Dive Review of Quiescence in
The Continental USA/Florida Keys

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Quiescence, May, 2007, by Alexander Griffin, MD, USA . Report 3626.
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	Quiescence Dive Services located in Key Largo bills themselves as having a "Personalized" scuba operation. Many companies use that word and it means nothing. But after our group of five friends dove with them for a full day of four dives in the beautiful Key Largo waters I have to say that "Personalized" was no understatement! Our experience began on a beautiful nearly cloudless spring day. Quiesence had been recommended to us by a friend but otherwise we knew nothing about them. Their main office was easy to find and very efficient, with all the right questions and qualification checks I'd expect from a professional organization. Within 20 minutes we had our tanks, weights, boat assignment and were introduced to our captain for the day, Steve Campbell. Their dive boats, although they look small at first glance, are roomy, comfortable and extremely easy to get in and out of the water. As with every dive operator I start looking for the small things before I jump in -- condition of the boats, presence of emergency equipment especially oxygen, working radios and nav... no concerns here, these boats are very well maintained. Our captain provided the boat safety briefing efficiently and cheerily. As these words being his first introduction to our group, I appreciated his enthusiasm as it made us feel welcome and eager to dive. We made no preference on dive sites and left it to Steve to choose for us. He used his knowledge of the latest weather and radio reports from other captains to choose us four different, colourful and diverse spots. I had absolutely no complaint. At each site Steve would provide us a briefing with landmarks to look for and a general profile of the reef system including circuits we might want to try. Our dives were roughly 60 minutes each, to depths no more than about 60 feet and averaging probably 30 feet. On only one dive did we encounter divers from another boat but as we were both small groups there were no issues. On that same dive I also saw the most enormous grouper I'd ever seen in the Caribbean... large enough he could have swallowed both my arms in one bite. On surfacing I relayed my excitement and Steve gave a knowing smile and said, "So Bruiser was out today, was he?" I had my camera with me and got good pictures of Bruiser but I think even the best wide angle lens wouldn't adequately capture Bruiser's full size and girth. Fish life was somewhat sparse from what I'd hoped for, but the corals were healthy with lots of diversity. In several areas we came across huge gardens of sea fans. The pictures from our two photographers came out great, but there is something peacefully mesmerizing about watching hundreds of sea fans swaying in the current that still photography just can't capture. Visibility on three of the four dives was quite good, often exceeding 60 feet. Our 3rd dive of the day was during a strong tidal flow which had us working harder to see less, but that didn't mar our overall experience. I would strongly recommend Quiescence and Key West to the experienced diver who regularly dives or is ready to dive off a small boat without a divemaster. If you've only had the cattle boat experience (15 or more divers) until now and are ready to see how GOOD diving can be, I cannot recommend Quiescence any higher. Four of the five divers in our group had been on liveaboards before and the smooth flow of getting us from parking lot to dive site and back again was as close as we'd ever experienced for a land based operation.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Great Barrier Reef, St. Croix, Ireland, NC Outer Banks, Saba, St. Kitts
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	77-79°F / 25-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	60-70 minutes per dive due to boat schedules
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Probably limited by the size and layout of the boat, a large freshwater rinse tank was the only missing amenity that would have kept this from being "5" for boat facilities.

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Dive Review of Quiescence in The Continental USA/Florida Keys

Quiescence, May, 2007,

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 Quiescence in
The Continental USA/Florida Keys