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Dive Review of Our own boat/our own RV in
The Continental USA/Keys

Our own boat/our own RV, May, 2006,

by Bruce Wallace, IN, USA . Report 2754.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments My wife (100+ dives) and I (1,000+) dives arrived in Key Largo in May 06 for a four month stay to dive the Pennekamp and Florida Marine Sanctuary. We own a 16' inflatable hard hull boat rigged for scuba diving. Our RV camp was located right on the Adams Cut with direct access to Largo Sound and the open Atlantic. Our runs to the reefs averaged 20 minutes.

We started at Carysfort Reef/Light and spent the next four months diving nearly every mooring bouy group all the way down to Molasses Reef at the extreme south end of the Pennekamp Sanctuary. We dove depths from 5 feet to 130 feet with general conditions of no current (or not noticeable), waves between dead calm and 2 feet, visibility averaging 60 to 70 feet (measured by two divers holding up fingers)and mostly on reefs with the usual Grove, Duane, Bibb and Benwood wrecks thrown in for interest and T-shirts. The Benwood was our favorite at 35 feet (average), very distributed debris field, tons of hiding places and the greatest "scare" of all when a group of Tarpon "fly" through your dive area.

Name the reef fish in the books and they were there to test your recognition specialty. Most fish are people friendly as they see hundreds and hundreds of divers and snorkelers every day. The Barracuda are particulary nerve-racking as they have been fed by dive operators and show little waryness to approaching divers. This can be disconcerting when we were easily approached within a couple of feet by 4 to 5 foot great barracudas looking for a "hand out" (try to keep your hands close to your body and use the camera housing for your defense moves.

All in all, we dove over 100 dives in the four months. Air refills from World Watersports were $2 each. We dove 80's, 63's and a 50 to see how our time was impacted. The 63's were the best as they were lighter and we still exceeded 60 minutes (or wife's thermal limits). There is simply no need to dive 80's when max depth is less than 100 feet.

We shot over 1,000 still pics and 30 hours of digital video. All in all, it was an "Endless Summer" to be remembered. THANKS!

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving 22 different islands in the Caribbean since 2002
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas choppy, surge
Water Temp 82-85°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Recreational limits
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments We own our own dive boat, a 16' RIB inflatable with 40hp outboard. We set up a fresh water rinse tub and have a 10 gal fresh water shower on board. The reef of the Florida Keys are nearly unmatched for UWP. They are all there and if you let them, they will come to you for having their pictures taken.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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