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Dive Review of Abyss in
The Continental USA/Florida Keys - Marathon

Abyss, Aug, 2007,

by Joyce & Stephen Leftly, nj, USA (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 8 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 4174.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 1 stars
Service and Attitude 1 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments We enjoyed 5 days diving with Abyss, in Marathon. They run a great dive op, with only 6 divers on a roomy boat, which even has a working head. They store equipment for multi-day dives (unusual for the Keys) and transport it right to the dock. As is typical in the Keys, the dives are unguided but the navigation was easy and the owner/captain Bill provided great tips on getting into the boat safely and reducing our weight ! Carmen and Brian were also informative and fun captains, making for relaxed diving.

Website is: www.abyssdive.com

We saw lots of the typical reef creatures, including various eels, crabs, lobsters, barracuda, as well as the usual tropical fish. We also saw 2 free-swimming nurse sharks, several large stingrays, a large Nassau Grouper a free-swimming scorpion fish and our first-ever Goliath Grouper. An eagle ray put on a nice performance during 1 dive.

The most unusual sighting happened as I was completing 1 dive, when a dolphinfish (the fish not the mammal) came up with me at the end of the dive, hiding under my arm. I didn't get to see it, but everyone on the boat got a good view when the captain yelled 'Dolphin' !

We usually dive in the Key Largo area, but were impressed with the diversity and quality of the sea life near Marathon. Most of the dive sites were a 30 minute boat ride away.

As for accomodations, we stayed in a 3 BR Condo at Indigo Reef Resort, just a mile or 2 from Abyss. We had several family members with us on this trip, who have some mobililty issues, so we needed a place that would be really beautiful for them to spend time in. This unit really fit the bill, however these condos are apparently newly set up for rentals, and there was no one onsite to ask questions about trash, towels, etc. They didn't even have the typical write-up with procedures for staying at the condo, etc. The pool was huge and mostly empty.....but the temperature was often too warm to be refreshing. There is no beach here, but some people said they scrambled across the rocks and snorkeled in the bay (we didn't try this). You do get beach privileges at a nearby resort owned by the same company, Tranquility Bay resort, which has sailboats, kayaks, etc for rent.

Website is: www.indigoreefresort.com



Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Curacao, Cozumel, Bonaire, Key Largo, Puerto Rico, St Thomas, St John, Kenya
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas choppy, no currents
Water Temp 82-85°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 0-0 Ft/ 0-0 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions 1 hour or 500 psi, whichever comes first
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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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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