Florida

Big Pine Key

Strike Zone Charters/Deer Run B&B, January 1998, Steve Williams, Highlands Ranch, CO. Dived Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. Visibility, 1-15 ft., too poor for diving, and snorkeling; depth about 35'. Water 70 degrees. A wasted trip and money for a full boatload of people. If the seas are not too rough to make a trip, they'll go even if the diving will be poor. Let the diver beware.

Boca Raton

South Florida Dive Headquarters, June 1998, Rick Glider, Tucson, AZ. Ocean calm, some current. Seven other divers on small boat. First dive to be a shark dive, but they told me the sharks are being killed and it was 1 in 5 chance of seeing sharks so we did a wreck dive (barge called Sea Emperor) where divemaster fed 4 stingrays and 3 Jewfish (5-6 ft. Barracuda, large puffer, usual reef fish. Could swim through barge. Drift dive at Honeycomb Reef. Nice corals, not much fish life. Good briefings. (Ph: 800-258-3483 or 407-881-5282)

Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach

Gold Coast Charters/Quality Inn Singer Island, January 1998, Eric Rokicki, Millersville, MD. Gold Coast Charters very accommodating with morning and afternoon charters. Comfortable boat and divers placed in two groups led by divemaster. First dive Juno Ball Reef 70 ft. at top and 90 ft at sand, vis: 40-60 ft. Water: 72 degrees. Dive restrictions enforced were to submerge together, drift dive. Saw larges eagle ray (at least 10 ft. wingspan), 3 nurse sharks, free-swimming moray. When we surfaced, boat picked us up. Free drinks and snacks (fruit, cookies) between dives, $46 w/tanks. . . . Comfort Inn Singer Island on beach, five minutes from boat dock. I was surprised how good the diving was in mid-January, though reading Undercurrent for ten years said we would be pleasantly surprised. (Ph: 305-933-3483)

Gold Coast Charters/West Palm Beach, June 1998, Gary Chimko, Henderson, NV. Well-run operation. Boat accommodated weekday groups of 6-8, weekend 14 with ease. Stressed safety. Discussed dive location. Depth, time, stops. All dives were drift and boat was always close. Vis: 40-50 ft, water: 84-72 degrees. Head count after every dive; on day when current was strong changed profile from wreck/reef to wreck for those who wanted and then one reef and two reefs for others. First class operation.

Pro Diver II, August 1998, Jim Walls, Lakewood, OH. Easy access with low fares makes this a favorite destination for a weekend getaway. Summer room rates are reasonable, but you gamble with the hurricanes. Bonnie was near the Bahamas, and everyone was speculating on where she would go. It moved away and we had perfect weather for all three days of diving. These guys stuck to their schedule. The Wrecks: William McAllister, an 80-foot tug has been on the bottom a year in 60 feet. Upright on a sand bottom with a thin crust of new growth and one four-foot barracuda, who is very possessive of the pilot house. Jay Scuddy, another tug, has been down fourteen years. Covered with large gorgonians and sea fans. A jewfish weighing about fiftypounds lives on the wreck. Rebel; a large freighter at 130 feet. Swarming with bait fish. Roomy and easy to penetrate. The Reefs: Every wreck dive is followed quickly by a shallow reef dive. Most are low profile, but fish life is diverse. (Grateful Diver: I have been on this boat in the past and really enjoyed it. However, the clerks in the store couldn't tell me what was going on with the boat and didn't learn until Monday that captain Graylin had canceled everything Friday because of the hurricane that never happened.

Scuba Adventures, April/August, 1998, Ron & Dawn Steedman, Cape Coral, FL. Jim and Anna Abernethy's operation is top notch. They offer a 20 passenger boat or a 6-pack. Nitrox is available, also fresh water, snacks and sodas. Drift with a divemaster; do your own thing if you desire. Sea life is incredible: large angelfish, loggerhead and hawkbill turtles most every dive, green morays, parrots, trumpets, groupers, puffers, coneys, hamlets. Rarely a sparse dive. Vis: 40-70 ft, water: 78-84 degrees. Current can vary.

Scuba Adventures/Day's Inn, May 1998, Rob Tartaglia, West Newton, MA. Excellent boat crew, placed us in perfect position for every drift dive, flexible site choices. Rescued a green turtle that had been injured by a boat propeller, brought it back to the dock to be transported to the marine life turtle hospital and the crew still made sure we got in our 3 scheduled dives. Vis: 50-75 ft., water: 75-78 degrees. Boat well equipped with on board compressor and Nitrox, rent equipment or bring your own. In 9 dives (all drift diving), 4 wrecks, 3 kinds of turtles, nurse sharks, 1 black tip shark, morays, lobsters galore, barracudas and clouds of schooling grunts and cottonwicks. $60/night at the beachfront Day's Inn on Singer Island.

Scuba Referrals of South Florida, November 1997, Steve and Kathie Payne, Richland City, IN. Damian Gazdak, dive operations manager for Scuba Referrals, arranged our PADI Advanced Plus; did book work at home and made specialty dives there. Scuba Referrals places you on charters: Scubatyme, Get Down and Gold Coast Charters. They were all good. Damian is terrific. He takes care of everything. You show-up at the dock, he takes your gear, puts it on the boat, sets it up, helps you into it, leads the dive and points out the neat and the interesting. Back on the boat he breaks your gear down, stows it, takes it off the boat and all you do is drive away. The motto; "It's your vacation and no lugging." His business is service plus; especially great if you haven't been in the water for a while. Diving in the Palm Beach/Fort Lauderdale similar to the Keys. Good visibility, nice reefs, primarily patch reef, many wrecks, abundant colorful fish and critters. Water temperature 78-82 F (El Niño keeping it warmer than usual). (Ph: 1-800-585-DIVE. or 954-771-6571, Website: http://home.earthlink.net/-scubarerer/)

Scuba Tyme/Scuba Referrals of South Florida, April 1998, Steve and Kathie Payne, Richland City, IN. Dived with Damian at SRSF; got Nitrox certification, after studying in advance. Scubatyme Capt. Gary and Oliver the deckhand were great. Damian takes care of everything else. Emperor, a wrecked barge, isn't much, but large southern stingrays you can hand feed squid, large green morays, three huge Jewfish-must have been 400 lbs. Did Nitrox on the Capt. Dan, a penetrable wreck; amberjacks and an occasional shark, 108 feet. Second dive on 70 foot reef. Lots of lobster.

Islamorada

Lady Cyana Divers/Port Largo Villas, May 1998, Albert Ammons, Vallejo, CA. Currents and winds; vis 35-50 ft. Water: 80-83 degrees. Back on the boat with 500 psi, had to have a buddy. Good: Everything about Lady Cyana and the staff there. Gloria Teague friendly and competent staff. She is hands-on manager. Made to feel welcome and comfortable. On weekends you get BBQ hot dogs. Good boat, briefings are useful. Sites are picked by who signs up first and verified by polling the passengers on the boat. On several dives there were Lady Cyana students doing their open water dives. I was impressed with their skills. (Ph: 800-221-8717 or 305-664-8717)

Lady Cyana/Islamorada Hotel, July 1998, Delaine Lisk. Older Keys-style hotel. New owners upgrading to property. Rooms and efficiencies. Clean. Pool. Dive operation: level of service high. Captains give excellent briefings and could answer any questions about fish id and behavior. Lady Cyana III very stable. We were out in 8 ft. seas when many other operations didn't go. Only negatives: they allow smoking on the boat and visit the Eagle more often than I like for the deep dive. Vis: 25-35 reefs, 40-70 wrecks. Water: 85-87 degrees. Return to boat with 500 psi, no time limit set.

Lady Cyana Divers, July 1998, Cos Westrich, Colorado Springs, CO. Good people. Cared about us and our dives. Fishbowl reef: lots of fish, eels, sharks. Vis: 30-40 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees.

Lady Cyana Divers/Islamorada Motel, August 1998, David Lamb, Salt Lake City, UT. Vis: 25-35 ft, water temp: 87 F. Boats roomy, and comfortable with ample protected area and array of safety equipment. Most sites 20 or 30 minutes. No snacks or soft drinks provided but a cooler is available. Surface intervals short but within computer limits. Dive briefings excellent and covered the geography with navigational suggestions. Briefings for the Duane and Eagle wrecks included pictures and diagrams. Crew top notch. Dive shop large and well stocked. Vis disappointing-30 feet and moon jellys near the surface plagued the divers who didn't wear skins. Lots of fish and nice corals. Nurse sharks, eels, turtles, lobsters, yellow and southern stingrays, crabs. Islamorada Motel is a small, clean, Spartan, family-owned diver friendly motel a couple miles up the highway from Lady Cyana Divers.

Ocean Quest, August 1998, Alison Stenger, Portland, OR. Contact Pat "Dive Goddess" Taylor of Ocean Quest, before our trip to dive sites no one else would visit. Pat not only did everything she promised, she went out of her way to arrange a booking with a private captain for us with no fee charged for her trouble. Vis: 40-60 ft. Water: 76-78 degrees. (Ph: 800-356-8798 or 305-852-8770)

Key Largo

Aqua-Nuts Divers/Kelly's-on-the-Bay, May 1998. Steve and Kathie Payne, Richland City, IN. Under new management; dedicated dive resort and they have a dive locker to stow your gear to dry. 2-tank dives in either the a.m. or the p.m., one night dive on the Benwood. Reefs are spur-and-groove or patch coral. Lots of rough seas, surge and current, algae, lots of damaged and bleached reefs. Fish life is good, occasional jewfish or amberjacks on the wrecks, but lots of colorful tropicals and small bait fish. Kelly's was nice. Each unit has a small kitchen area and there are several grills on the property. Sunsets are beautiful and property is well kept. Water cool: 74-76 degrees, needed 3 mm. suit. Visibility 50-70 feet. Aqua-Nuts runs two nice 42-foot Newtons. They ask divers where they want to go when they book the dive, but don't necessarily honor the request. After several days of diving sanded reefs, we a wreck or deeper reef, which they said they would do, but once out they took us back to the Benwood and then to French Reef, again. The more dives you make, the less they cost; a 2-tank dive cost $40 each if you make 4 trips. (Ph: 800-226-0415, Website: http://florida-keys.fl.us/kellys.htm.)

Aqua-Nuts Divers/Ocean Pointe Condos, July 1998, Sharon Watson. Water 85, vis 50-60. Four 2-tank dives for $160. Pleasant surroundings, hammocks by the wharf, picnic tables, wheel barrows to transport gear, nice boats. Crew accommodating. Capt. Bob gave our briefings, geared up, helped to the dive platform, checked out, and dived our own profile. 60 minute dives. Moon jellies that were stinging a little. Marine life was abundant: large stonefish, 3 nurse sharks fighting over territory, hawksbill turtle, school of barracuda, several swim-throughs. Fresh orange slices in the cooler. Though the boat was almost full, things were organized enough not to notice. If you go on afternoon dive, they took orders and called ahead so lunch was ready to pick up next door upon our return. Ocean Pointe Condos were nice, 2 bedrooms, living room, complete kitchen, large pool and tennis courts.

Aqua-Nuts Divers/Kelly's, July 1998, Tim & Paula Pastushin, Mission Viejo, CA. Motel: tacky in a fun way, Great art around the premises, nice continental breakfast, rooms clean, a little small, great ac, excellent sun deck and pool, decent value. Dive operation: Organized, efficient, great boats, fast and roomy, minimal interference in profile, good briefings. Diving: mediocre-corals beat to crap by weather and diver over-pressure, watched other divers laying on, fisting the reef. Good small critters, lots of sealife. Vis: 20-40 ft.water: 84-88 degrees. Dive restriction: be back on boat 1 hour after gates open. Sites: French Reef and Molasses reef corals pretty much destroyed, OK swimthroughs at French reef, good fish life though nothing big. Davis reef-great shallow dive with tons of life under ledges-big green morays out, spotted drums, schools of grunts and snapper, spotted moray, golden moray, small nurse shark chased by divers, lobsters. Eagle a nice wreck, mediocre vis, great for Nitrox as high point is 70+ ft, easy penetration, good sponge and coral on wreck, big tarpon, lots of barracuda, ok tropicals Overall: Keys are a decent introduction to warm water diving but way too many divers are beating the reefs up. For a few bucks more go to the Bahamas or Cozumel? Good restaurants-The Fish House has excellent jerk fish but go early. The cracked Conch at MM 105 has good fish sandwiches and onion rings to die for.

Aqua-Nuts Divers/Kelly's on the Bay, July 1998, Mark & Claudia McEvers, Lilburn, GA. Nicely run operation. Rooms basic but clean and well kept. Management pleasant and efficient. Onsite dive operation with gear storage at the dock and no humping of tanks. Two big, well-laid out boats. Even when full, the boats did not seem crowded. Short surface intervals, max depth 45 ft. Typical Keys diving; pleasant and shallow; vis 25-75 ft. Water: 83-86 degrees. Dive restriction: one hour bottom time. Good restaurants near the resort.

Aqua-Nuts Divers/Kelly's, July 1998, Thomas L. Berry, Princeton, WV. They've changed management, added a pool, and have 2 state-of-the-art dive boats. Snorklers accompanied divers. Vis: 30-50 ft, water: 75-80 degrees. Front desk/accounting disorganized. Fish House (toward Key West on left)-pan-sauteed yellowtail melts in your mouth.

Captain Slate's Atlantis Dive Center/Wreck Diver Ventures/Ocean Point, August 1998, Bob Oberle, Norwalk, OH. Booked a trip for something different thru Atlantis Dive Center for the Friday Critter Feeding with Capt. Slate. Big disappointment! Along with the other 28 divers on our boat, a second boat with another 30 divers unloaded to observe Capt. Slate with the morays and fish. Kicked in the head as divers rushed to touch the morays; visibility reduced to 10 ft. by the silt kicked up. Swam off to find our own critters. On returning to the boat, they treated us like crap! The crew felt they were doing a great favor to help in moving tanks, helping you to an open slot. Their zero tip reflected my thanks! Captain Slate is a great guy. Appreciated his efforts to let everyone in on the action. Worked hard to insure that all could touch the morays and fish. Few barracudas showed up, so he worked the yellow snappers to the pleasure of many. . . . Divers City hooked us up with Wreck Diver Ventures and Capt. Jeff Wingate. With Capt. Jeff we had the boat with 4 and 6 other divers. Took us to sights not visited by the cattle boats. His knowledge of the locations was precise as were his directions to locate swim throughs, different fish. 305-451-3900 or 305-394-1500. His e-mail (all small case) wrkdiver@ gate.net. Vis 30-40 ft. Water: 84-86 degrees. Shallow diving 35 ft.

(Ph: 800-331-3483 or 305-451-1325, Fax: 305-451-9240, e-mail: capslate@reefnet.com, Website: www.pennekamp.com/atlantis)

Captain Slate's Atlantis Dive Center/Deer Run B & B, January 1998, Steve Williams, Highlands Ranch, CO. 2-tank boat trip to Nelson's Ledge and South Ledges. Dives only so-so due to conditions. Vis: 30-40 ft. Water: 70 degrees. Maximum 1 hr. bottom time. Excellent boat with good briefing, They ran all phases of dive like a military operation. Divers got no help from crew loading, entering/exiting water, or unloading afterwards. Divemaster surly, accused divers of exceeding max. bottom time though all divers were back on the boat within hour and all had at least 300 lb. air left. Florida Keys underwater conditions are highly variable in winter so divers should beware-charter operators will not always be up front with you on conditions when questioned before setting out.

It's A Dive/Florida Bay Club, July 1997, Walton Fisher, Miami Beach, FL. It's A Dive is the greatest. Captain George gives a great briefing for the dive. Follow his instructions and you'll see the whole show! They go to Carysfort Reef, a seldom visited site farther north. Moray at each site. Bruce, Cathy and George change your tanks for the second dive. Good night dive on the Benwood. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 86-87 degrees. No restrictions for diving enforced.

It's a Dive/Key Largo Marriot, October 1997, Jim Meredith, Grand Junction, CO. Strong winds, strong currents and rough seas. Water: 80-85 degrees. Tried to dive the Duane but the buoy was at 30 feet! It's a Dive located at the Marriot. Large pontoon boat handles 4-6 foot seas OK; well-designed for diving. Captain and crew were good, though divemaster chewed out beginners for surfacing down current from the boat. He actually had to get wet swimming out to them to await rescue by the boat.

It's a Dive, Deer Run B&B, January 1998, Steve Williams, Highlands Ranch, CO. Grecian Reef a shallow site (30) with extensive coral formations and lots of small to midsize tropicals. Enjoyable leisurely dive, great for beginners. Vis: 15-35 ft. Water: 70 degrees. Maximum 1 hr. bottom time. Keys underwater conditions are highly variable in winter so divers should beware-charter operators will not always be up front with you on diving conditions when questioned before setting out. Dive boat/crew very good, but departs from the Marriott on Key Largo Bay, and it's a long boat ride to the dive sites on the Atlantic. Select a boat that departs from Atlantic side.

Pro-Dive, June 1998, Michael Valerie, Meriden, CT. Professional service and accommodations. Good wrecks, lots of barracuda! Corals were small but colorful, small fish scarce, no eels or large fish seen. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 74-76 degrees. Restrictions: No farther than 100 ft. no longer than 20 minutes. (888-776-3483 or 954-761-8915)

Ocean Divers/Marina Del Mar, August 1997,John Foster, Waterford, CT. $135/night-overpriced. Adequate but nothing special. Close to Ocean Divers, a busy operation; dive boat personnel friendlier than in the dive shop. Specialty certification courses priced beyond reason although a divemaster course can be completed in a long week. Dive boats were large but some trips only had 4-6 divers. Divers were not grouped by skill level and no divemaster was in the water on most dives. Except for the Duane and Bibb, the dives were mostly shallow and boring with poor coral; abundant barracuda, rays and similar life kept the reef dives from being complete busts. Vis: 30-60 ft. Water: 84-87 degrees.(Ph: 305-451-1113)

Ocean Divers/Marina-Del-Mar, June 1998, Galen White, Lawrence, KS. Second trip to Key Largo. Didn't see as many fish as last time. Ocean Divers did a good job, they could have done a better where current was really strong on surface. A little slow to get long tag lines out first day. Vis: 50-80 ft, water: 85-90 degrees. . . . Marine-Del-Mar lost reservations for party of 15. Finally found rooms for everybody. Reservations were made by PADI Travel. They wanted us to move to new rooms after first day. Some did, some did not. Caused a lot of bad feelings.

Quiescence/Rock Reef Resort, September 1997, David Rosen, Chesterfield, MI. Water 82 degrees, vis: 50-130ft. Resort is clean and well run, but most rooms are dark and old. The stand alone cabins are very nice. There is a small beach. . . . Quiescence is a great dive service. They run small boats that take no more than six divers, with a driver and a divemaster. They let us set our own dive profiles; often in the water an hour per dive without any complaints. 45 min. trip to the dive areas. The first day was rough (8' swells) but they did a great job getting us in and out of the boat. Dove the Duane, they sent a divemaster with us. Do not underestimate the effects of the current; you have to work hard to get down the line; after that you use the ship to block the current. A very good dive for advanced divers. The reefs are in good, but not great shape. Many small to medium tropicals were at each dive. No sharks, nothing larger than large barracuda. At the City of Washington wreck we were the only divers. Psycho, a large barracuda, has been hand fed by a local dive operator-very curious and came within less than two feet searching for food. Overall good experience. (Ph: 305-451-2440)

Quiescence Divers/Key Largo Marriott, October 1997, Jim Meredith, Grand Junction, CO. Large percentage of the stony, reef-building corals have died in the last 8 years. Huge stands of elkhorn on the Elbow are dead. Fish life abundant, but fewer large supermale parrot fish then I remember. Wind stirred up the water and reduced vis to 20-50 feet. Water: 80-85 degrees. Strong currents and rough seas. Quiescence still the best; let you do your own thing within the limits of the location. When my buddy and I came up way down current after chasing a shark and turtle for video, Walter, the captain, suggested a drift dive. Drift was nice but the 2 miles of reef was mostly dead. Drifted Molasses Wall. All Walter asked was that you come back with enough air to blow off the dust cap.

Quiescence Diving/Holiday Inn Sunspree, August 1998, Matthew E. Kreegar, Indianapolis, IN. John, the divemaster, very knowledgeable and professional. Boats take six divers. Informative briefings. Large number of fish in the federal marine sanctuary outside Pennekamp. Moderate current on one dive and boat had to pick us up. Vis: 35-40 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. No dive restrictions, dive your own profile. Tons of lobster, and grouper on night dive at Molasses. Great dive operation coupled with easy, pleasant diving.

Sea Dwellers/Holiday Inn/Raymond Chat Watts, 1997, Tucson AZ. Holiday Inn features two pools, one with water fall. Poolside bar and live music Saturday (too loud). Dive trips depart from marina next to the motel. Six dives at five sites differed considerably in quality. Sea Dwellers boat is excellent, with easy-to-climb open-sided ladder and freshwater shower. Captains and divemasters enthusiastic, helpful and knowledgeable. Dove in water 40 feet or less in and near Pennekamp. 50 foot visibility, sites selected by dive master, time limits and 1000 psi limit, no large creatures. In some places the reef is in remarkably good condition; many beautiful Christmas tree worms and a variety of hard corals and a vast array of small reef fish. Too many people; at Molasses Reef someone from another boat was run over and killed. (Ph: 305-451-3640)

Sea Dwellers, April 1998, Lloyd Schwengel, Brea, CA. Hotel was very nice and close to well laid out dive shop and boat. Package price very reasonable. Diving conditions terrible. The 20 knot winds created rough surface conditions and strong surge to 20 ft down. Visibility 10-20 ft., water: 74-76 degrees. Boat crew and dive staff did the best they could. During calmer weather, this dive package would be a good deal. Few fish. The depth is limited by the sites (shallow); maximum time given but nobody stayed down that long.

Silent World Dive Center, July 1998, Steve & Barb Conner, Moon Township, PA. Well-run operation. They take requests and then do their best to fulfill them. They try to set you up so you don't visit the same site twice. You assemble your equipment on the dock and they load it. After each dive you swap your own tanks. They do a good job of getting you there, briefing you and getting you back. In between you are on your own, free to dive your own profile. Vis from 10' in surge and shallow water to 40'. Water 85-88 degrees at 30 ft. Dive restrictions enforced were be back in an hour with no less than 500 lbs. (Ph: 800-966-DIVE, Website: www.pennekamp.com/sw)

Key West

Bonsai Divers, May 1998, Tom Chase, Prospect, KY. Good, helpful staff. Fast boat. We were on 2nd dive when cattle boats were getting to first. Very flexible captain/divemaster, made sure we had good dives. Huge Jewfish. Good wreck diving. Soft weights. Vis: 30-50 ft., water: 78 degrees. Bad: some corals were dying. Other dive operators didn't seem very cooperative and wouldn't return radio calls. Bonsai rental equipment was as good as any I have seen. Included Oceanic computer at no charge. If I had known this, I wouldn't have brought my own gear. (Ph: 305-294-2921)

Key West Divers/Heron Inn, August 1998, Joe Murray, Boise, ID. Savvy travelers have discovered they can save big by flying to Ft. Lauderdale instead of Miami. It's only 22 miles away. Based on info from Undercurrent, we chose Billy Dean's Key West Divers. First rate operation, leaders in Nitrox, no cattleboat. Trip to the U.S.S. Sturtevant, a seldom visited site 20 miles offshore. WWI destroyer, sunk in a mine field placed by Germans in 1942. Hull is pretty much wasted. Lots of fish, huge Angels and tons of Snappers. This wreck sits at 92 ft. We were only divers not using Nitrox; theoretical difference in bottom time was 75 minutes for Nitrox and 35 minutes on air, but bottom time is still limited by air consumption despite gas mix. (50 min). Trip was scheduled 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for $100. Hooked up with Southpointe Divers the next morning. Voted number one in Rodales. They are the number one "Cattle Boat" operation. They have a fast jet boat. Too many divers, too many rules. Leave your computer at home. In fact, they are so pressured to get back for the scheduled afternoon dives, even the surface interval was about 15 minutes. First dive was the Cayman wreck (70 ft), a 250-ft naval ship broken into two sections with 25 ft vis. Charge was $40 per dive plus $7 per tank. Actually we could have made both dives on one tank because dive 2 was only 28 ft. They will store your gear so it is convenient if staying in "Old Town." Parking is $8. Subtropic Divers were less rigid than Southpointe, but still mass production with dives scheduled by their watch. We made two dives on the wreck Alexander (28 ft), with a 10 min surface interval. Charge $55 two dives. Heron Inn, a beautiful B&B one block from Duvall. Rooms are $100 up, double during high season. Includes breakfast and complimentary wine during happy hour, 5-7pm. Stay within walking distance to the action on Duvall St. Lots of tourist staff, bars, restaurants and stores. Recommend for eating, Mangos and Two Friends. (Ph: 305-294-7177)

Southport Divers/Hyatt, February 1998, Jack Koning, Holland, MI. Didn't get to dive! El Niño struck and the vis was mostly 0! water: 75 degrees. These guys were professional, nice, helpful, best dive boat I have been on! They did not charge me 1 penny, though we went out 2 days, and looked ALL over (8 stops) trying to find vis. (Ph: 800-824-6811 or 305-292-9778,

e-mail: southpoint@aol.com)

Southport Divers/Captain's Corner, April 1998, Bob Perry, Yuma, AZ. Arranged Wreck Diving Speciality course well with Captain's Corner by e-mail and phone. Went on 2 tank dive. Boat had 32 divers and snorkelers, 1 captain, and 1 divemaster. Took us to shallow reef for both dives. Then told they had gotten my dates wrong and instructor would not be available. They had made no effort to notify me though they had my phone number and e-mail address. Contacted Southpoint Divers: professional, safety oriented, accommodating, and friendly. Every dive had a captain and 3-5 instructors as crew. They provided the Wreck Speciality course and even deviated from their normal wreck/reef schedule to dive a double wreck one trip to accommodate me. Every trip started with a roll call and each dive concluded with each diver initialing the roll call to ensure no one left behind. Briefings excellent and the right mix of safety with latitude to enjoy the dive to its max. Water: 74-75 degrees.

South Point Divers, July 1998, Steve & Barb Conner, Moon Township, PA. In depth orientation and briefings. Right mix of professionalism and fun. Will do everything for you or nothing depending on your preference. Western Dry Rocks: nice finger reefs in about 25' of water. Water 87 F with vis 30-50'. Free to dive your own profile. Restrictions were one hour on site or 500 lbs. Yellow sting rays, southern rays, parrot fish, barracudas.

Looe Key

Coral Divers, July 1998, Steve & Barb Conner, Moon Township, PA. Lloyd and his wife Barbara met us at the dock and it was like our own private charter. Boat is a 30 footer and they take a maximum of 6. Though vis was only 50 ft. there was plenty to see from the tropical fish to the outstanding corals. Quite a few tarpon, a couple of nurse sharks, eagle ray, barracuda. Water 89 degrees. Dive restrictions: one hour or 500 lbs. Mile Marker 24.5 on Summerland Key next to Sherman's. (Website: www.coraldivers.com.)

Marathon

Hall's Dive Shop/Holiday Inn, August 1997, Mike Holub, Ames, IA. Holiday Inn very nice. Should have tried dive operation next to Holiday Inn. Florida Keys nice but no beaches! Hall's Dive Shop-old boat. Only 1 employee took us out. He stayed on boat and read a book. Water: 86 degrees. Vis: 50 ft. At dive shop and only one rinse tub a 30-gallon garbage can! From many articles that I've read on Hall's I expected a much nicer outfit. (Ph: 800-331-4255 or 305-743-5929, Website: www.hallsdiving.com)

Hall's Diving/Tom Pohrte, July 1998, The Colony, TX. No rinse bucket, set-up area, or safe storage for cameras. Sombrero Reef Light: Max 25' deep, 20-30' vis. Water 86 F. Air 90. Dive restrictions; Max 1 hour. Coral in poor to good shape. Some small schools of grunts. Lobster, small barracuda. 27 boats moored in area. Delta Shoals: Max 17' deep, 30' vis. Water temp 86 F. Site of 1600's shipwreck coral encrusted debris. Coral in fair to good shape. More fish: glassy sweepers, French angels, snapper, grunts. Dive bags hauled from dive shop to boat by crew. 40' fast boat. 20 minute boat ride to dive sites. Max 28 divers (only 8 on my trip). Boat Captain and Mate didn't dive. Minimal help with equipment. Fair pre-dive briefing. Logged starting/ending PSI. Be back on board in 1 hour. 30 minute surface interval. Nitrox at extra cost. Wanted to dive the S.S.Thunderbolt artificial reef (120' deep) but no one else signed up. Heavy traffic at Sombrero Reef and poor visibility.

Panama City Beach

Hydrospace, May 1997, David Rosen, Chesterfield, MI. Water 78 degrees, visibility: 20-50ft. We can drive from St. Louis in one day, and get 4-5 days diving for under $500. You dive wrecks and artificial reefs only. Some wrecks are very interesting, but overall the diving is average. Bad water conditions the whole time; swells rarely less than 6 feet. They called off a few dives because of the weather, yet we had made dives from smaller boats on worse conditions elsewhere in the U.S. They refunded money for any dive they called off. Hydrospace runs large boats that appeared well maintained. Some of our party found the diving boring. . . . We got the impression there have been many lawsuits because all of the dive operators were gun-shy. When an O-ring needed a repair, the boat personnel said they would tell us how to make the repair, but would not touch the equipment because of legal liability. (Ph: 800-874-3483 or 904-234-3063)

Panama City Dive Center, 1998, Walter Dudley, Phoenix, AZ. Well organized and efficient. Dive boat operators were great! Casey and his wife Debi Haines are both captains and work a team. They helped all the divers and did so in a friendly manner. Vis: 30-40 ft. Water: 75-80 degrees. My dive computer failed after the first dive and they let me use one of theirs. They worked with the entire group of divers to build a consensus about where we would dive. When I asked to borrow gloves, Casey simply took his off and gave them to me to use. They have owned Splash Sports about three years and were very knowledgeable about diving in the Panama City Florida area. The fish and coral mot as plentiful or large as in the Caribbean but a good diving experience. (Ph: 850-235-3390)

Pete's Scuba Center/Shell Divers. August 1997. Steve and Kathie Payne, Richland City, IN. Took advanced open water from Pete; he doesn't have a boat but places you on charters. Shell Divers runs 2 boats. One holds 10-12 and one 20. Both boats in excellent condition and crews were terrific. Weather good; boats don't go if the seas are running 4 feet. Divers of all levels. Water 80-82 degrees. Dove several wrecks (Chickasaw, Black Bart, Simpson, Chippewa) and bridge spans. Visibility ranged from awful (less than 10 feet), to good, which in PCB is about 30 feet. Wrecks and bridge spans were coral encrusted. Lots of good color, Christmas tree worms galore, lots of fish, baitfish so thick it made the dive go dark, puffers, angels, blue wrasse, tangs, big oyster fish under everything. On a night dive the sea floor was covered with flounder, crabs. Bioluminescence: turn off your light, wave your hand and it looks like a thousand fireflies. Huge loggerhead turtle stayed for 15 minutes. Prices were $45 for a two-tank trip and $67.50 for a three-tank trip; tanks $5 each. (Ph: 850-230-8006, Website: www.petescuba.com)

Ramrod Key

Looe Dive Center, August 1998, Matthew E. Kreegar, Indianapolis IN. Went with 4 divers. Professional, boat clean and well equipped. Divemaster informative and helpful. Nice easy diving. Vis: 35-40 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Dive restrictions; 60 minute bottom time per tank. Diving is shallow. Reef in fair shape though not much better than Pennekamp. One two-tank dive and maybe a single tank is max for this site. Fish life abundant. Easy pleasant diving.

Tavernier

Tavernier Dive Center/Bay Breeze Hotel, July 1998, Delaine Lisk, Kennesaw GA. Vis: 30 ft. (shallow) 50 ft (wrecks). Water: 84-87. Friendly staff. Owner active in day-to-day operations. Usually ran 2 boats, could choose to do wreck/reef, or 2 reefs. Go to Duane and Eagle regularly. Crew solicits input from divers on preferences. Vis in Keys the worst we've seen. Turtles daily. Excellent quantity and variety of fish on reefs. No smoking on boats. Nitrox. Have 70AL cylinders for smaller divers. Captains give excellent briefings. If doing the morning and afternoon dives, the captains would call in our lunch order. Bay Breeze Hotel: nice efficiency, clean and well-equipped. Pool under construction. On bay, can snorkel or use free paddle and row boats, or watch sun go down. Chad's Deli around corner from hotel. Excellent sandwiches on fresh-baked bread. (Ph: 305-852-4007)

North Carolina

Diamond Shoals Dive Center, July 1998, Rick Tuss, Wilmington, DE. Weather and seas fantastic. Blue water every dive. Days 1 and 2 started with dives 120-130 ft. second dive 80-100. Vis: 30-80 feet, water: 75-81 degrees. Nice wrecks. Proteus, British Splendor, Dixie Arrow and Keshena. Day 3 was to be the Australia off Diamond Shoals, but the captain decided on a couple shallow wrecks (30-40 ft) because of the lack of current, flat calm seas and 80 ft vis. Sorry, I was there to dive deep. My double 100's with 30% Nitrox was a waste. The Northeastern was boring but the Hesperidies was beautiful and would have made a wonderful 2nd dive after a good, deep first. The Gunsmoke crew was friendly and helpful. Boat's head broken all three days of diving, not fun. Engine hatch had to be opened to shut off diesels. Otherwise, boat was sound and safe. After diving, they took tanks to the shop, filled, and delivered to the dock the next day. They couldn't get the Nitrox fills correct. One day, everyone's O2 percentages were 3 to 6% high. Not good to ask for 30% end up with 36%, and find out the first dive is 120 ft plus. After complaining, the next day most fills were up to 3% low on O2. Filled one set of my doubles (Faber HP) to 2600 psi. (I will be pulling valves out of my tanks and inspecting them after getting a significant amount of water in them last year). . . . We had booked the entire boat (18 divers), but they decided to run a second, afternoon trip every day, forcing us into a earlier morning departure that we did not appreciate, especially since they didn't say anything until the evening before the first day. The owners need to get their act together. Bottom line: Hatteras diving is as good as it gets. Spectacular wrecks, good vis, and lots of big fish.

Olympus Dive Center/Olympus Lodge, August 1998, Herb Booth, Carlisle, KY. Bunk beds were comfortable and served the purpose after a day on the ocean. If you need a five-star facility this would not be it. Olympus Dive Center staff helpful and professional. Boat rides 1.5 to 2 hours to offshore wrecks, take food and drinks. Vis: 40-80 ft, water: 80-82 degrees. We left the dock at 7:00 A.M. and returned around 4 P.M.. Lots of fish on wrecks. Sharks. Great trip.