Dive Review of
Dive Key West/Southern Cross Hotel in
The Continental USA/Key West, Florida

Tahiti, Australia( Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea), Dominica, Bahamas(
San Salvador, Walker's Key, Nassau, Exumas), Cayman Islands, Bonaire,
Curacao, Cozumel, Turks and Caicos, Grenada.

Dive Conditions

Dove only shallow reefs( Sambo Reef). Only restriction was to be back on
the boat after 60 min. with at least 500 psi.  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Dive Key West has a very nice dive boat capable of easily handling 16
divers. Since the week after Labor Day is the slow season, only 5 divers
were on board. Dive Key West has an excellent dive shop located on Route #1
in Key West. Thus, all gear is transported from the dive shop to the nearby
marina by the dive shop staff. Also, after the morning dives, the gear was
returned to the dive shop and allowed to dry over night at the dive shop.
This was very helpful since we were staying in downtown Key West and
planning to catch a plane in Ft. Lauderdale the next day. Initially we had
hoped to dive the Cayman Salvage Master, but Wednesday was not the
scheduled day for Dive Key West to dive that site. Our second choice( Sambo
Reef) was an excellent alternative with plenty of fish, interesting coral
formations and one large southern Sting Ray. The crew was very helpful and
efficient, gave excellent dive briefings, and followed all the required
safety procedures.
  We spent the night in downtown Key West on Duval St. at the Southern
Cross Hotel. The room was small, but clean and inexpensive for Key West. 
Since this was our last night after diving seven days between Ft.
Lauderdale and Key West, we planned to visit the bars along Duval St. and
the Southern Cross has the perfect location making driving unnecessary. 
  Over the course of eight days we made 14 dives in Ft. Lauderdale, Key
Largo, Marathon, Looe Key and Key West. The plan was to concentrate on
wrecks and artificial reefs and to particularly dive the Spiegel Grove, the
Benwood, The Thunderbolt, the A. Busch Sr., and the Cayman Salvage Master.
Except for the Cayman Salvage Master, all was accomplished.
  We did not use a single dive shop that I would not recommend to my best
friends, and the restaurants recommended by the dive shops were excellent(
local and relatively inexpensive). The only negative was the constant
moving from one motel and dive shop to another as we worked our way south
along the keys.
  To anybody contemplating this type of dive trip, I heartily recommend Pro
Dive International in Ft. Lauderdale, Quiescence in Key Largo, Tilden's in
Marathon, Innerspace in Big Pine Key and Dive Key West in Key West.
  

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