Kelly's on the Bay - Key Largo

[daylight]

Ken's post is right on target.
I have made a promise to myself that a dive op isn't going to pull that stunt on me again without hearing about it. If we all were more vocal when a crew is copping an attitude or doing something blatantly wrong, we would be better off.
99+% of the boats I have been on do a great job. But there were a couple that were obiviously not there for the divers even though we were paying the bill.

DSAO,
Larry

 

[deanmartin]

I travel to Miami on business one week of each month. I usually dive the keys on Friday and Saturday then fly home to California on Sunday.

I don't have any experience with Kelly's but I have used quite a few of the operators in Key Largo. With some of them the short SI is a real problem. They wan't you on and off the boat and back on the dock as soon as possible.

I've had some real good luck with Atlantis Divers. They seem real interested in divers having a good time. On my trip last month, the conditions were good everywhere so the captain left it up to the divers to decide where we should go. 2 dives on the Spiegel Grove.

Best of luck on your trip

 

[taz22]

Thanks for everyone's input on this, the booking has been made so I will atleast be aware of the short SI's as mentioned.The one thing I can't wait for is to do some warm water diving, in my life I haven't dove in the south as of yet.

BTW, our underwater Christmas Tree decorating contest is this coming Saturday. Current St. Lawrence River water temp 38F and I'll be diving in my 5/7 wetsuit with a 5mm hooded vest! Don't worry, I'll only be in for 5 minutes, down to the bottom and get the christmas bulb on the tree then off to the hot tub!

Cheers!

 

[Big Mike]

I dove with Aqua-Nuts/Kelly's on 2 occassions. One in Dec. of 2000 and the second time 3 months later in March of 2001. I noticed that they had a different procedure on the second trip. Instead of just doing role call, they handed out D.A.N. numbered tags to everyone to wear on their BC. I noticed this difference and quizzed a crew member about it (thinking that maybe they were providing divers with D.A.N. insurance or something). They never mentioned anything about leaving people on the reef overnight. THinking that the answer the guy gave me didn't make sense (I am an insurance agent with 17 years experience), I checked around some when I got back home from diving and found out that this new procedure was a result of their settlement with party they left on reef. (If you don't think anything is unusual about the 2 sets of gear under the seat of boat when you get back, and actually call the people's house in California and leave a message on their answering machine to tell them they are going to be charged for the non-returned rental gear (that they are currently using to bob for their life on the reef), then is the tag system going to be noticed? Maybe, maybe not.)

On the positive side, they have 2 of the best boats I have ever dove from in the Keys. Fast, clean, new.

Don't dive with them anymore because they are too expensive. I bring my own gear, including tanks and weights and still get charged $60. I can go a number of places and get just as good service on for $40.

I haul my own tanks (100cuft) 1300 miles with me everytime I go down there so I can do the 1 hour max dive time each time. I want to know the boat is still going to be there when I come back!!!!


Mike

 

[Newhampster]

daylight once bubbled...
Needless to say, I won't be using them again. This short SI mania seems to be most prevalent in the Keys. I haven't run into it at other locations.
Maybe we need to mutiney more often when an OP tries it.

Larry

There were maybe 22 divers on the boat. 2 tank dive. First dive -- max depth almost 100 feet. My buddy and I were the last up from the dive. They relocated to a 50 foot dive and were getting ready to push folks in with only a 25 minute SI...

We (buddy and I) made it clear the SI was too short...

Don't trust the OP. Know your tables or work your computer PROPERLY. Don't let them passively force you in with too short an SI...

 

[raviepoo]

The accident happened several years ago. Staff has turned over since. The Director of Dive Operations from that time frame is no longer at Kelly's. Give the new staff a chance.

I've gone diving with them on three occassions and stayed with them twice. The staff has always been great to me. They do accept some input on the dive sites they visit, but you hvae to remember that there will always be several different parties of divers of several different levels on the boat. You won't necessarily get your way, unless you charter the entire boat.

The boats are roomy and comfortable. I've never felt crowded, even during spring break when every hotel in the keys was booked solid. I've never experienced an excessively short surface interval either. I suspect that there were extenuating circumstances involved in the 10 minute surface interval mentioned earlier in this thread.

The thing I love about Kelly's is the way the resort is set up. You put your gear in the gear cage down by the dock and then you don't have to think much about it again until you clean it up to go home. Kellys has wheelbarrows that you can use to transport your gear to and from the cage. It's easy and convenient.

Rooms are nice, modern and clean. I always ask for the small ones because they are cheaper. As a solo traveller I don't care too much about where I sleep. But after staying at Kelly's on two keys trips I've been dissapointed with accomodations at some of the other old style keys resorts I've visited.

If you do the morning boat and the afternoon boat on the same day the crew will call in a lunch order for you to Hobos. It will be waiting for pick up when you get to the dock. Try the grilled mahi mahi sandwich. It's the second best meal I've had in the keys.

 

[raviepoo]

I've heard a lot of grumbling onthis board about nazi divemasters unwilling to let a diver dive his or her own profile. A divemaster at an operation like Kelly's sometimes has to be a profile nazi. Consider this:

The boat leaves at 8:00. It takes whatever divers have signed up for that day. It has to be back in time to swap out tanks, refuel and load up the divers for the 1:00 PM trip.

The divemaster knows the time constraints. He has a clue how long it takes to get from one dive site to the next. He also knows how long it takes to return to the dock after the last dive.

During the first dive breifing he tells the divers to be back on the baot by 9:30 AM. One buddy pair returns at 10:00. instead. They're experienced divers. They don't use lots of air. They have pony bottles with them. Hey, what's the big deal?

The big deal is that these selfish divers have messed up the schedule and quite possibly abreviated the second dive for everyone else on the boat. The crew has no choice. They have to get back to the dock in time to provide a 1:00 PM trip for a bunch of other divers who have paid to dive with them. It's unfair to those divers to depart the dock late.

I cut Kelly's a lot of slack because I know that they have to make lots of different types of divers happy. There is no way in the world that they will ever please everybody.

And if I want to have total control over my own profile I will go on a liveaboard like the Aggressor fleet where I am able to have the luxury of following an 80 minute dive with a 2 hour surface interval as my whims dictate.

Newhampster once bubbled...


There were maybe 22 divers on the boat. 2 tank dive. First dive -- max depth almost 100 feet. My buddy and I were the last up from the dive. They relocated to a 50 foot dive and were getting ready to push folks in with only a 25 minute SI...

We (buddy and I) made it clear the SI was too short...

Don't trust the OP. Know your tables or work your computer PROPERLY. Don't let them passively force you in with too short an SI...

 

[taz22]

I'm not too worried about some of the things posted here. For one, my Scuba Instructor set up this trip to Kelly's and we have 14 of us travelling down to enjoy the dives. He has dove with Kelly's a number of times and has never had a problem.

I'm just glad that a few of my Divemaster dives are going to be in warm water.

Cheers!

 

[raxafarian]

raviepoo once bubbled...
I've heard a lot of grumbling onthis board about nazi divemasters unwilling to let a diver dive his or her own profile. A divemaster at an operation like Kelly's sometimes has to be a profile nazi. Consider this:

The boat leaves at 8:00. It takes whatever divers have signed up for that day. It has to be back in time to swap out tanks, refuel and load up the divers for the 1:00 PM trip.

The divemaster knows the time constraints. He has a clue how long it takes to get from one dive site to the next. He also knows how long it takes to return to the dock after the last dive.

During the first dive breifing he tells the divers to be back on the baot by 9:30 AM. One buddy pair returns at 10:00. instead. They're experienced divers. They don't use lots of air. They have pony bottles with them. Hey, what's the big deal?

The big deal is that these selfish divers have messed up the schedule and quite possibly abreviated the second dive for everyone else on the boat. The crew has no choice. They have to get back to the dock in time to provide a 1:00 PM trip for a bunch of other divers who have paid to dive with them. It's unfair to those divers to depart the dock late.

I cut Kelly's a lot of slack because I know that they have to make lots of different types of divers happy. There is no way in the world that they will ever please everybody.

And if I want to have total control over my own profile I will go on a liveaboard like the Aggressor fleet where I am able to have the luxury of following an 80 minute dive with a 2 hour surface interval as my whims dictate.

I want TOTAL control of my dive profile on every dive I do. Why should I have to settle for a dive op that wants to play that game when there are ops that let you dive your own profile?

That is inconvienent at the least, and dangerous at the most. I did my last dive with such an op in Key Largo in Oct. If you are doing the 20ft. reef dives in the keys.... then fine... play the "be back in an hour" game. The dives mentioned were to 100ft. No dive op is going to tell me when to be back on the boat on such a dive. I will be telling them when I'll be back. The example you are giving is fine for the shallower dives, but does not apply to the deeper dives... there will not be that much difference in time on a 100ft. dive between the divers using up their air the fastest, and the divers maxing the bottom time. And then to insist on a 25 minute SI? That is scary. No thank you. I will not dive with such an op. Those ops should stick to the 20ft reef dives and I'll stick to the ops that will cater to me, the diver, and not their wallet and clock.

It would be worse if these types of ops were the only ones available. I'm glad that there are ops that do not play this game and I highly recommend that people question the op(s) they are considering using. There are good ops out there. Do not accept substandard and potentially dangerous charters.

 

[raviepoo]

Because you're not the only diver in the boat. It's not all about you.

Find the dive ops who do the kind of diving you want to do and dive with them. Divers ops who cater to a diverse mix of divers are not for you.

raxafarian once bubbled...



I want TOTAL control of my dive profile on every dive I do. Why should I have to settle for a dive op that wants to play that game when there are ops that let you dive your own profile?