Pro Dive International 5/31/

[ctx120]

On Sunday a group of divers went out on Pro Dive International.I haven't seen any post
about their dive . I was wondering about their diving experience with the operation .I plan on diving with them on Sat june 13:goingdown:

 

[Jupiter31]

I dove w/ them yesterday, and I'll give you my thoughts

Diving with the group from Scubaboard and Kayuba was fantastic - to be on a boat with a group of experienced, great divers really made the day special - there are some Superb divers in S. FL and it was great diving with them.

The boat is large, well layed out, with plenty of shade - also had a fast crusing speed - water available, other drinks and snacks available for purchase

I thought the Cap't and crew did an outstanding job - they were friendly, professional, and made everyone feel welcome

They hooked a very deep wreck on the 1st try - not easy to do

Other things to be aware of - and there is nothing negative about my experience - but want to present the other side of the coin

Yeah, its big, and its comfortable, and has plenty of shade - but at the end of the day it holds a lot of divers - its a cattle boat - and while I enjoyed diving w/ the very experienced we had aboard yesterday, don't know that I would have felt the same if 30 newbi's were aboard - and I could be 100% wrong, but got the feeling a lot of their customers are fairly new/inexperienced divers

The fresh water shower did not work - it spit out a little water and thats it - a fresh water shower is a must for me - YMMV

The 2nd site did not really do it for me - Copenhagen - I'd trade a little deeper site w/ less bottom time - gotta be better sites, but again YMMV

So........

Would I dive with them again and would I recommend to others? Without a doubt. But for me, diving in FTL is never going to equal Jupiter or Boynton, or WPB.

The other thing they have going for them is attitude - they seem to have a great one, and really care that you are comfortable and having a good time.

So thanks for the PM Gen - you can PM me anytime!

 

[deepstops]

So thanks for the PM Gen - you can PM me anytime!

I agree Jup, and it was an absoute pleasure meeting you yesterday. I found all the bad things Mermaid had told me were untrue
(running and ducking for cover)

 

[netmage]

Some friends went out Friday afternoon and I dove with them on Saturday and Sunday.... On Saturday we hit the wreck treck (Tracy, Scutti, Pride, Merci Jesus, Moonshot) and Sunday we hit the Rodeo 25....

Here's some pics from Saturday's dive.....

The good...
A very experienced local captain and plentiful enthusiastic crew who gave a top notch boat safety and dive briefing...
They really did everything they could do to be helpful and make our trip painless and hassle free.
The boat is large with plenty of room for sitting down in comfort or stowing gear in a dry\protected space.


The bad...
It is a larger operation, and as such the check in\loading procedure takes time... you've got allot of gear bags, people and tanks moving about... So, show up on time...
The tank racks are PVC for 7.25" tanks, so, unless your diving an AL80 (or comparable), your tanks will go on the floor or on a cushion... And we have people showing up in rebreathers and doubles... I'd recommend taking one or two stations and setting them up to be flexible...

The ugly...
Not really 'ugly'... but I had to fit w/ the movie reference... the second dive is WAY shallow and you need to navigate ... Up in Pompano we're accustomed to having a reasonable SI followed by a 60' drift dive on the 3rd reef system. We had maybe a 5-10 min SI (ok, partially because we were all on Nitrox, so we stayed longer on the wrecks that most of the other divers) and we motored up to one of the balls along the beach for a 25-30' dive moored to the reef... So you had to go out and come back.... talk about a working dive.... we're spoiled w/ the lazy way out just drifting and having the boat come pick us up... I imagine they operate differently because their catering to traveling divers/students on air, and chasing down 25 divers and flags burns allot of fuel, plus they have a fairly long run motoring out the inlet, so keeping with any sense of schedule is difficult.

 

[gsparg]

It was a great day at sea yesterday!

On behalf of the Pro Dive staff and crew, we would like to thank you all for diving with us and for only bringing one can of Spam on board.

Jupiter 31 - we're working on that shower head as I type! And oh, believe it or not, the Pro Diver II is rated to handle 97 passengers (that's a small country's worth!), but we limit it to 28 divers, which is a lot more palatable, but I understand how it can seem a little crowded at times

Thank you again for diving with us. We really appreciate having such great divers and tech divers on board. Please join us anytime, and remember if you're the first to sign up for the charter then you can select the dive sites - Jim Atria, Rebel, Tenneco, you name it!

-PS Nice photos netmage!
-PPS Should I change my SB name to PM Gen?

 

[ONESPEED]

I will ditto what netmage said. I had a great time yesterday, which is unusual for me on larger boats that carry many divers. The crew did an outstanding job of keeping everything organized as there were many divers of varied skill levels and equipment configurations on board. Would I dive with them again? sure, but I would probably seek out a trip doing a deeper drift or wreck for the second dive. Two thumbs up for any crew that can keep that many divers organized.

 

[ONESPEED]

It was a great day at sea yesterday!

On behalf of the Pro Dive staff and crew, we would like to thank you all for diving with us and for only bringing one can of Spam on board.

Jupiter 31 - we're working on that shower head as I type! And oh, believe it or not, the Pro Diver II is rated to handle 97 passengers (that's a small country's worth!), but we limit it to 28 divers, which is a lot more palatable, but I understand how it can seem a little crowded at times

Thank you again for diving with us. We really appreciate having such great divers and tech divers on board. Please join us anytime, and remember if you're the first to sign up for the charter then you can select the dive sites - Jim Atria, Rebel, Tenneco, you name it!

-PS Nice photos netmage!
-PPS Should I change my SB name to PM Gen?

Hello Gen, it was great to meet you yesterday, thanks for organizing such a great trip for us and keep posting on ScubaBoard!

 

[ONESPEED]

On behalf of the Pro Dive staff and crew, we would like to thank you all for diving with us and for only bringing one can of Spam on board.

<snicker>

 

[DebbyDiver]

Another two thumbs up for the incredibly friendly, enthusiastic, and professional staff! Yes, the boat gets crowded, BUT...I really like how you can get in out of the sun, or out of the rain, more so than any other dive boat in the area. I also liked that there is a shower in the ladies bathroom (and presumably the mens as well). This is a very comfortable boat and with everyone being so friendly, the fact that it was crowded at the stern wasn't a problem for me. Thank you, Genevieve, for reintroducing us to the Pro Diver II. I hope to see more ScubaBoard trips and I hope you will have special ScubaBoard pricing like many of the other local charters do.

 

[joystershell]

Ditto to all the kudos already posted about ProDive.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip yesterday.

Good Friends, Good Dives and Good Times.

It had been too many years since I've done the Rodeo 25. Need to do it again, soon.

The shallow reef did capture my attention, watching the free divers looping around with their scooters was like seeing poetry in motion.

Thanks to ProDive for their warm welcome and hospitality. Can't wait for the next trip.