Key West INFO

[tah532]

I am an Advanced Open Water diver who will be visiting Key West in May. Can anyone recommend some dive spots and dive shops please? Thanks

[dyverdnnc]

We went last year & had a small boat at our disposal. We weren't very impressed. We would have liked to have gone out near Marquesa Key & dive on a wreck or two on the other side of it. Otherwise, I recommend going out from Marathon or Key Largo. There may have been some deeper reefs off of Key West, but we didn't think we could reach it with the small boat we had.

[Puffer Queen]

I would recommend journeying north of Key West slightly to dive Looe Key - check out a dive shop Reef-Divers in Cudjoe Key. Jim Wyatt is the owner/captain/dive master. He only takes out a max of 6 divers. I have dove with him on multiple occasions and couldn't have had better dive experiences. On one trip, we packed lunches and stayed out all day. Tilden's in Marathon is another dive shop that is worth diving with as well.

I have never dove Key West. All my friends that live in the Keys have always told me that the diving is better elsewhere.

Wish I was diving somewhere warm right now!
Kelly

[jsc4354]

I went snorkeling a couple years ago in the Keys but can't recall the name of the reef. I do remember someone mentioning it was a protected area. Not sure if this helps but I also was at the store yesterday and was looking through a Scuba Diving mag which had an article on the top 100 dive spots 2 of which were in the keys. They did not post the article online but here is what I found regarding the reefs in the Keys while looking on their site.

Elbow, Molasses, Carysfort and French reefs

Alligator, Crocker and Davis reefs

wreck of the Eagle freighter

Sombrero Reef

Delta Shoals and Coffins Patch

[Puffer Queen]

Most of the sites you listed are in Key Largo & Marathon.

Kelly

[Carman34L]

I went snorkling at the barrier reef off of key west in may of last year. We paid for and took the huge catamaran dont remember the name of the company but it was reasonably priced. The reef was about 7 miles south-west of key west. It was really choppy so visibilty was very poor, about 10'. But i have to say that it was still a great day trip.

[jsc4354]

Well, if you say you're visiting Key West. I think of all the keys maybe its just me. Either way, I went snorkeling at the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary the last time I was there and had a great time.

Also, I have never been there but have always wanted to go. So, if you have the time and money check out the Dry Tortugas.

[tah532]

Anyone know if the weather behaves in May in Key West? I know it is Florida and all, but just curious if i might get rained outta diving in the middle of May.

[kane4187]

I would suggest going to Marathon and going though Capt Morgans dive. Here the link to there site www.captainmorgansdive.com the wife and I went the last year and ill tell ya it was awesome defiantly go out to Sombrero Reef you wont regret it.

[ME2003]

I just returned from the keys. Below is a thread with some dive pictures. Looe Key and Key Largo are the places to dive for reefs.
Key West has a couple of wreck dives. Be careful who you book a
dive with. The last time I was at Looe Key, there was 20-30 divers
on the boat. This makes it difficult to get into the water and reduces dive time.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6524951#post6524951

[michindi]

We are going to key largo in march

[ME2003]

Other than diving,I would recommend kayaking through the mangroves at John Pennekamp state park in Key Largo.
http://www.pennekamppark.com/kayak.html
http://www.pennekamppark.com/

[iflyprops]

I dive with Scubado ( www.scuba-do.com )out of key largo all the time, they are wonderful. Try them out if you make it up that far, great diving as well.

[bhbell]

Since you plan to be in the Keys, check out www.sealifeflorida.com. I was in the Keys this past weekend and got blown out on Saturday by gale force winds and then had to fly out on Sunday. So I went by and looked at Ken Nedimyer's operation and found a bunch of things I couldn't live without. I spent about as much on tank critters as I would have on diving, so I guess it all evened out in the long run:lol:

[Puffer Queen]

Ken is a great guy. I have several puffers from him!

Kelly

[bhbell]

He is indeed. He's been doing it for years and now has his daughter involved in the collecting and selling part of the business. I offered to trade jobs with him but couldn't get him to bite. I spent a couple of hours there mentally trying out the different zoos, rics, anemones, gorgonians, scallops, sponges,fish, etc in my tank.

[phishlet]

Where is SealifeFlorida located? I'll be diving in the Keys in April and would like to stop in.

[bhbell]

Sealifeflorida is on Tavernier Key. Contact him thru his website. I'm already prepping my next order :-)

[ReefWreak]

I noticed that someone discussed Dry Tortugas/ Fort Jefferson. I went there a number of years ago on a boyscout trip snorkeling, and it was INCREDIBLE. I just remember seeing a gigantic reef with so many types of fish, including swimming within 6 feet of (and later fishing for) barracudas who were 4-5 feet long. It was crazy when I look back at it. Of course, I was probably 12 or 13 then, but regardless, it was amazing, not to mention that it is a great historical site for the rest of the family to explore, as Ft. Jefferson was an active confederate fort/prison during the civil war.

[drgabe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6494701#post6494701 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tah532
Anyone know if the weather behaves in May in Key West? I know it is Florida and all, but just curious if i might get rained outta diving in the middle of May.

South Fla weather is nice at any time of the year, and May is no exception. Dont worry abou rain. The only thing to ruin your day is high winds (very unpredictable, but usualy worse in the winter and early spring) and thunder storms (nearly always evening and occasionaly early morning).

In May you might have some problems with wind and if you dont have good sea legs, then get pre-medicated or acept the idea of tossing your cookies. Dont stay up on Duval Street too late the night before your dive, and if possible, dont dive Key West, but go further north up the islands for the best diving in the continental US.

[phishlet]

Any recommendations for some good dive ops?

[ReefWaters]

I know this is WAY late to reply to this thread but I just got back from Key Largo. We dove with Quiescence the first day and Horizon Divers the next.

The diving was great IMO. Quiescence was a GREAT group of people. Very friendly and 6 packs only. I will dive with them again for sure.

Horizon's was okay. Nice boat but the crew seemed to think that their $#*& didn't stink IMO. I just didn't get a good vibe. They also FORGOT to give us our group discount which came out to about $20 a person. I will not be going out with these guys again.

We dove Key Largo Dry Rocks, Pickles Reef, and Molasses. Molasses was AMAZING despite having 30 boats sitting on top of it.