Dive Review of SCUBA-Do & HMS Minnow/Holiday Isle in
The Continental USA

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SCUBA-Do & HMS Minnow/Holiday Isle, Oct, 2003, by Eric Lavonas, NC, USA . Report 807.
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	3 days of diving in Key Largo - 2 with SCUBA-Do, 1 with HMS Minnow. SCUBA-Do: Boat accomodates 16 divers but carries max 10. Excellent physical layout. Laurie is enthusiastic to a fault - make sure you have logbook w/ deep dives if you want to dive local wrecks with SCUBA-Do! Excellent site briefings. Tony and Laurie are quietly safety-conscious and do lots of little things to keep things smooth. Extremely professional outfit. Highly recommend diving on the Spiegel Grove, but get there early to avoid crowds. (SCUBA-Do leaves 30 mins earlier than other boats for this reason.) HMS Minnow: Much smaller boat (6 divers max). Dove the Duane - an even better site than Spiegle Grove b/c it's upright. We had 4 divers - it would have been a little tight with a full boat. Jeff Jarvis is laid-back and efficient. Nice little touches like oranges between dives & beverages (water, soda, & beer) for the ride home. We liked both operations a lot, and recommend both without hesitation. Definately good to avoid the cattle boats & dive with these guys. Holiday Isle resort (Islamorada): Rooms OK, resort overall a bit shabby. Tiki-bar was loud and a bit of a meat-market. At least on the weekend, it's not the place to sip beers in peace. Ollie's restaurant mediocre food & service. Overall 2 stars. Safety/courtesy problem observed: Another dive boat (Silent World) moored right on top of the bubbles of our divers doing their safety stop on the Spiegel Grove. When our captain politely pointed this out and asked Silent World to shorten their mooring line for the safety of his divers, the captain of Silent World refused and became visibly angry & profane. Would absolutely avoid Silent World.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Cayman, Provo, Australia, Bimini, Bermuda, USVI, BVI, Florida
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny,windy	Seas	choppy,surge
Water Temp	82-0°F / 28--18°C	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	SCUBA-Do: 60 minutes & 500 PSI. Computer required on USS Spiegel Grove. HMS Minnow: 500 PSI.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	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	Separate camera table & rinse bucket

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Dive Review of SCUBA-Do & HMS Minnow/Holiday Isle in The Continental USA

SCUBA-Do & HMS Minnow/Holiday Isle, Oct, 2003,

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 SCUBA-Do & HMS Minnow/Holiday Isle in
The Continental USA