1amphibian
Contributor
Just got back from a nice little trip to the upper keys for some diving (ok it was mine and DynamiteT's honeymoon too but that's another story)
After 15 minutes of exhaustive online research with my hijacked wifi signal I decided on Conch Republic Divers out of Tavernier (10% off for Scubaboard members) The first hurdle to overcome was the fact that my new bride forgot her C-card, no problem, they called NAUI and had it all sorted out with no problem. Monday the 8th of June we arrived at 12:30pm sharp as requested by the nice gentlmen on the phone.
We arrive and check in, and a copy of Tracie's C-card is already there waiting on us. We deal with the ever pleasant and friendly Dean who makes sure everything is in order for us and sets up our account since were also diving with them on Wednesday for a trip to the Speigel Grove.
The Republic Diver is a really nice dive boat, and as we were the only divers on this trip we had it all to ourselves ( the owner and her granddaughters were onboard for some snorkeling) we met out crew who were by far the friendliest boat crew I have ever delt with and they assisted us in getting our gear situated on the boat.
The required briefs were completed with professionalism as well as humor and we felt very welcomed aboard thier boat.
We had a quick and smooth trip out to Davis reef where we were able to take some nice pics (will post later) and after 50 min or so we surfaced for the rather quick ride over to Crocker reef. I wasn't feeling to hot after the first dive as I didn't eat anything before the dive and the crew were very accomodating letting my stomach settle down before we did our second dive, again, a very pleasant warm water dive in nothing but a bathing suit and Tshirt. The sea conditions were temp 82 and waves about 2-3 feet inside the reefs. No noticeable current, tons of marine life.
Upon arriving back at the shop, the owner Captain Gary greeted us and we had a nice long chat about diving and the shop and how he runs his business. I have to say Gary is a super nice guy who loves what he does, and it shows in the way he and his staff treat thier guests.
On our off day, Tuesday we went down to the History of Diving Museum (2 dollar discount for scubaboard members) and had a very enjoyable time. This is a really neat exhibit with tons of facinating artifacts and equipment from the history of diving.
Now on to Wednesday and the big Speigel Grove trip. We get to the dock at about 12:20 and beggining to load up, which was so easy since the shop stored all of our gear for us and topped off our tanks and had them waiting on the boat for us. We arrive at the site to find we are the only boat on the wreck. Captian Jorge put us right where he wanted us on one of the superstructure bouys.
Tracie and I geared up along with the 5 other divers on the boat and made our way to the back, with everyone else in and Tracie on the bouy line waiting for me, I promptly dropped my nice Scubapro springstrapped Jetfin straight into the water and away it sank as a quite sacrafice to the wreck gods.
After a few minutes of discussion with Jorge and Jason, I decided I needed the challenge and did the dive with one fin. I was able to hover just above the deck and move around pretty much normally as the current wasn't bad on the ship itself.
Vis was around 45 feet and there were some nice large barracuda on the port side of the superstructure, we also saw two goliath grouper on the starboard side. There were yellowfin tuna picking at some of the smaller fish above the ship. The wrech is in great shape with all of the swimthru's being clear and the ship being only slightly grown over with corals and other marine life . Would love to do this one again but with a lot more gas and with both fins next time.
The dive was over too quickly and we were back on the rope headed for the boat and one more dive, this time on Snapper reef/ledge.
The current was pretty stiff but the vis was decent at around 50 ft, more fish and marine life than at any other site we had dove. Nice dive for 25 ft depth and took tons of pics at this site too. Large snook under the ledge and of course lots of lobster since it's off season.
On a last note, Conch Republic Divers is also less expensive than the other operators our of Key Largo and Islamorada.
After 15 minutes of exhaustive online research with my hijacked wifi signal I decided on Conch Republic Divers out of Tavernier (10% off for Scubaboard members) The first hurdle to overcome was the fact that my new bride forgot her C-card, no problem, they called NAUI and had it all sorted out with no problem. Monday the 8th of June we arrived at 12:30pm sharp as requested by the nice gentlmen on the phone.
We arrive and check in, and a copy of Tracie's C-card is already there waiting on us. We deal with the ever pleasant and friendly Dean who makes sure everything is in order for us and sets up our account since were also diving with them on Wednesday for a trip to the Speigel Grove.
The Republic Diver is a really nice dive boat, and as we were the only divers on this trip we had it all to ourselves ( the owner and her granddaughters were onboard for some snorkeling) we met out crew who were by far the friendliest boat crew I have ever delt with and they assisted us in getting our gear situated on the boat.
The required briefs were completed with professionalism as well as humor and we felt very welcomed aboard thier boat.
We had a quick and smooth trip out to Davis reef where we were able to take some nice pics (will post later) and after 50 min or so we surfaced for the rather quick ride over to Crocker reef. I wasn't feeling to hot after the first dive as I didn't eat anything before the dive and the crew were very accomodating letting my stomach settle down before we did our second dive, again, a very pleasant warm water dive in nothing but a bathing suit and Tshirt. The sea conditions were temp 82 and waves about 2-3 feet inside the reefs. No noticeable current, tons of marine life.
Upon arriving back at the shop, the owner Captain Gary greeted us and we had a nice long chat about diving and the shop and how he runs his business. I have to say Gary is a super nice guy who loves what he does, and it shows in the way he and his staff treat thier guests.
On our off day, Tuesday we went down to the History of Diving Museum (2 dollar discount for scubaboard members) and had a very enjoyable time. This is a really neat exhibit with tons of facinating artifacts and equipment from the history of diving.
Now on to Wednesday and the big Speigel Grove trip. We get to the dock at about 12:20 and beggining to load up, which was so easy since the shop stored all of our gear for us and topped off our tanks and had them waiting on the boat for us. We arrive at the site to find we are the only boat on the wreck. Captian Jorge put us right where he wanted us on one of the superstructure bouys.
Tracie and I geared up along with the 5 other divers on the boat and made our way to the back, with everyone else in and Tracie on the bouy line waiting for me, I promptly dropped my nice Scubapro springstrapped Jetfin straight into the water and away it sank as a quite sacrafice to the wreck gods.
After a few minutes of discussion with Jorge and Jason, I decided I needed the challenge and did the dive with one fin. I was able to hover just above the deck and move around pretty much normally as the current wasn't bad on the ship itself.
Vis was around 45 feet and there were some nice large barracuda on the port side of the superstructure, we also saw two goliath grouper on the starboard side. There were yellowfin tuna picking at some of the smaller fish above the ship. The wrech is in great shape with all of the swimthru's being clear and the ship being only slightly grown over with corals and other marine life . Would love to do this one again but with a lot more gas and with both fins next time.
The dive was over too quickly and we were back on the rope headed for the boat and one more dive, this time on Snapper reef/ledge.
The current was pretty stiff but the vis was decent at around 50 ft, more fish and marine life than at any other site we had dove. Nice dive for 25 ft depth and took tons of pics at this site too. Large snook under the ledge and of course lots of lobster since it's off season.
On a last note, Conch Republic Divers is also less expensive than the other operators our of Key Largo and Islamorada.
