Key Largo Trip Report

My wife and I recently got back from Key Largo. She was completing her
Open Water dives while we were down there. Overall we had a pretty
good time. Key Largo is not Cozumel but for the price it is still a
great place.

We used Sea Dwellers as our Dive Operator. They are a good operation,
very professional and organized. My only gripe was the amount of
people on the boat. The first 2 days there were over 30 divers on the
boat which makes it really hard to set up your gear and find a place
to sit. The third day we had about 21 divers (still more than I have
ever had on a boat) but it was such a relief to have 10-12 less divers
on there.

The weather was awesome, sunny and in the 80's and 90's. Since we had
3 students with us we didn't do any advanced dive sites as a group.
Most sites were less than 40' deep. Water temps were mid 80's and I
was very comfortable in a 1mm skin. The surge was pretty bad the first
2 days and it made the checkout dives tough for the students but they
got through it. We did most of the dives to Molasses Reef. Overall the
best site was the Benwood wreck. Visibility was good (50' or more) and
there was almost no current. Lots of fish, especially barracuda!

I did one night dive out to Molasses Reef (Hole in the Wall). We got
in the water at sunset and got to see the light change underwater. It
was a pretty decent dive with almost no current and good vis. Saw a
huge Green Moray and a lot of lobsters.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn and found it to be pretty nice and a
decent price. The pool is enjoyable and they have live music which my
wife enjoys a lot. We would definitely stay there again.

We have another trip booked next month and I am looking forward to
going down there again. Maybe this time I can dive the Spiegel Grove.

"kabluton" <kabluton@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5df159f1.0307251116.5982086d@posting.google.c om...
> My wife and I recently got back from Key Largo. She was completing her
> Open Water dives while we were down there. Overall we had a pretty
> good time. Key Largo is not Cozumel but for the price it is still a
> great place.

You got that right! I wrote a magazine article on diving in the Keys and
just pitching the article got them to publish the sucker before I'd even
written it.

> We used Sea Dwellers as our Dive Operator. They are a good operation,
> very professional and organized. My only gripe was the amount of
> people on the boat. The first 2 days there were over 30 divers on the
> boat which makes it really hard to set up your gear and find a place
> to sit. The third day we had about 21 divers (still more than I have
> ever had on a boat) but it was such a relief to have 10-12 less divers
> on there.

Ah, the joys of a cattle boat. Next time try Quiescence; also in Key Largo.
Excellent service and they run six-packs.

> The weather was awesome, sunny and in the 80's and 90's. Since we had
> 3 students with us we didn't do any advanced dive sites as a group.
> Most sites were less than 40' deep. Water temps were mid 80's and I
> was very comfortable in a 1mm skin. The surge was pretty bad the first
> 2 days and it made the checkout dives tough for the students but they
> got through it. We did most of the dives to Molasses Reef. Overall the
> best site was the Benwood wreck. Visibility was good (50' or more) and
> there was almost no current. Lots of fish, especially barracuda!

Were the barracudas juveniles schooling or adults? Nothing in life prepares
you for seeing 200+ 2' barracudas circling you or a 5' adult barracuda
headed straight at you!

> I did one night dive out to Molasses Reef (Hole in the Wall). We got
> in the water at sunset and got to see the light change underwater. It
> was a pretty decent dive with almost no current and good vis. Saw a
> huge Green Moray and a lot of lobsters.

Glad to see th elobsters are doing well. I saw a Green moray that was as
big around as me (and that's allowing for distortion and I'm no skinny guy).

> We stayed at the Holiday Inn and found it to be pretty nice and a
> decent price. The pool is enjoyable and they have live music which my
> wife enjoys a lot. We would definitely stay there again.

Cool!

> We have another trip booked next month and I am looking forward to
> going down there again. Maybe this time I can dive the Spiegel Grove.

Let us know how it goes, and thanks for the trip report!

We went to Key Largo last year. It was great. We also stayed at the Holiday
Inn but we dove with Sharkey's Dive Center. They are a small place at the
docks to the left of the Holiday Inn. They have a couple of pretty big
catamarans that were smooth riding (especially on the top deck -- nice and
cool). You might check them out for the Spiegel Grove.

"kabluton" <kabluton@yahoo.com> wrote in essage
news:5df159f1.0307251116.5982086d@posting.google.c om...
> My wife and I recently got back from Key Largo. She was completing her
> Open Water dives while we were down there. Overall we had a pretty
> good time. Key Largo is not Cozumel but for the price it is still a
> great place.
>
> We used Sea Dwellers as our Dive Operator. They are a good operation,
> very professional and organized. My only gripe was the amount of
> people on the boat. The first 2 days there were over 30 divers on the
> boat which makes it really hard to set up your gear and find a place
> to sit. The third day we had about 21 divers (still more than I have
> ever had on a boat) but it was such a relief to have 10-12 less divers
> on there.
>
> The weather was awesome, sunny and in the 80's and 90's. Since we had
> 3 students with us we didn't do any advanced dive sites as a group.
> Most sites were less than 40' deep. Water temps were mid 80's and I
> was very comfortable in a 1mm skin. The surge was pretty bad the first
> 2 days and it made the checkout dives tough for the students but they
> got through it. We did most of the dives to Molasses Reef. Overall the
> best site was the Benwood wreck. Visibility was good (50' or more) and
> there was almost no current. Lots of fish, especially barracuda!
>
> I did one night dive out to Molasses Reef (Hole in the Wall). We got
> in the water at sunset and got to see the light change underwater. It
> was a pretty decent dive with almost no current and good vis. Saw a
> huge Green Moray and a lot of lobsters.
>
> We stayed at the Holiday Inn and found it to be pretty nice and a
> decent price. The pool is enjoyable and they have live music which my
> wife enjoys a lot. We would definitely stay there again.
>
> We have another trip booked next month and I am looking forward to
> going down there again. Maybe this time I can dive the Spiegel Grove.

> I did one night dive out to Molasses Reef (Hole in the Wall). We got
> in the water at sunset and got to see the light change underwater. It
> was a pretty decent dive with almost no current and good vis. Saw a
> huge Green Moray and a lot of lobsters.

In the future, please refrain from posting the location of "lot of lobsters"
in public forums only a few days before the mini lobster season. Such
reports should be sent to me, and only me, privately.

Lee

"JSR" <rousseau@hiwaay.net> wrote in message news:<vi3pe1dfbpr601@corp.supernews.com>...
> We went to Key Largo last year. It was great. We also stayed at the Holiday
> Inn but we dove with Sharkey's Dive Center. They are a small place at the
> docks to the left of the Holiday Inn. They have a couple of pretty big
> catamarans that were smooth riding (especially on the top deck -- nice and
> cool). You might check them out for the Spiegel Grove.

We stayed last year at the Holiday Inn in Key Largo and
used Sharky's. Great place to stay. Good rates ($99/night) and
very nice rooms. Mini-fridge in room, cold AC, nice pool with
Tiki Bar. Good resturant. Grocery store, dive shop all next door.
Fast food and Eckerds drug store within walking distance.
The only thing I wish they had was a wash tank for rinsing
your gear after diving. I don't expect this from a Holiday Inn,
but in the Keys and with all the dive boats it would definately
be used. Reservations suggested as they fill up pretty quick
with all the divers, boaters, fishermen, etc.

Sharky's was nice. 5 or 6 divers on a 50-60' wide catamaran hull boat.
$55 for 2 tank dive (including tanks and weights). The are on the other
side of the 'canal' at the Holiday Inn. Easily walkable, but not really
carrying tanks or gear. A wheeled gear bag is advised if walking from
the Holiday Inn. Sharky's wasn't one of the 'big name' dive operators
down there, but they also didn't have the crowds and you had plenty
of room on their boat to move around, etc.

They had just 'attempted' to sink the Speigal Grove before we went.
We didn't get to dive it, but I did see it upside down with it's
bow hull sticking out of the water.

-mike

mike_sutton@yahoo.com left this mess on 28 Jul 2003 07:09:24 -0700 for The Way
to clean up:
>
>"JSR" <rousseau@hiwaay.net> wrote in message
>news:<vi3pe1dfbpr601@corp.supernews.com>...
>> We went to Key Largo last year. It was great. We also stayed at the Holiday
>> Inn but we dove with Sharkey's Dive Center. They are a small place at the
>> docks to the left of the Holiday Inn. They have a couple of pretty big
>> catamarans that were smooth riding (especially on the top deck -- nice and
>> cool). You might check them out for the Spiegel Grove.
>
>We stayed last year at the Holiday Inn in Key Largo and
>used Sharky's. Great place to stay. Good rates ($99/night) and
>very nice rooms. Mini-fridge in room, cold AC, nice pool with
>Tiki Bar. Good resturant. Grocery store, dive shop all next door.
>Fast food and Eckerds drug store within walking distance.
>The only thing I wish they had was a wash tank for rinsing
>your gear after diving. I don't expect this from a Holiday Inn,
>but in the Keys and with all the dive boats it would definately
>be used. Reservations suggested as they fill up pretty quick
>with all the divers, boaters, fishermen, etc.
>

Also, there was really no place to hang wet gear unless you were fortunate
enough to be on the second floor and had the railing outside to drape stuff
over. My shower floor is probably corroded by now, with all the water I dripped
on it.

Tao te Carl

"It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003

We was on the ground floor right in front of the pool. We had gear from
three divers that we set out on the sidewalk to dry. Sharkeys has a rather
large rinse tank at the dock where you get off the boat. It wasn't
volunteered but we did ask to use it with no problems at all. We were also
fortunate to have a flower bed in front of our room with large much that
would not stick to the dear so we utlized it too. It only took a couple of
hours for most everything to dry. The things that were still wet we hung up
in the bathroom to finish drying when we went to dinner.

The pool side entertainment and hot tub was nice also.

"de Valois" <devalois@nailedandused.com> wrote in message
news:bg3cec0u7t@drn.newsguy.com...
> mike_sutton@yahoo.com left this mess on 28 Jul 2003 07:09:24 -0700 for The
Way
> to clean up:
> >
> >"JSR" <rousseau@hiwaay.net> wrote in message
> >news:<vi3pe1dfbpr601@corp.supernews.com>...
> >> We went to Key Largo last year. It was great. We also stayed at the
Holiday
> >> Inn but we dove with Sharkey's Dive Center. They are a small place at
the
> >> docks to the left of the Holiday Inn. They have a couple of pretty big
> >> catamarans that were smooth riding (especially on the top deck -- nice
and
> >> cool). You might check them out for the Spiegel Grove.
> >
> >We stayed last year at the Holiday Inn in Key Largo and
> >used Sharky's. Great place to stay. Good rates ($99/night) and
> >very nice rooms. Mini-fridge in room, cold AC, nice pool with
> >Tiki Bar. Good resturant. Grocery store, dive shop all next door.
> >Fast food and Eckerds drug store within walking distance.
> >The only thing I wish they had was a wash tank for rinsing
> >your gear after diving. I don't expect this from a Holiday Inn,
> >but in the Keys and with all the dive boats it would definately
> >be used. Reservations suggested as they fill up pretty quick
> >with all the divers, boaters, fishermen, etc.
> >
>
> Also, there was really no place to hang wet gear unless you were fortunate
> enough to be on the second floor and had the railing outside to drape
stuff
> over. My shower floor is probably corroded by now, with all the water I
dripped
> on it.
>
> Tao te Carl
>
> "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003
>

> Also, there was really no place to hang wet gear unless you were
> fortunate enough to be on the second floor and had the railing
> outside to drape stuff over. My shower floor is probably corroded
> by now, with all the water I dripped on it.

yeah... I thought about that also. Most Holiday Inn's won't
have a space in each room to hang equipment to dry though...

It would be nice for them to outfit a few rooms with gear hanging
spots next time they remodel. Then you could reserve a
'diver room' for that. It's just a hassle to move everything
out of the shower when you need to use it for it's real
intended purpose.

I think I saw the rinse tank at Sharky's, but I prefer to
rinse it and hang it to dry, not rinse and put back to soak
everything in my dive bag, etc.

None the less, I'll still stay there on my next trip down.

-mike

"Michael Sutton" <mike_sutton@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b773503d.0307300622.901cb5@posting.google.com ...
>
> I think I saw the rinse tank at Sharky's, but I prefer to
> rinse it and hang it to dry, not rinse and put back to soak
> everything in my dive bag, etc.
>
> None the less, I'll still stay there on my next trip down.
>
> -mike

Armor makes a really nice mesh duffle bag that we use for dive trips, it
also has a zippered pocket on the end that I keep a save-a-dive kit in. We
will haul everthing in our regular dive bag but when we go to the boat, what
ever we need goes in a mesh bag. At the end of the boat trip everything goes
back in the mesh bag until we can dry in properly. It keeps your bigger gear
bags dry and in good condition.

I haven't seen them at our LDS's but Divers Direct sells them. So you could
buy one online or if your in the Keys its almost impossible not to find a
Divers Direct or one of the other Holiday Diver affiliates.

Jeremy

I went a couple of weeks ago. I have a friend who is in PC right now
finishing up his Open Water and I told him I would go out to the Quarry with
him. We'll probably go within the next couple of weeks. I would go more
often but It's too darn expensive.

"Michael Sutton" <mike_sutton@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b773503d.0307310710.5621ae63@posting.google.c om...
> > Armor makes a really nice mesh duffle bag that we use for dive trips, it
> > also has a zippered pocket on the end that I keep a save-a-dive kit in.
We
> > will haul everthing in our regular dive bag but when we go to the boat,
what
> > ever we need goes in a mesh bag. At the end of the boat trip everything
goes
> > back in the mesh bag until we can dry in properly. It keeps your bigger
gear
> > bags dry and in good condition.
>
> Yeah... I need to do that. My rolling dive bag deteriorated after
> a couple years from putting wet gear in it. The fabric got
> really weak and it tore on my last airline trip (Tore when I picked
> it up off the baggage carrosel, not torn by the airlines).
>
> you been out to the Madison Quarry any this year?