Dive Review of Florida Keys Dive Center in
The Continental USA/Upper Keys (Key Largo)

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Florida Keys Dive Center, Sep, 2006, by Tom Chase, KY, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 7 reports). Report 3069.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I dove with this operator for four two tank day trips and a night dive. I had my newly certified 14 year old daughter with me. She had just completed her advanced open water and Nitrox courses. The staff and crew were very accommodating to our needs. Even though they were very busy with a large charter for the weekend, they made us feel comfortable and welcome. They matched divers up by interest and experience. Both boats were in good shape and well set up. I much prefer the larger and faster Big Dipper to the Little Dipper. We dove the shallow reefs and did two wreck dives—the Eagle and Spiegel Grove. The Eagle is a great dive. We saw three monster Goliath Groupers in the cargo hold. The conditions on the day we dove the Spiegel Grove were not as good so the dive was not as impressive as it would have been on a better visibility day. It is such a massive ship that it would take 4-5 dives to cover it. Crew did a great job with dive briefings and review of boat procedures. I wish they had a better ladder because you have to take your fins off on the tow line and that is sometimes difficult with chop and if you have a camera, lobster gear or dive lights. I heard some internal squabbles between staff members (they were stressed out because of this large group of college kids who were all taking a course and were not too concerned about being punctual or paying attention to briefings etc.) but they never let that manifest to passengers or guests. When we dove the Spiegel it was very choppy. There were several people who were on that trip for snorkeling purposes. Since the Spiegel is over 100’ deep, there would be no meaningful snorkeling opportunities so the only chance they had to snorkel was on the shallow reef dive that was our second dive that day. I am surprised that the crew didn’t try to talk them out of that trip since it would be marginal at best. However, they may have said something to them and I just didn’t observe it. I was quite pleased with this operator. I had originally booked all my trips through Tavernier Dive Center, but this operation purchased them before our trip so by default we ended up at the Florida Keys Dive Center. I am glad we ended up there. I would highly recommend them.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Carribean, Puerto Rico, Turks, Belize, Hawaii, NC, CA, Great Lakes
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	83-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Time limits (1 hour) and/or computer limits on deep dives.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Rinse bucket only.

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Dive Review of Florida Keys Dive Center in The Continental USA/Upper Keys (Key Largo)

Florida Keys Dive Center, Sep, 2006,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Florida Keys Dive Center in
The Continental USA/Upper Keys (Key Largo)