shop and boats at the marina, a parking lot with plenty of parking next to the boats. A safe operation and you can dive your profile - but no decompression. They don't provide safety stop stage, so if you want the extra margin, you'll have to pony. They rig a surface granny and tag for the little bit of current. All I had to do to dive on the 2 deep wrecks was show them my computer log and OW C-card. The deepest I went was about 95' for a short to swim to the weather deck where a few big honkin Groupers were hanging out in a hatch-less passageway. Both the Spiegle Grove and Duane can be interesting 60' dives. Visibility was good enough to see the sand from time to time. Big Bulls come and go around the Duane. For the reefs - ask to go to the south end of molasses. That is where all the livestock swim through the coral finger banks. French had too much silt and further North, like Christ of the deep, is pretty beat up.
Key West Divers had me fill out a 10 dive log sheet along with the OW SSI C-card. They don't rig stage ether and run a sub surface 15' granny from the anchor line. it is needed because of the current - pretty bad on the Vandenburg, it will blow you off the wreck if you don't tether or hold. No decompression. The dive is guided and in teams of 4, boat carries about 12-15. The guide carries a pony. Not a novice dive. Most of the upper structure is pretty close to the surface... it also can be a good 60'- 80' dive. I did not have much fun with it since I spent the dive ducking behind bulkheads and holding on. I came up the smokestack down-current and when I cleared the top, it almost blew my mask off. If you want to hang around in the Antennas, you will have to go to about 80' swimming along a bulkhead and ascend to the framework and pull yourself along. The dive is an air-burner, so you might want to pony up that one too. Good swim throughs. Safety stop on the anchor line had me flapping like a flag in the wind! The reefs are pretty good, lots of coral finger, but the visibility could have been better. The only problem with Key West divers is that they are inconvenient. You setup your gear in front of the shop and they pack it in a pickup to the boat, then you drive to the marina. Kind of messed up my pre-dive ritual I have established over the years. After the dive, you can pack your gear, but no place to rinse it, unless you go back to their shop.
I don't like that. I also don't like having my gear out of sight or handled by someone else. I still have in use, a US Divers calypso 4 and Aquarius regulators on 2 of my stages. These dudes are over 30 years old and work flawlessly because I re-build them and take care of them. Don't ask to borrow my Rods or tackle ether.