Dive Review of
Amoray/Amy Slade's Amoray Resort in
The Continental USA/Florida Keys

I have been diving in Beqa Lagoon in Fiji; Lahaina, Maui; Eilat, Israel
(Red Sea); Panhandle of Florida; Florida Keys and of course, quarrys in
Michigan and Tennessee. 

Dive Conditions

No depth limits - all dives were in shallow (less than 50 feet) water. We
were given a maximum time underwater - or 500 pounds - whichever came
first. You were on your own with your buddy - no underwater divemaster or
guides... unless you paid extra for them.  

Big catamaran boat, lots of space for messing with your gear. Big rinse tub
just for cameras. Patient boat crew. Divemaster (on board) gave ideas for
where cool stuff hung out.  

Overall Rating

This is not a cheap dive vacation, but it is worth it!  

This was a family dive vacation.  We flew into Miami, rented an SUV and
drove down. There were four of us -- my wife, two teen daughters and
myself. Amoray was the first stop on a two-week dive vacation.

The staff is tremendous.  The boat captain knows his stuff and takes
suggestions about where to dive. The mates are top shelf. Everyone on the
boat is an instructor, and they are totally helpful.  

Back to the staff - this is a total diving resort, everyone dives. They are
honest and helpful. We did not get an optimistic dive report not even once.
The vis and conditions were always better than they told us to expect. Seth
was always ready to help, Kat was fabulous, but needs to hear "the
customer is always right" message again -- but, she is so cute you'll
forgive her. There was an error on the room rate - she realized a mistake
was made, but said that price was wrong and we needed to pay the higher
rate. You try winning a discussion with her! It was not a huge problem.
Even the groundskeepers were tremendous. Eddie cut fresh green coconuts for
us!  A real treat.  You know when Amy (the owner) is there because she
parks her Volvo right down by the boat!  But hey, she's nice and runs a
great resort, so I guess that is ok too!

If you have a family or a few people traveling together, go for the best
room in the place: W2B - THE GREEN MORAY.  It is not elegant (nothing here
is) but it is very comfortable and has a tremendous large screened in deck.
 It has a kitchen and one smallish bathroom. It is right beside the boat
slip, and right on the water.  We loved it.

There is no food service here, except for a very basic breakfast. By very
basic I mean: bagels, butter, jam and peanut butter; along with juice and
coffee.  Basic.  It would be great to have a simple dining place --
sandwiches, fish, fruit... 

There are some grills to cook on outside. Take advantage of the good
seafood in the area and grill out one night.  BUT PUT MOSQUITO REPELLANT ON
IF YOU DO.  I thought those were flying piranna.

Do a night dive, and beg the Captain to take you to Molassas Reef at night
and not the normal little wreck.  The night dive is uber cool. You can rent
lights. The night dive was the highlight of our trip.

There are so many good restaurants -- if you want suggestions, email me. 

Bottom line:  not inexpensive, but very good.  We will dive (and stay)
there again.  We loved it.   Oh, talk the crew into playing the Amoray song
for you when the boat is coming back into Key Largo. They normally don't
play it unless Amy is on board, but it is so corny and fun that you'll be
singing it the rest of your trip -- That's Amoray!

 

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