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Dive Review of Amoray Dive Resort in
The Continental USA/Key Largo FL

Amoray Dive Resort, Dec, 2008,

by Bob Stoker, cO, united States ( 1 report). Report 4595.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations N/A Food N/A
Service and Attitude N/A Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 1 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 1 stars
Beginners 1 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments This was the worst dive experience yet.My girlfriend and my sister have limited experience and I thought the keys would be a perfect shallow, mellow dive for them to relax and ease back into the groove.They needed equipment rental from the establishment. Not being familar with december diving in the keys they asked for help with selection. They were given a 2 piece farmer john outfit about 4mm each along with they rest of their gear. On the boat, They each asked which way the 2 piece went on(bottom over top or vis/versa)One of the staff told one top over bottom while the other told them bottom over top.After struggling through reversing the order of the suit,they were asked how much weight they needed. At that time they answered that they didn't know because of the thickness of the suits. The staff were told of their relative inexperience and decided on a weight.After checkout of the rental equipment, one the the BC's inflator button would not work at first and after fiddling with it inflated but would not release and kept inflating! After swapping out for a new vest,we entered the water.Two of us started a slow decent but my girlfriend could not decend. She had no air in her BC and obviously underweighted as was another gal. They seas were moderately choppy and the boat moored to the buoy. After screaming at the two women who could not get down for a few minutes. the "divemaster" went to the bow and half heartedly tried to hand over an addition weight to me for the girls. Of course,the bow was rising and crashing so his handoff was bogus. As he dropped the weight and I tried to catch it my dive camera slid off my wrist and sank. Then seeing as the current was strong enough to make the girls start to drift away he threw out a rope directly on top of them and promptly entangled the rope around the tank and a leg. It was perfectly obvious that the long time on the surface was wearing them out so I went out to untangle the rope. Meanwhile the "divemaster" continued to scream directions.So after about 15 minutes on the surface, there were 4 divers out of six back on the boat trying to sort out weights and catch their breath. My sister and I went back and spent the rest of our tanks unsucessfully seaching for my camera. The "divemaster" remarked I should have looked for it sooner with the current present. Thanks,chump.
I was afraid that this experience would cause the girls to skip the next dive but they bravely went for it again. This time they were weighted like stone and quickly bounced off the bottom.I worked to get their bouyancy correct and almost had it when my sister started going up and to the boat which we were right underneath. I watched her get to the side and helped the girlfriend.After a few minutes she motioned that she wanted to go up. I watched her go up the ladder and decided the girls had had enough and went down to take my first look at the reef. After poking around, I got back on the boat to find out that my sister had got to the boat but when she got to the surface the inflator button on her BC stuck open and overinflated her vest.She started to drift away from the boat ladder and our "divemaster" watched her drift further away constantly. He did however continue to scream out instructions.Finally,after 15 more minutes on the surface drifting away, he relented and got wet himself to assist her. After getting her to the boat, his remark to her was that since he he had to get in the water ,that she needed to "acknowledge" him ; a shameful plug for a gratuity.
Many experienced divers will find the flaws in this trip and I acknowledge errors on their part in addition to errors on my part.Lessons have been learned and hopefully the girls will not let this trip spoil the joy that they will receive on future trips.
For my part,and if you are experienced enough,your trip with these guys will be as uneventfully as the bus ride it is. If you need assistance or are new to diving,do yourself a favor and find another operator who will help you to have the confidence to get you your experience. Trip was taken Dec. 4,2008. I believe Tom was captain and Mike or Mark played the role of "divemaster".
This was my first dive in the US. For the life of me, in this country of
millions of rules and lawyers,I cannot understand why the service , helpfulness,and concern for safety in all the third world destinations is so vastly superior to what we experienced here.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 51-100 dives
Where else diving Carribean destinations, Saba, Hawaii
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather Seas
Water Temp -°F / -°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility - Ft/ - M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals N/A Tropical Fish N/A
Small Critters N/A Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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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