I just got back from the Keys and was very happy with Rainbow Reef in Key Largo. I chose them because they put a guide in the water at no extra charge, they publish a schedule, they have a shallow and deep boat (I chose shallow) and because of the convenience to my hotel (Holiday Inn). They also offer a multi-dive discount that includes dives with both the Key Largo and Islamadora shop. I didn't dive in Islamadora.
Ocean Pointe Suites is a condo in Tavenier that is convenient to Islamadora. Here's a link to a private unit that I considered renting.
Florida Keys Condo Rental
The owner Bryson was very friendly and his rate was better than the Holiday Inn. You can also look at
..VRBO® is Vacation Rentals by Owner® Vacation Homes Rentals by Owner and find lots of condos. I chose the Holiday Inn since it was just the two of us and I wanted to be close to my dive boat. I could walk over to the RR stand to find out the sea conditions and decide whether I wanted to go out or not. The Holiday Inn was very nice. Great beds, pool & hot tub, restaurant and convenience to several businesses at the MM100 marina. I recommend the glass bottom boat. I took my non-diving husband and he got to see a spotted eagle ray and lots of colorful fish and coral. Other things snorkel boat, casino boat, fishing boats.
On my dives I saw 6 spotted eagle rays swimming in formation, nurse shark swimming along the reef (not just lying on the bottom), reef shark, whole green moray eel (not just a head sticking out of a hole), lots of big groupers, trumpetfish, honeycomb cowfish and lots of colorful tropical fish and healthy coral. The first day was great but the second was pretty rough waves, strong current and surge even on the shallow sites. I chose not to dive the rest of the week due to 4-5 foot seas, so it's good to have a backup plan. We went to Key West to see the performers at the Mallory Square sunset party and went on an airboat tour near the Everglades.
I recommend eating at Sundowners in Key Largo on the bay side. I had Yellowtail Snapper with mango salsa while watching a great sunset. Outstanding!
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 and go out with RR so I'd have a guide and Suzette for a buddy. 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. The hotels do give coupon books with a 10% discount for Rainbow reef along with several other businesses at the MM100 marina in Key Largo. I would ask RR where they recommend staying near their Islamadora shop.