Northwest Dive Club

So I'm going to Orlando for a sis in laws vegan dry wedding OUCH :angry: and wanna do a couple nice dives . We will be going to northen keys also and was wondering what dives are good for me as I only have like 12 dives under my belt. Has anyone dove with the manatees? Just looking for overall suggestions of charters/sites. Thx

I have dove with the manatee at Cristal Springs and it's pretty cool but it may be the wrong season for them. Key largo and pennycamp state park is an awesome site and not bad for new divers. The boat is easy to get off of and onto the sites are not deep and there is no current. I was relatively new when I went there and it was really great. The prices weren't all that bad and the capt. and crew were great.

isac777 wrote:So I'm going to Orlando for a sis in laws vegan dry wedding OUCH :angry: and wanna do a couple nice dives . We will be going to northen keys also and was wondering what dives are good for me as I only have like 12 dives under my belt. Has anyone dove with the manatees? Just looking for overall suggestions of charters/sites. Thx

Good lord. I highly recommend soaking some beef jerky in whiskey for that. Maybe sprinkle some ground up valiums over the top?

+1. Being a flask and some breath mints.


As for diving, there are several decent charters out of key largo that go to nice sites for newer divers like yourself.

or maybe just inject industrial strength drain cleaner directly into your carotid arteries as the ceremony begins?

Joshua Smith wrote:or maybe just inject industrial strength drain cleaner directly into your carotid arteries as the ceremony begins?

Ohh man you guys are killing me. I like the "valium sprinkles" over the drano arterie idea. Is the vandenberg too technical for me? I have been to 70fsw at Muk T-dock. Am workin on getting out there more but its tuff. To make matters worse the SWMBO said "Its really important that u are not drinking" I looked at her and just got that muppet parent sound. mmmmoowwmmowwwwaaahhhahwwaahh

Manatees are generally a winter-spring dealio when they move into the freshwater springs seeking slightly warmer water (70s). The keys are a long way from Orlando tho. The Vandenberg gets into the 50ft depth range I am pretty sure... But its a 7+ hr drive to Key West each way.

I'm a big fan of the Portobello Valium burgers myself.

I dove Juno ledge with force-e out of west palm and it was great. Kind of a drift dive though. I have heard the shore dive at blue heron bridge is great! It is current/tide sensitive but an easy 40' max depth shore dive. The local dice shops do guided dives all the time there. Go to YouTube or google blue heron bridge. Critter/muck diving at its best have fun.

Have they got a pool at the hotel?

You said the Keys? You said inexperienced? Try Rainbow Reef out of Key Largo. They cater to almost all but the most hard core, deep or nothing, divers. Based on past exerience they will do their best to put you where you will be in your comnfort zone.

Thanks to the serious responses....I will try Rainbow reef.. I contacted some Key largo dive outfit and they said 2 dives/2 tanks $75 so seems pretty resonable. The wife will just be posted up on the boat or beach as for she is carrying "the chosen one" (aka my spawn). If I dive at Rainbow reef do I have to dive an "alternative" dive setup? Anyone ever stayed at the Hampton Inn in Key largo?

isac777 wrote:Thanks to the serious responses....I will try Rainbow reef.. I contacted some Key largo dive outfit and they said 2 dives/2 tanks $75 so seems pretty resonable. The wife will just be posted up on the boat or beach as for she is carrying "the chosen one" (aka my spawn). If I dive at Rainbow reef do I have to dive an "alternative" dive setup? Anyone ever stayed at the Hampton Inn in Key largo?

I don't know what you mean by "alternative". My experience is that Rainbow Reef is very open about equipment. Rebreathers are about the only thing I've not seen on their boats. If there are enough divers they will send out two boats and divide divers between them based on experience. Now, as you know, I haven't dived with them for a year so they may have changed. But, their web site still says the same things so I doubt there has been a change.

Well better late than never trip recap.. Wedding was good/food was actually pretty....horrible!! Some meat stuff the vegans said I would not mind that resembled dog food. Also if u can believe it or not the keg of rootbeer was not killed. Then me and the SWMBO went on a nice "short" drive from Orlando to key largo about 5 hrs (holy crap Florida is big) .we stayed at the Hampton inn and the free bfast was awesome.
Now to the diving. I went on the Rainbow Reef charters. $75 per trip w two tanks. It was crazy me being first time diving Warm water it was 82 degrees and we went to The Benwood and molasses reef. I brought my original Gopro and had a great time

Glad you had a good time with Rainbow Reef. You hit two of the most popular sites for fish peeping. The Benwood is a sentimental favorite for me. Lots of life, easy diving and that is where I suceeded in grabbing a barracuda by the tail.

Since my nearest city is 7 hours away running down Florida's Turnpike from Orlando to Key Largo isn't that bad.

A Kegger of Root Beer??? Now I think I've heard of everything.

You gotta spike the punch. Please do it.

Didn't see this thread the first time; if anyone finds it later I give a big shout out to Quiescence Diving Services in Key Largo. A great shop/charter, we've dove with them mulitple times and would gladly do so again.

http://www.keylargodiving.com/

As for Florida being big... yeah, people forget that. Coming from Indiana it would be a 23 hour trip and you'd get all excited when you hit the state line but if you were headed for Key West you had to realize your trip was really only half over. Flying in much better.