Instant Reader Report
on SCUBA-Do & HMS Minnow / Holiday Isle in
USA (Continental) / [N/A] on
2003/10
by
Eric Lavonas , NC, USA
Report Number 031010162322911

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 Cayman, Provo, Australia, Bimini, Bermuda, USVI, BVI, Florida 

Dive Conditions

SCUBA-Do: 60 minutes & 500 PSI. Computer required on USS Spiegel Grove.
HMS Minnow: 500 PSI.  

Separate camera table & rinse bucket  

Overall Rating

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. 

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