Dive Review of Conch Republic/Ocean Pointe in
The Continental USA/Tavernier, Fla. Keys

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Conch Republic/Ocean Pointe, Oct, 2009, by Dawn Steedman, Fla, USA ( Top Contributor 39 reports with 8 Helpful votes). Report 5135.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We drove over from the west coast of Fla, and were able to check into our room at the Ocean Pointe before noon due to the slow time of the year. Our room was an attractively decorated 2 bedrm/ 2 bath unit with a sofa sleeper in the living room, full kitchen, washer and dryer, and small balcony with a water view. We dove with Conch Republic Divers last year for the wreck trek - diving the Bibb, Eagle, & Spiegel Grove - and had a great time. These dives would be different. Our son, Quinn, came down from Atlanta with our 16 yr. old recently cert. grandson, Josh - also along was our 13 year old grandson, Christian, who has close to 50 dives. Josh had 30 minute dives logged in his book, so we hired a guide (they charge to put a crew member in the water). Jennifer turned out to be a great help, taking him back to the boat when he was low on air, while we completed our hour long dives both days. The friendly, likeable, crew is as we remembered them. The roomy 46' Newton has fresh shower heads and shampoo on board. After helping us on with the gear, a roll call was taken, and a boat and safety briefing given. The five of us were the only divers on the 46' boat the first day, and we headed out to Alligator Reef,(which we had requested when we made the reservation) for the first dive, and Patch AB for the 2nd.(AB Patch had a line you could follow from the first patch reef to the second.) Both were prolific sites with large green and spotted morays,Blue striped grunts, angels, lobsters, mating nurse sharks under a ledge, midnight and rainbow parrots, and all the rest of the gang. Fans, gorgonians, and sponges are everywhere here. The second site had the addition of a green turtle and 3 nurse sharks cruising by. We handed our fins up to the crew, and they welcomed everyone back, helped them to their seats, and made sure everyone had a good dive. There is fresh drinking water, but no snacks on board, so we brought fruit and peanut crackers along. The crew helps take gear off the boat, and there are 2 large fresh water rinse tanks for gear. There are large rolling racks complete with wetsuit and BC hangers to hang the gear overnight, and the gear bags can be stored inside. We headed back to the Ocean Pointe unencumbered, and enjoyed there large swimming pool for the next hour and a half. We then headed to Islamorada for dinner at Lazy Days. The restaurant has good food and overlooks the water (make a res. for an outside table before sunset). The following morning we headed over to Molasses Reef with a total of 13 divers, but the current was too strong, so we diverted North to French's Reef- the site was Xmas Tree Caves. This is a well developed spur and groove area with large boulder corals, arches, and caves to swim through. This, and the next spot are probably my favorite sites in the Keys. The fans, soft gorgonians, and sponges are the back drop to the large black groupers, parrots, scrawled files,chromis and creole wrasse schools, cudas, and angels.Two large snook were hanging out in one of the caves. We headed back to Molasses for our second dive;luckily the current had calmed down. This is another well developed spur and groove area, with sandy patches dividing the boulder corals. We found three nurse sharks here, snappers, grunts, graysbys, angels, and a school of Atlantis spades. The highlight of this dive was a spotted eagle ray cruising down a sand channel. We were sorry to leave this beautiful site and great dive operation.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Palm Bch., Key Largo, Bonaire, Barbados, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, Cozumel, Hawaii, Belize, Caymans, Roatan.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	85-87°F / 29-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-70 Ft/ 12-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Come back with 500 psi or at one hour.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Large rinse tank and table for cameras.

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Dive Review of Conch Republic/Ocean Pointe in The Continental USA/Tavernier, Fla. Keys

Conch Republic/Ocean Pointe, Oct, 2009,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Conch Republic/Ocean Pointe in
The Continental USA/Tavernier, Fla. Keys