Delaware

Fiesta/Surface Interval, July 1995, Richard Burr, Dover, DE. "Both boats great. Capt. Bill Brown runs the Fiesta and knows the waters around Delaware and Maryland. Trish and Daryl Boyer run the Surface Interval, and are extremely competent. Both out of Indian River Marina in Delaware. Dived Hvosiel, torpedoed in WWII in 140 ft of water. Seas calm; Lots of large tog and sea bass. A dozen lobsters were brought up. Dove the Moonstone, 25 miles offshore in 130 ft of water, intact and covered in sea life. Vis: 20­25 ft, water 50 deg.

Florida

Islamorada

BSA Sea Base, June 1995, Joel Schilling, Darien, IL. "Owned and operated by the Boy Scouts, the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base resides on lower Matecumbe. Serves youths 14­21. Airfare, meals, room, equipment, dive boats, divemasters $850/person from Chicago. Trip to Key West, sailing, fishing, movies, snorkeling. Accompanying adults and youth register with their local Boy Scout Council. Certification courses offered."

Key Largo

Amy Slate's/Amory Dive Resort, May 1995, John Whitney, LaGrange, GA. "Better than people admit. A couple days current and low vis. 45' catamaran, cruises at 25 mph. About 30­45 min to most sites. Weekdays 8­15 people on the boat. Plenty of room! No shelter from cold wind. Facilities nicely equipped."

Atlantis Dive Center, June 1996, C. Douglas Rorex, Olney, IL. "Water: 82 to 82 Degrees 20 to 40 feet Vis. "Lot of fish life, crews are willing, and the water was warm. Bug life was unusually active - even in the daylight."

Captain Slate, June 1995, Dave Kajur, Hoffman Est, IL. "Rainy/windy in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon. Vis: 40­60 feet. Dives shallow, long. Captain Slate feeds Barracuda. Told divers to come up at 1500 psi and signal OK to boat, then to return to boat with no less than 500 psi. If not, they would not let you do second location. Boats crowded; no trip left on time. Crew friendly, handled tanks, but you did your own hookup and tank changes. Not much storage room for gear."

Captain Slate/Best Western Suites, August 1995, Bob Hall, WA. "Suites spacious. 2 bathrooms, 2 TV's, kitchen. Extra charges for more than 2 people. Morning trips left later than scheduled and returned an hour or 2 late in afternoon, thus afternoon trips really left late. No time between to eat."

It's a Dive, October 1995, Mary Ann Hughes, Lavallette, NJ. "OK for beginners; 35'­40' depth, l'­3' seas on the lst day to difficult on 3rd (6' seas). Didn't see any fan coral that was not partially broken. Fish the friendliest. Dive shop and captain topnotch. The boat well set up."

Ocean Divers/Sheraton Bayside Resort, May 1995, James Whipple, Taylor, MI. "Shallow reefs, good fills, few fish, damaged reefs. Night diving (only saw one eel). Duane was only good dive. Nothing open after 10 PM except Taco Bell after night trip. Bars closed at 11 PM at our Hotel. Beach front (aprox. 100 yds) was only water view. Food at hotel excellent (Kitchen closed at 10 PM) Pizza till 11 PM."

Ocean Quest/Plantation Yacht & Harbor Club, May 1995, Patrick Wikstrom, Brasstown, NC. "Staff friendly and helpful. Ocean Empress comfortably carried 12 divers. Well designed and maintained, no rinse tank for cameras. Five dives a day possible with good variety of wrecks and reefs within an hour boat ride. Tanks 3,000 psi, rental gear well maintained. Hotel a solid three stars. Restaurant didn't open for a real breakfast till after you'd left on the 8 AM boat, but the seven-piece blues band at night was great."

Ocean Divers, August 1995, Evelyn McGlone, Huntington, NY. "Dove the Duane, U.S. Coast Guard ship. Must be a master diver (or pay $35 more). What has that to do with safety? My buddy was not advanced diver so after we signed up he was told $35 more or he could not do the 100 ft. dive. We went out to dive site and had the divemaster with us. We ended up seeing less than 1/3 of the ship. vis: 50 ft. water: 82°. He cut the dive so short; we had plenty of air left. It was a stressful, rip off and we felt like 2 children. We have done over 500 dives and are 50 yrs old."

Ocean Divers/Marina Hotel Resort, February 1996, Martin Raffauf, San Carlos, CA. "Three story condo resort next to dive shop. Two bedroom unit above the office, well appointed and maintained. Full kitchen, large balcony overlooking the yacht harbor. Ocean Divers is safety conscious; dive briefings good. Extensive fish life (more than Caymans or Cozumel ) due to being a marine sanctuary. Huge clouds of tropicals, moray eels and barracuda on every dive (70 barracuda on the Duane wreck). Divers are on their own; no divemasters diving unless by special request. Duane and Bibb wrecks are more advanced dives; currents can be strong, large populations of jacks, groupers, grunts and chub. Deck of the Duane is 100 ft., the wheel house of the Bibb around 120 ft. Boats crowded and sites jammed with other dive operations. Ocean Divers mails you a schedule ahead of time, so that you can pick your sites. Water temperature: high 60's."

Ocean Divers, April 1995, John Rankin, Eaton Rapids, MI. "Frenchman's Reef - nothing memorable. Brentwood Wreck; ok, pretty flat, not much there from a wreck divers point of view. Lots of small and colorful fish, nice angels, surge heavy down to 15.' Water: 78°­82°."

Pleasure Divers/Holiday Inn Key Largo, September 1995, Mary Beard Stegman, M.D., Fort Myers, FL. "Safe operation. Boat only takes 6 divers, air conditioned cabin with head, sundeck, tanks filled on board, easy in and out of boat. Shallow, variable vis. nurse sharks, rays, lots of lobsters, eels, big and many fish. Capt. Don wonderful. . . . To Bimini; $900/day split by divers (max 6). Includes everything - meals, unlimited diving, hot showers. Key's diving is $50/2 dives including air & weights."

Quiescence/Sheraton Key Largo, August 1995, Terry Wolfe. "Small groups, under 6. Carry own tanks on board. Ocean Divers may be better choice! Sheraton is fine. Marriott also good."

Quiescence Divers, November 1995, Hank Goichman, Los Angeles, CA. "Small boat, 6 divers. Choppy seas; ladder unstable. French Reef was 40' with poor vis. Molasses - grunts, elkhorn coral, parrot fish, barracuda - very nice dive. Operation fine, would recommend a bigger boat. You are charged for each tank and the diving was not leisurely: 20 min surface interval. Bottom times an hour."

Quiescense Divers, November 1995, Michael Rand, Lakeville, CT. "Vis 50', best 100'. Good drift dives on 80'­90', Duane Coast Guard cutter at 120'. Great sea life, quantity and quality of fish; Southern, yellow and spotted eagle rays, turtles. Safe, clean, 6 pack boats, all-around classy operation run by knowledgeable, concerned people."

Quiescence/Marina Del Mar, January 1996, Larry Johnsen, Bettendorf, IA. "Excellent staff emphasizing safety. 3 boats carry no more than 6 divers. Captains helpful, give thorough briefings and change tanks. Take you to unmarked locations, better than popular spots. Did advanced certification. Zach Wagner, our instructor, was thorough. Bill, their service manager, showed us how to dismantle and service a regulator and got tips on how to make repairs and what tools to carry on trips. . . . Marina Del Mar is worth the money. Bath tubs double as Jacuzzis. Coconuts restaurant and bar is super. Bar band Friday and Saturday nights. vis: 25­50 ft. water: 72°­74°."

Quiescence, March 1996, Steve Nelson, Danville, CA. "Cool and windy, several days boats did not go. Small boats, 6 divers max., goes where divers choose. Took seaplane to Dry Tortugas. Great day trip, snorkel around. vis: 50­75 ft. water: 68°­70°."

Quiescence/Ocean Pointe, May 1996, Rick Davenport, Mt. Vernon, IL. "Ocean Pointe staff indifferent. I expect more at $160/night. Well-treated by dive staff; no hassle, no cattle car diving. Captain takes you where you want to go. Corals worn. Plenty of fish, large eagle ray. Staff knowledgeable, whether about diving or good restaurants. vis: 30­60 ft. water: 77°­80°."

Southpoint Divers, November 1995, Julia Cardwell, Los Angeles, CA. "Little to see. The dive boat a nice size, no way to get out of the sun. Entry into the water was awkward. Donning full gear including fins and mask, walking 20' down a narrow aisle while the boat was really pitching, didn't make for the most comfortable start of a dive."

View Finder Charters, August 1995, Bob Hervantine, Squaw Valley, CA. "Southeast reefs average. Tugboat wreck' good at 70 ft., Cayman Salvo deeper wreck. Boat for smaller groups."

Key West

Key West Divers, July 1995, Stephen Riley, Salem MA. "Called ahead and was assured there would be no problem doing a night dive and I was assured that NITROX was available. Called in the morning and was told to arrive at the shop no later than 5:30. My party of four arrived as scheduled to be told that we must put a "down payment" on the dive by paying Key West Divers $20 each, which was nothing more than a referral fee. We then were told that the dive was through a concession no more than five minutes from where we were staying at Ocean Key House. We had to take taxis to Key West Divers and then turn around and take one to the concession stand. I was told if I wanted to use NITROX I would have to bring the tanks back myself in the morning, which wasn't possible, then the employee showed up at the dive, with his own NITROX tank. . . . I enjoyed the dive anyway. vis: 50­80 ft. water: 80°­85°."

Key West Pro Dive/Hampton Inn, July 1995, Barb Powell, Coldwater, OH. "Hassled about logbooks being more important than C-cards; if we went to the chamber it would be the logbook sent along and not our dive computers! Talked about excellent safety record & that they do everything 'by the book.' On our first day the boat died & could not be started. We were 7 miles off shore, there were thunderstorms & it was suggested that we swim to the reef about 200 yards & make our dive. I would not make a dive from a 'dead' boat. Day 2: They put us on another boat & called us 'big babies' because we wouldn't dive off of a dead boat. We did not appreciate the insult."

Looker Diving/Lost Reef Adventures, June 1995, J. Warfiled, Woodbine, MD. "Stayed at Whispers on William St. and the Francis St. Bottle Inn, both in Old Key West. Both were good places. All Day Diver with Looker. They take you out farther than the usual 2 tank dives; healthy coral, barracuda, larger groups of jacks and grunts, green morays, several nurse sharks, lobster, Nassau and black grouper, large hogfish along with the usual reef fish: Diving good with depths 30­50 ft and vis 20­60 feet. Lost Reef has a nice, comfortable boat, a well run shop and friendly divemasters, Joe's Tug, a small wreck in 65 ft., is loaded with fish-green morays, parrot fish, lots of grunt and snapper and high hats hiding."

Looker Dive Center, June 1996, C. Douglas Rorex, Olney IL. "Water: 83 degrees, Vis: 20 to 40 feet. "Great crew and divemasters. Trips to more distant, less visited reefs (all day, three tank dives), and make sure you have a good dive. Boat more than adequate, briefings thorough, and few other divers where we visited. Reefs not as nice as Looe Key or further up the Keys, but still nice."

Lost Reef Adventures/South Beach Hotel, June 1996, Buck Robertson, Columbus, IN. "3 trip two tank dive package for $150; individual dives $35 plus $14 for tanks and weights. Divemasters friendly and made you comfortable. Carried your gear and loaded it for you. Dives 20 to 30 feet deep. Snorkelers and resort divers so if no other certified divers you had to stay with the resort divers. When another certified diver was along we were told not to venture into deeper waters. Dived same reefs several times. Water 80­85 . . . . Accommodations excellent, nice pool easy access to the ocean. Rent scooters in the 50cc range; navigating a car on the small streets is trying on the nerves. Variety of restaurants catering to all tastes."

Marathon

Abyss Pro Dive, June 1995, Roxanne Brown, Orlando, FL. "Great operation. Comfortable 32 ft. carries 6 divers. Coffin's Patch and Pillar Patch were nice with lots of tropicals and curious barracudas. Full hour of bottom time at each site. Excellent for beginners and they go advanced locations."

Abyss, November 1995, Donald Benz, Kenmore, NY. "Good operation. Watched novice divers. Vis: 40­50 ft. water: 81°."

C' S, March 1996, Chris Coleman, Tampa, FL. "Vis 5­15 feet! A lot of shops canceled trips do to bad conditions. C'S did not! All they cared about was getting their money. No concern on how the divers really felt. water: 74°."

Hall's Dive Center, October 1995, February 1996, John Rothbaar, Midland MI. "Hall's brochure states that, 'Clear, calm water is almost always found no matter how uncooperative nature may be.' First day: high winds, heavy seas, forecasted storms, and expected water vis less than 5 feet. "We'll take you out if you want to go," was their position when it was clear that any sensible diver would have headed to the nearest pub. We chose not to dive. Second day a repeat of the first; they placed the burden on us to decide if conditions were acceptable. Third day weather cleared some, and even though the surface was still rough and vis might 'not be too good', we, along with two other pairs of hearty or desperate divers, gave it a shot. One pair got seasick and didn't dive; site shallow (25 feet), the seas rough, and vis 3 feet. Surge and low vis made it impossible to stay off coral. We returned to the surface quickly to avoid getting hopelessly disoriented and drifting too far from the boat and to avoid damaging the coral. None of us had any interest in a second dive. Hall's had insisted on full payment for the three day (six dive) package up-front and they refused to give even a partial refund, stating a printed store policy that was mailed after we made our reservation. They gave us rainchecks for two dive trips. The person in the shop claimed they did not have authority to waive the policy. I sent a letter explaining why we believed a partial refund would be the right thing to do; they did not respond. Returned in February; first day's dives were reasonably well run though rough surface conditions. The crew was helpful and safety instructions and precautions were followed. Next two days were deja vu. High winds and high seas prevailed, and we were told the visibility was very bad-three feet or so. We did not bother to try to dive, but again Hall's would not acknowledge that the trip was canceled, leaving it to the customers to make the decision. We still have rainchecks for a two dive trip with Hall's, but we will not be using them. Ever."

Middle Keys Scuba/Faro Blanco Hotel, December 1995, Robert Law, South Bend, IN. "Hotel staff friendly and organized. Accepted a UPS box of my gear and held it for me. Room Spartan but clean; kitchenette. Had booked 2­3 tanks with Halls; boat was down so they made arrangements with Middle Key Scuba a few miles down the road. Capt. Richard was knowledgeable about the sites and critters. All shallow reef dives. Vis 30" to 50"; water 74 degrees. 60 degree air and winds made surface time cold. No head on the boats, well briefed on all dives. Put on a show with a moray eel and nurse shark."

Little Palm Island, April 1995, Dave Fuller, Acworth, GA. "Diving at Cove Key 3 miles offshore for beginners. Only 4 divers on island and 3 snorkelers. Restaurant Mobil 5 star and resort top 10 in U.S. Food the best, service seamless, unhurried, professional and fast. Island 5 acres at lowtide, 3 acres high tide. Board sailers, motorized craft, take you to another island for jet skis to disturb guests. They filmed P.T. 109 here because it looked like a South Pacific island."

Tavanier Dive Center, June 1996, Bill Jones, Chamblee, GA. "Great dive shop. Lots of locations, shallow, deep, wreck. Good briefings. Vis: 50­60 ft. water: 80°­82°."

Tilden's Dive Shop, August 1995, Gilda & Warren Sprung, Houston, TX. "Vis 20' due to storms and algae bloom. Employees demanded that divers take a tank off the truck & set-up on dock, trying to get us to do their work. Surface intervals: 15 minutes tops while the boat was repositioned to the next site. We were within computer limits and tables, but high on repetitive alphabet. Reason for rush was to get back for second trip of the day; had the tanks been loaded and the boat ready as advertised, they could've done their second trip and still had sensible surface interval. At the dock three notices are posted: DID YOU REMEMBER TO TIP YOUR CREW? We got the last laugh!"

West Palm Beach

Gold Coast Charters/Sheraton/Singer Is., August 1995, John Kelling, Windsor, CT. "Boat Infatuation was immaculate, well equipped for safety, comfort, and professionally crewed. The best reefs we have been on anywhere, including the Caribbean. No crowds, lower prices, empty beaches except on the weekend."

Gold Coast Charters, September 1995, Sam Jones, Little Elm, TX. "Two tank trip. Vis: 70­80', 84 degree water, interesting reef, not as nice as Pennecamp, friendly crew. Drift dives with light to moderate current. Great variety of life - 6' nurse shark, large green moray. Trip easy, reefs begin 2­3 miles off shore."

Gold Coast Charters, July 1996, Andrew Weiner, San Mateo, CA. "Top-notch operation. Friendly, caring staff, not overbearing, on time, fills 3000 plus. Stowed our gear for the trip. vis: 30­70ft. water: 72­80°. . . . Cozumel of the U.S. ! Drift dives with prolific animal life! Huge barrel sponges, tons of tropicals, healthy soft corals, frogfish, flying gurnards. Angels, barracudas seem to dwarf others found further south. During July, turtles swarm to nest. Loggerheads, green sea turtles on almost every dive."

Koller's Reef/Palm Beach, September 1995, Jerry Smith, Belmont, NC. "3 tanks & lunch $60. Rod offers wrecks, drift diving, lots of coral and interesting critters. Boat never crowded. Took two people on a 3 tank & lunch. Night dives octopus, shark, turtles, schools of fish, could dive our computers, he kept tabs on the bottom time, and offered other helpful safety tips."

Palm Princess, August 1996, Mark Hessee, Melbourne Beach, FL. "Lots of snorkeling with schools of spotted dolphins. Mt. Olympus and El Capitan north of Memory Rock world class sites: tropicals, turtles, sharks, jacks, barracuda, schooling fish at edge of Gulf Stream. vis: 50-100ft. water: 80-84°."

Rampage, September 1995, Lloyd Schwengel, Brea, CA. "Boat is good sized. Vis 60 ft. Paul's Reef had interesting critters; supposed to stay with the group but they went so fast you couldn't look. Dive limited to 30 minutes; I came up with 1500 lbs. On second dive, my wife and I simply stopped to see what we wanted and followed the group with the current. Divemaster stayed with us after others surfaced for about 45 min bottom time."

Three Little Devils, June 1995, Carl Corning, Southampton, NJ. "Our group did 7 dives over 2 days. Small fish abundant, large fish nonexistent. Vis: 50-60 ft; 90' wreck dive; vis. 100+ and schools of baitfish. Captain chewed everyone out for following their computers and not the profile suggested, which resulted in most dives ending with 1500 psi and plenty of bottom time on my computer. The lead DM provided little or no assistance to divers entering or exiting the water. On one dive he disappeared. We were chastised for 'leaving the DM.' We had a better dive without him. This trip was a great disappointment."

Three Little Devils, August 1996, Thom and Betty Hall, Myrtle Beach, SC. "Water: 80-82 degrees, Vis: 30-60 feet. "Polite and safety conscious, although would really pack the boat. Two-tank night dive is dusk dive followed by a night dive. Boat ladders easy to get on and off. One excellent divemaster, one really good dive-master, and one that literally left some of the divers."

TNT Dive Charters, July 1995, Jimmie Grogan, Brooklyn, NY. "Gulfstream brings tropicals, eels, giant turtles, sharks. See more big stuff than Keys, Caymans, and Cozumel. Easy drift diving. Excellent wrecks, Vis. 40 to 100+ ft. Tony and Terry friendly and accommodating. The wide beam 31 ft boat is diver friendly. You set your own dive profile they give group a dive flag and ball. I have done hundreds of dives in Florida and like TNT the best. Ask for Football Field or Delray Ledges."

Other Florida Locations

Destin/Manta Ray Divers, June 1995, Tim Peery, Edmond, OK. "Captain Tim and his divemaster Mike helpful & nice people. Diving was good w/only a short boat ride to the site."

Ft. Lauderdale/Neon Dolphin, July 1995, Albert Ammons, Vallejo, CA. "Small facility, helpful staff. Will work with you to get dives you want to do. Moderate quality of rental gear."

Massachusetts

Cape Ann Divers, November 1995, Barry Lipman, Brookfield, CT. "Staff friendly, professional, helpful. Cape Ann Diver II has a heated cabin with an honor bar for snacks and drinks. Crew knew tides and currents and not afraid to burn a little fuel to go where the diving would be best. Vis 25', good for New England diving, water 45F. Cameras considerately dealt with."

New Jersey

Lakeland Dive Shop, October 1995, E. Freedman, S. Orange, NJ. "Weather - fair to good. Temp 62F. Dive should have been cancelled; vis 0­2". Surface water rough. Most were seasick on boat."

North Carolina

Margie II, July 1995, Glenn Snyders, Virginia Beach, VA. "2-tank trip with Captain Art Kirchner; 2 hour ride to British freighter sunk during WWII 28 miles off Hatteras. 80 F. water, 60-70 ft vis. Good quantity and variety of tropical fish. Much of the wreck intact. Second dive in 80 feet on American freighter 14 miles off Hatteras. Dive boat well equipped, Captain safety conscious, but not much help. Length of rides a disadvantage but the wreck diving was good."

Coastal Wateree, July 1995, Doug Boren, Huntington, NV. "Suited up, ready to dive the City of Richmond, when the divemaster surfaced and said it was zero visibility. Hurricane in Florida affecting vis here. They cancelled the dive; I was disappointed, but impressed at the concern for safety. Money was cheerfully refunded with no hassles."

Rhode Island

Olympus, July 1995, Harry Solitsky, Brookfield, CT. "The wrecks are real. Vis. variable, but usually 80­100 ft. This year we were swept by a hurricane; vis: 75 ft to 5 ft, but people dive U-853 until 5­10 ft vis. Motels $40 to $50."

Narragansett Pier Dive Shop, August 1995, Todd Martin, Tiverton, RI. "Professional dive operation. Charlie and wife Suzette welcome divers with a smile and information about every dive, especially the U-853, 7 miles east of Block Island - last kill in American waters during WWII; depth 130 ft, water 50 deg. make challenging dive. Crew makes dive comfortable whether you are diving with a group or need a buddy. Charlie makes your diving experience custom and convenient; pick up at the resorts of Block Island."

Copyright 1997 by DSDL, Inc.Publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.