JesperS
Contributor
My 13 year old son and myself headed down to Key Largo for the weekend for our first real diving vacation. Prior to this, we only had 3 post-cert dives.
The idea was to add 8 more dives to our log books, and trying out four highly (scubaboard) rated outfits in the process. Details on each outfit can be found on their sites, such as the nitty gritty of their boats and other info, but I'll aim to get the important info across in this post.
The dive shops we booked with were as follows:
Quiescence - Friday afternoon, post arrival.
Rainbow Reef - Saturday morning
Scuba-Do - Saturday afternoon
Silent World - Sunday morning
The plan might have been a little ambitious for my lazy butt, but I wanted to get some diving in!
I watched the weather reports with trepedation then 10 days or so leading up to our departure, and it was still looking iffy when we left around 7 AM Friday morning from SW FL.
We made it to KL in record time (3.5 hrs) thanks to light traffic and averaging 9 miles over the speed suggestion.
Thanks to travelling too much for work, I had some Marriot points saved up, and the Courtyard Key Largo was to be our home base, at a cost of zero dollars and zero cents. Score.
The hotel was perfectly fine (I love Marriot beds), and we got a free upgrade to a balcony room overlooking the pool. No room service or full restaurant, which was a minus. Small pool, which was constantly busy with dive outfits doing training dives.
After checking in and getting settled into our room, we stopped at the Scuba-Do store (located in a castle looking building) to check in for the next day, as check-in must first be done at the store. Filled out the release form and paid, then we were off to Quiescence for our first dives.
QUIESCENCE
Check-in was smooth at the store up front, then we pulled the car in behind the store and unloaded our gear and set up in the tiki-hut to wait. The boat was a little late getting back, and a little late going back out for the afternoon trip. No biggie to me, as I was in no rush, and we didn't have anything scheduled after.
Our captain was a pleasant fellow, and our two co-passengers were unobtrusive.
The Quiescence boats are 6-packs, so there was a bit of room to spare with only four divers.
Fortunately, seas were pretty calm, as any seas too rough would be an exciting ride on the smaller boat.
A quick briefing and then we take off. What I thought was a little concerning was that there was NO other crew on the boat, other than the captain. I would have expected one mate to assist with tie-ups, getting divers in and out, etc, but nope. My main concern would be that there is no one else to help in an emergency.
With that said, the captain did an excellent job getting us to the site (Molasses reef was decided on. I let the captain and other passengers choose, as we did not have a preference, and they had been out on the AM trip).
The captain did a great job explaining the dive site (North Star buoy on Molasses), but I spotted a reef shark video) on our first dive, and got completely disoriented. I managed to get us WAAAAAAAY off course, and we spent half our dive and tanks getting back to the boat. A mildly scary wake-up call, I vowed to keep much closer tabs on our location for the rest of the vacation. I also opted to leave the camera on board for dive number two. My son lost his z-knife on this dive.
Our second dip was at a site called the Aquarium. We followed the dive recommendation to a T this time, saw lots of fun stuff including a sea turtle, so of course I regretted not bringing the camera. I got stung by a jelly (they were pretty thick by the time we were getting out) on my chin as I was getting back on the boat, and simultaneously lost my z-knife. I opted not to dive back in with the jellies to retrieve it. Hopefully someone finds it and puts it to good use. Note to self, when I find a new 2nd cutting, make sure it attaches to the rig in a more secure manner.
The ride back was uneventful, we tipped, and used the on-site rinse tanks. There's two private outdoor showers as well, but we were dry by this point and waited until we were back at the hotel to shower. We did the best we could to get two complete gear set-ups hung up to dry in the limited size closet (there was supposed to be a hanging rack in the shower, but no such luck.)
We had dinner at the Conch House. My kid didn't care for it, my meal was fine, but I found the menu a little lacking. As soon as my food arrived I realized they served lionfish and wish I would have ordered that, as I would like to try it.
Back to the hotel, and a very good night sleep.
RAINBOW REEF
The next morning we wake up and get ready for the next ride to the reef, courtesy of Rainbow Reef. Big bonus points here for an 8 AM check-in (earlier would have been painful this day) and for being located right at the bottom of the hotel. Downstairs we went.
They have several boats, we end up on one of the 32 seaters and it was packed. I must give them props on their operation, the check-in process for such a large number of customers was smooth, and they seemed to have no problem getting everyone grouped up appropriately (shallow vs deep boats).
Being a larger boat, there were many more crew on-board to help out, which my son really liked. The staff were friendly and all smiles. They did a great job keeping the boat running smoothly and getting everyone into and out of the water.
It should be noted that RR was the cheapest of our dives at $75 (prices ranged from $75-$85), and they include an optional (free) dive guide. I opted out of the guide for the trip, as following such a large group just didn't sound like fun.
This trip took us back to Molasses, and we dove Winch Shoal and Fire Coral Cave. Our best dives of the trip, as we got some great footage of a sea turtle (video) and a nurse shark.
Side note: I'm very hard of hearing, and wear over-the-ear hearing aids. Needless to say, I don't wear these under-water. In editing down the video from this trip, I am extremely happy that I am so hard of hearing, as I had no idea of the amount of tank banging, clicking, quacking, and maracca-ing was going on as I was blissfully swimming along, hearing nothing but my own inhale, exhale, and bubbles. On a much more negative note, what I also heard on the video, but not at the time, was my dive computer beeping due to rapid ascent. I'm confident this was just happening due to the swell, as we weren't even ascending when it would happen, but....I can't hear it!
There's also no way for my buddy to get my attention, other than touch. Wonder if there are any under-water remote buzzers, i.e. you push a button on the sending unit, and I feel a buzz in the receiver?
Anyways, like I said, big crowded boat, but that thing got you out to the reef and back quick, and the crew were super pleasant and efficient. We were back at the dock with a little time to spare before we had to check in at the next op.
Don't know what RR offers at the dock, as we just grabbed our gear and loaded it up in the car since we were getting back in the water. Didn't even bother taking our skins off more than halfway. Headed over to the other side of the harbor, just a few minutes drive, and arrived at...
SCUBA-DO
Some preliminary notes on Scuba-Do: 10 max boat. Professional website that allows you to choose the dive sites when you reserve, if you're the first to reserve for that date. If someone has already booked, you can see what dives they picked. Nice feature. Free dive guide included (there were actually two divers in the water for both dives).
A very big point I'd like to say is that I spoke with two of the divers on board, who had gone out with Scuba-do for several days as the ONLY divers. That's right, they went out several days as the only divers on board a ten pack, and they didn't get canceled on. That's some major points in Scuba-do's book as far as I'm concerned.
The boat is located on the same canal as Rainbow Reef, so a quick 5 minute drive away. We gathered all of our stuff (between two divers, I feel like we're carrying enough gear for 10!) and carried it down to the dock, where we were greeted by quite a sight, three lovely young ladies who would serve as our crew for the dive. Apparently, this is not the norm, we were just lucky =)
Normally, pretty girls make me nervous, but they were all very laid back and easy-going. And one of them had moved there from two towns over
Good choice.
I'm pretty sure the boat was full with ten divers, but it did not feel cramped, nor did we ever feel rushed. I think the guides CAN be opted out of, but seem to be strongly encouraged. Interestingly, there were two divers in the water, a guide in front of the group, and one behind. In retrospect, I think one of the divers may have been getting on the job training as a new dive guide.
Either way, for the first time of the trip, I had no navigation concerns, and could just enjoy the dive. I had booked the two dives, and had chosen the Benwood to make sure we get something that wasn't a reef dive, and French Reef, which I was now happy about, having made 4 Molasses reef dives (and Molasses was packed this afternoon.)
The Benwood didn't offer too much to see, but it was definately a nice change of pace, and a very mellow dive. Didn't see too much interesting, other than a little moray off to the side of the wreck, and a scorpion fish that the guide pointed out.
Back on the boat, gear gets switched over, and we take the quick trip to French Reef.
Back in the water, drop down, and....stopped by my son, who is pointing at his tooth. We thumb the dive and head aboard. As I suspected, he had a sudden shooting pain in a tooth, a likely cavity. That would spell the end of our diving vacation. We stayed on board and chatted with the first mate about this that and the other and stowed our gear and waited for the rest of the divers. They did indeed have a great dive, and we were soon heading back to shore.
Cleaning tanks were provided at the dock, one for regs and one for everything else. We washed our gear up and headed back to the hotel to unload. After that, we stopped at Sharkey's which is right next door to Scuba Do, so nice and close, and the fish tacos were to.die.for. No joke, they hit the spot. Kiddo had a bacon cheeseburger and fries that hit all the right notes as well. There were some powerful rainshowers, so we made it back to dock just in time.
We slept incredibly well that night =)
SILENT WORLD
Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to try out Silent World, due to my son's tooth issue. However, I spoke with Chris, a British gentleman who I believe is the owner, both when we booked the dive, and as soon as we were back on the boat after aborting our second dive, to let him know we would not be coming the next day.
Though they seem to cater to tech divers, they were happy to accomodate our needs as new divers, and my son's junior diver limits, and were a pleasure to book with. And Chris took the news of our late cancellation in stride, assured me it wsa not a problem, and that we were welcome to come in the morning if he felt better.
However, we took the opportunity to sleep in a little bit, and Sunday morning ended up looking terrible. We managed to squeeze in a dip in the pool in between rain showers, and loaded all our gear back in the car. Tried to stop at Mrs. Mac's for lunch before we headed out, but it is closed at least on Sundays, so no go. Harriette's was packed and then packed again, it was ridiculous. Doc's was packed to the gills. We ended up eating at Wendy's =(
The long road home was uneventful until we hit the west coast, and got within 45 minute of home, when ridiculous thunderstorms rolled through. I very nearly pulled over, and in all likelyhood should have, but we made it through them and back home.
I'm finishing up the final videos (debating doing some fish ID's throughout, but that will make the production take a lot longer), but will post the videos in this thread when done.
tl;dr
Went to Key Largo with son to dive dive dive. Courtyard is a-ok. Quiescence is a-ok (but ONLY the captain is on board). Rainbow reef is a-ok, but I don't think I like dealing with 30 divers. Scuba-do is likely our home for KL. Didn't get to try Silent World, had to cancel the afternoon before, and they did not give me any guff. Will definately give them my business when we return, and they do tech trips for those interested. Diving is fun.
The idea was to add 8 more dives to our log books, and trying out four highly (scubaboard) rated outfits in the process. Details on each outfit can be found on their sites, such as the nitty gritty of their boats and other info, but I'll aim to get the important info across in this post.
The dive shops we booked with were as follows:
Quiescence - Friday afternoon, post arrival.
Rainbow Reef - Saturday morning
Scuba-Do - Saturday afternoon
Silent World - Sunday morning
The plan might have been a little ambitious for my lazy butt, but I wanted to get some diving in!
I watched the weather reports with trepedation then 10 days or so leading up to our departure, and it was still looking iffy when we left around 7 AM Friday morning from SW FL.
We made it to KL in record time (3.5 hrs) thanks to light traffic and averaging 9 miles over the speed suggestion.
Thanks to travelling too much for work, I had some Marriot points saved up, and the Courtyard Key Largo was to be our home base, at a cost of zero dollars and zero cents. Score.
The hotel was perfectly fine (I love Marriot beds), and we got a free upgrade to a balcony room overlooking the pool. No room service or full restaurant, which was a minus. Small pool, which was constantly busy with dive outfits doing training dives.
After checking in and getting settled into our room, we stopped at the Scuba-Do store (located in a castle looking building) to check in for the next day, as check-in must first be done at the store. Filled out the release form and paid, then we were off to Quiescence for our first dives.
QUIESCENCE
Check-in was smooth at the store up front, then we pulled the car in behind the store and unloaded our gear and set up in the tiki-hut to wait. The boat was a little late getting back, and a little late going back out for the afternoon trip. No biggie to me, as I was in no rush, and we didn't have anything scheduled after.
Our captain was a pleasant fellow, and our two co-passengers were unobtrusive.
The Quiescence boats are 6-packs, so there was a bit of room to spare with only four divers.
Fortunately, seas were pretty calm, as any seas too rough would be an exciting ride on the smaller boat.
A quick briefing and then we take off. What I thought was a little concerning was that there was NO other crew on the boat, other than the captain. I would have expected one mate to assist with tie-ups, getting divers in and out, etc, but nope. My main concern would be that there is no one else to help in an emergency.
With that said, the captain did an excellent job getting us to the site (Molasses reef was decided on. I let the captain and other passengers choose, as we did not have a preference, and they had been out on the AM trip).
The captain did a great job explaining the dive site (North Star buoy on Molasses), but I spotted a reef shark video) on our first dive, and got completely disoriented. I managed to get us WAAAAAAAY off course, and we spent half our dive and tanks getting back to the boat. A mildly scary wake-up call, I vowed to keep much closer tabs on our location for the rest of the vacation. I also opted to leave the camera on board for dive number two. My son lost his z-knife on this dive.
Our second dip was at a site called the Aquarium. We followed the dive recommendation to a T this time, saw lots of fun stuff including a sea turtle, so of course I regretted not bringing the camera. I got stung by a jelly (they were pretty thick by the time we were getting out) on my chin as I was getting back on the boat, and simultaneously lost my z-knife. I opted not to dive back in with the jellies to retrieve it. Hopefully someone finds it and puts it to good use. Note to self, when I find a new 2nd cutting, make sure it attaches to the rig in a more secure manner.
The ride back was uneventful, we tipped, and used the on-site rinse tanks. There's two private outdoor showers as well, but we were dry by this point and waited until we were back at the hotel to shower. We did the best we could to get two complete gear set-ups hung up to dry in the limited size closet (there was supposed to be a hanging rack in the shower, but no such luck.)
We had dinner at the Conch House. My kid didn't care for it, my meal was fine, but I found the menu a little lacking. As soon as my food arrived I realized they served lionfish and wish I would have ordered that, as I would like to try it.
Back to the hotel, and a very good night sleep.
RAINBOW REEF
The next morning we wake up and get ready for the next ride to the reef, courtesy of Rainbow Reef. Big bonus points here for an 8 AM check-in (earlier would have been painful this day) and for being located right at the bottom of the hotel. Downstairs we went.
They have several boats, we end up on one of the 32 seaters and it was packed. I must give them props on their operation, the check-in process for such a large number of customers was smooth, and they seemed to have no problem getting everyone grouped up appropriately (shallow vs deep boats).
Being a larger boat, there were many more crew on-board to help out, which my son really liked. The staff were friendly and all smiles. They did a great job keeping the boat running smoothly and getting everyone into and out of the water.
It should be noted that RR was the cheapest of our dives at $75 (prices ranged from $75-$85), and they include an optional (free) dive guide. I opted out of the guide for the trip, as following such a large group just didn't sound like fun.
This trip took us back to Molasses, and we dove Winch Shoal and Fire Coral Cave. Our best dives of the trip, as we got some great footage of a sea turtle (video) and a nurse shark.
Side note: I'm very hard of hearing, and wear over-the-ear hearing aids. Needless to say, I don't wear these under-water. In editing down the video from this trip, I am extremely happy that I am so hard of hearing, as I had no idea of the amount of tank banging, clicking, quacking, and maracca-ing was going on as I was blissfully swimming along, hearing nothing but my own inhale, exhale, and bubbles. On a much more negative note, what I also heard on the video, but not at the time, was my dive computer beeping due to rapid ascent. I'm confident this was just happening due to the swell, as we weren't even ascending when it would happen, but....I can't hear it!
There's also no way for my buddy to get my attention, other than touch. Wonder if there are any under-water remote buzzers, i.e. you push a button on the sending unit, and I feel a buzz in the receiver?
Anyways, like I said, big crowded boat, but that thing got you out to the reef and back quick, and the crew were super pleasant and efficient. We were back at the dock with a little time to spare before we had to check in at the next op.
Don't know what RR offers at the dock, as we just grabbed our gear and loaded it up in the car since we were getting back in the water. Didn't even bother taking our skins off more than halfway. Headed over to the other side of the harbor, just a few minutes drive, and arrived at...
SCUBA-DO
Some preliminary notes on Scuba-Do: 10 max boat. Professional website that allows you to choose the dive sites when you reserve, if you're the first to reserve for that date. If someone has already booked, you can see what dives they picked. Nice feature. Free dive guide included (there were actually two divers in the water for both dives).
A very big point I'd like to say is that I spoke with two of the divers on board, who had gone out with Scuba-do for several days as the ONLY divers. That's right, they went out several days as the only divers on board a ten pack, and they didn't get canceled on. That's some major points in Scuba-do's book as far as I'm concerned.
The boat is located on the same canal as Rainbow Reef, so a quick 5 minute drive away. We gathered all of our stuff (between two divers, I feel like we're carrying enough gear for 10!) and carried it down to the dock, where we were greeted by quite a sight, three lovely young ladies who would serve as our crew for the dive. Apparently, this is not the norm, we were just lucky =)
Normally, pretty girls make me nervous, but they were all very laid back and easy-going. And one of them had moved there from two towns over
Good choice.I'm pretty sure the boat was full with ten divers, but it did not feel cramped, nor did we ever feel rushed. I think the guides CAN be opted out of, but seem to be strongly encouraged. Interestingly, there were two divers in the water, a guide in front of the group, and one behind. In retrospect, I think one of the divers may have been getting on the job training as a new dive guide.
Either way, for the first time of the trip, I had no navigation concerns, and could just enjoy the dive. I had booked the two dives, and had chosen the Benwood to make sure we get something that wasn't a reef dive, and French Reef, which I was now happy about, having made 4 Molasses reef dives (and Molasses was packed this afternoon.)
The Benwood didn't offer too much to see, but it was definately a nice change of pace, and a very mellow dive. Didn't see too much interesting, other than a little moray off to the side of the wreck, and a scorpion fish that the guide pointed out.
Back on the boat, gear gets switched over, and we take the quick trip to French Reef.
Back in the water, drop down, and....stopped by my son, who is pointing at his tooth. We thumb the dive and head aboard. As I suspected, he had a sudden shooting pain in a tooth, a likely cavity. That would spell the end of our diving vacation. We stayed on board and chatted with the first mate about this that and the other and stowed our gear and waited for the rest of the divers. They did indeed have a great dive, and we were soon heading back to shore.
Cleaning tanks were provided at the dock, one for regs and one for everything else. We washed our gear up and headed back to the hotel to unload. After that, we stopped at Sharkey's which is right next door to Scuba Do, so nice and close, and the fish tacos were to.die.for. No joke, they hit the spot. Kiddo had a bacon cheeseburger and fries that hit all the right notes as well. There were some powerful rainshowers, so we made it back to dock just in time.
We slept incredibly well that night =)
SILENT WORLD
Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to try out Silent World, due to my son's tooth issue. However, I spoke with Chris, a British gentleman who I believe is the owner, both when we booked the dive, and as soon as we were back on the boat after aborting our second dive, to let him know we would not be coming the next day.
Though they seem to cater to tech divers, they were happy to accomodate our needs as new divers, and my son's junior diver limits, and were a pleasure to book with. And Chris took the news of our late cancellation in stride, assured me it wsa not a problem, and that we were welcome to come in the morning if he felt better.
However, we took the opportunity to sleep in a little bit, and Sunday morning ended up looking terrible. We managed to squeeze in a dip in the pool in between rain showers, and loaded all our gear back in the car. Tried to stop at Mrs. Mac's for lunch before we headed out, but it is closed at least on Sundays, so no go. Harriette's was packed and then packed again, it was ridiculous. Doc's was packed to the gills. We ended up eating at Wendy's =(
The long road home was uneventful until we hit the west coast, and got within 45 minute of home, when ridiculous thunderstorms rolled through. I very nearly pulled over, and in all likelyhood should have, but we made it through them and back home.
I'm finishing up the final videos (debating doing some fish ID's throughout, but that will make the production take a lot longer), but will post the videos in this thread when done.
tl;dr
Went to Key Largo with son to dive dive dive. Courtyard is a-ok. Quiescence is a-ok (but ONLY the captain is on board). Rainbow reef is a-ok, but I don't think I like dealing with 30 divers. Scuba-do is likely our home for KL. Didn't get to try Silent World, had to cancel the afternoon before, and they did not give me any guff. Will definately give them my business when we return, and they do tech trips for those interested. Diving is fun.
