Kid friendly instructors in Key Largo

[Atocha46]

We'll be visiting Key Largo in late August. The wife and I are certified. My son is too young. My daughter is 10 so shes old enough to be certified but I'm going to wait one more year.
I plan on letting her do the Discover Scuba course while we're there so she can experience diving. I know whats involved, how long it takes, etc.
My search is for a kid friendly place. Not one that especially caters to kids, but one with fun, friendly instructors who have dealt with kids before. Maybe some female instructors because she may be more comfortable with that.
We need a place to stay, so if happened to be at a resort or connected some way to a hotel that would be even better.
I visit the Keys a couple of times a year and I know there is a crap load of dive shops, but being certified and bringing my own gear I've never really had the opportunity to interact with the staffs of any of them.
Any guidance you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[StSumwhere]

I just took the family to Key Largo for Memorial Day weekend. Kind of a last minute decision so we didn't want to stay at one of the upper end resorts where the costs would be higher.

We stayed at Marina Del Mar which is kid friendly and pretty laid back. They have a regular pool, a tot pool, and you can also use the neighboring Holiday Inn pool which has a waterfall (they're under the same ownership). The restaurant is okay and there are other options within walking distance. It's located on a canal with ocean access and lots of boat traffic including snorkel/dive boats and private boats. The area is definitely ocean-centric.

As far as diving, we went with BlueWater Divers because my son needed to work with Brent Hilliard of BlueWater. They are located on the same canal as Marina Del Mar next to the Holiday Inn - you walk to their boat from the hotel. Here's the link if you want to read about it - link. See post #15.

Overall, a wonderful weekend and we threw in a snorkel trip with the official Pennekamp boat. Our 8yo and 13yo daughters loved it.

Good luck,
Hector

 

[odieisscuba]

I posted this back in 4/08. While my kids were older but Harley was great. The shop is part of the Hampton Inn which I noted you were looking for. Good luck and have fun wherever you go.

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Just returned from a five day trip for sun and scuba. Stayed at the Hampton Inn (itself a very nice place) and used the attached Seamonkeys Watersports for scuba diving for our 15 year old boy/girl twins. Seamonkeys has been owned by B.J. and Harley Born since 9/07. A lifelong diver, this is Harley's first dive shop.

My daughter took her open water certfication through the shop with Andy as instructor. My son (who is master diver) did dives with both Andy and Harley. Captain Ted took us around all three days of diving to different parts of Alligator Reef, Cheeca Rocks, and the the Eagle wreck. Ted was extremely knowledgeable of local conditions and added background to the dive sites. Harley has clearly invested a lot of time and money to make this a successful business. He was very friendly and accommodating to the needs of diversely skilled divers and made the trip fun.

Our children commented what a great trip it was (this coming from teenagers) and each night put the underwater pictures of the day on Facebook for all their friends to see (the highest honor).

All in all, a wonderful and safe time and we are looking forward to going back again.