Keys Operator with Longest Dive Times for ME

[TheFife]

I'm heading to Key Largo the first week in June and trying to decide which operator to use. I want to maximize my bottom time during my stay. I am a single diver so I will either be buddied up with a random diver, or part of a group following an operator provided free dive guide. I don't know what the best strategy is for getting the most bottom time. I have a low sac rate and am never limited by my own air supply. I am either going to be limited by my buddy's air, or the operator imposed limit on dive time.

Should I go with an operator that provides a "free guide" like Rainbow Reef or Key Divers, or a smaller shop like Quiescence if I want to maximize my bottom time? My ideal scenario would be an operator that isn't overly concerned with divers having a true buddy, and instead dives as a group led by a guide that just sends people back to the boat when they are low on air. That let's me maximize my time diving. Does anything like that exist in the keys?

The closest shop to where I am staying is Ocean Divers Bayside. I'm willing to drive as far as Islamorada if there is a better option.

 

[tomfcrist]

There are plenty of dive ops there that will let you dive your chosen profile. Off the top of my head, silent world and horizon stand out. This may or may not apply to reef trips, but plenty of dive ops are happy to let you do one long wreck dive vice 2 short ones.

Reef trips are a different beast. Most ops get to reef site #1, open the pool and say be back in an hour...move to site 2 and do the same....short SIs. I think this is a product of running multiple trips a day and not wanting to get off schedule.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @TheFife

I assume you are rec diving. On the Spiegel Grove, Bibb, Duane, or Eagle, you will be limited to under an hour by your NDL, if not by your gas or buddy. If you are as good with gas consumption as you say, your biggest problem might be finding a buddy to match. It appears that you are not in a position to dive solo. I'm relatively certain the DM is not going to stay in the water to act as your buddy for a prolonged dive.

I certainly cannot comment on all operators, but very many limit the shallower reef dives to an approximate run time of an hour, in order to stay reasonably on schedule for the rest of the day. Assuming you have a good buddy, being 1st in and last out will often give you a little more time without throwing off the schedule. I would always plan on exiting very soon after the 2nd to last group to avoid potential criticism.

Have a good trip to Key Largo, let us know how you did

 

[sportxlh]

My experience that almost all shops limit you to an hour on the dives, even shallow ones. That's understandable since they are running a business and need to get back to the dock to pick up divers for the afternoon trips, if you're going out in the AM. In the evening, they gotta get back to let their workers get home to their families.

Rainbow Reef has been pretty flexible by letting me dive solo on the Spiegel Grove with redundant gear and cert card. So has Horizon Divers, though its been a long time since I've been out with them. I've done 53 minute total run time dives on the SG (including ascent and safety stop). There is some pretty shallow structure and if you don't go too deep, you can get a fairly long dive in if you have a decent SAC rate and are on Nitrox. If you do a second dip on the Spiegel Grove after the first, your NDL will keep you to a 35 or 40 run time after the long first dive.

Quiescence is a good shop too, call them to see if they'll be flexible on dive times. If you don't want an Insta-buddy and you hire a proper guide, they might let you get some long dives in.

My favorite shop is Conch Republic. They rent 100 c.f. tanks and I've got ling dives on the deep wrecks and reefs off of their boat

Tomfcrist mentioned one long dive on a wreck instead of two if the shop was doing a double dip. I've seen that done, but only with technical divers doing a deco dive.

 

[scubadada]

For rec dives, my longest run time on the Spiegel was 57 minutes, longest on the Duane was 48 minutes.