Key Largo (11/13/99 - 11/20/99)
Author: John Edwards

LODGING: Marriott Key Largo Resort MM 103 bayside the resort itself was very nice, pricey, but nice; worked well for us because we were paying for the stay by using some of my accumulated Marriott Reward points and were upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite;

(insert CWS "I travel a lot and I'm platinum like God" comments here)

room prices range from $150 - $250 a night, with rooms types from small, double bed rooms facing the road, to medium size suites w/ balcony facing the bay, to 2 bedroom suites w/ full kitchen, living room, large balcony and bathroom complete w/ whirlpool tubs;

there are 3 bars on the grounds (Flipper's, Breezer's & Gus' Grill) & all offer food service; a 9 hole putt-putt course, a small bayside beach, kayak & jet-ski rental & a full service spa; the pool, large kidney shaped, and the Jacuzzi are open 24 hours and are accessible using a room key; the open 24 hours was a nice feature;

DIVE SHOP "It's A Dive" two different boats, the first, a 30' Sportscraft "In too Deep" 6 pak that is used with a maximum of 6 divers; with 6 divers it's a little snug due to the lack of seating; the only cover is the captain's seat area & the one small cushion seat directly behind this area; there is another large, rectangular cushion seating over the top of the inboard motor; no rinse tank for camera; request a bucket for masks and one will be provided; they do provide sodas and a cooler & a fresh water hose for rinsing; entry & exit was off of a platform at the stern of the boat; good marks to the crew in helping you don & doff your gear on entry and exit;

the second boat is a 42' catamaran "Sea Star", crew said they will take no more than 20 divers on that boat; the max that we had on that boat was 8 divers & it was very spacious; nice cover, nice seating, carpeted decking, rinse tank for cameras, rinse bucket for masks, 2 fresh water shower hoses, cooler w/ sodas provided; entry & exit was off either side; again, high marks to the crew for help w/ the gear;

CREW Tom Ewing & Doug Kipps were our boat captains and both were knowledgeable and friendly; Tom will keep you entertained w/ stories of trips and travels; Doug will keep you boot-scootin' with his love of country & western tunes on the boat radio; Ryan is one of the ship crew, dive instructor certified and willing to help; Vince, another ship crew, was open water certified on our last dive trip; Bruce (last name?) master dive instructor, very good advice with u/w photography; Weslay, part-owner & operator, friendly and willing to offer any help necessary to make the trips fun; all of the crew were more than willing to help you with gear, from the point of putting it on board for you in the morning if it was stored upstairs, helping you on with it prior to water entry, helping you off with it and setting it up on your second tank, to even rinsing and storing the gear after the day's diving; tips are accepted & seemed to help w/ service;

there dive rules are generally 1 hour on-site and on board w/ 500 psi;

the shop itself is neat & clean and offers some very nice shirts and products; they have a storage area on the roof for gear with lockers that don't have any air flow but do offer security; the whole area is locked when no one is around;

the suggestion I gave Weslay was to set up a second rinse tank on the dock; they have 1 rinse tank & it wasn't a problem while we were there, but if there were 20 people getting off of a boat, that 1 tank would be woefully insufficient;

THE DIVING we did 6 dives on Elbow Reef, different mooring buoys each time, to include City of Washington, Mike's Wreck, South Ledges & the North Corner; 3 dives on Molasses reef, again different buoys; the Benwood, 1 twilight dive & 1 night dive; and the Duane all of the dives, with the exception of the Duane, were only 20 - 45 feet in depth & bottom times ranged from 40 - 55 minutes; temperatures were in the 76 - 78 degree range; I was fine w/ a shorty, Stacey got a little chilly the last few dives using here shorty;

our first 2 dives were at Elbow reef and were our best visibility of the week, 50 - 60 feet; the other dives vis ranged from 20 - 50 feet max; waves were usually 1 - 3 feet, with a couple of days being 3 - 5; we were actually very luck in that the 2 weeks prior to our arrival the winds had not dropped below 17 mph; while we were there the winds generally stayed down around 10 mph; there was still quite a bit of silt and surge on most dives; and needless to say, there were several trips when there were people "feeding the fish", the best line of the week was the guy that said as he exited the platform and headed for the side of the boat, "did you see that reef sharrrrrkkuuuuugggggggggggg" (it was a nurse shark & he felt the immediate urge to feed it);

the benwood as a night dive ought to be renamed "parrot fish hotel", each one of the sections formed by the hull and the keel structure is occupied by the largest parrot fish you will ever see! we did the dive just before night fall and saw the usual critters, but not more than 1 hour later as a night dive very large parrot fish take up these sections as there sleep spots for the night; very neat;

the duane….waited for 5 clowns on our boat to head down the mooring line; while they seemingly discussed their dive, supper, nightlife & travel plans for the week on the down line, Amy Amoray's boat circled by like a C-130 and proceeded to drop off a brigade of divers; will give the Amoray divers one point, they beat the 5 clowns from our boat down the line;

molasses reef w/ over 10 dive boats, coming up by the wrong boat & getting the "you guys aren't from around here are you?" look; lesson….don't rely on someone else's navigation after they show they can do it once; ended up about 100 yards from our boat & had to resubmerge;

animal highlights: free swimming 5 - 6 foot nurse shark….would've been nicer without the 5 clowns from our boat trying to chase it around & quickly running it off; VERY!!! friendly barracudas and green moray eels….they are definitely used to being fed; one 8 foot green moray on mike's wreck; several spotted eels; yellow stingray; Stacey finally got to see her long awaited hawksbill turtle; scrawled filefish; oyster toadfish; porcupine fish;

FOOD AND SHOPS Snappers mm94.5 oceanside; nice back patio seating where you can feed some VERY large tarpons; very, very good food; we went back here several times during the week; good calamari; good service; $50+ for 2;

Hobos mm104.2 bayside; the fish sandwiches are everything folks have said about them! small seating area, very good service; $25+ for 2;

Sundowner's mm103.9 bayside; nice patio seating; very good calamari; good service; $60+ for 2;

Fish House mm102.4 oceanside; excellent service; excellent food! $60+ for 2;

Italian Fisherman mm102 bayside; very nice patio seating; we didn't think the food or the service was very good; they do offer a seafood buffet Friday nights but we didn't try it; $40+ for 2;

The Frog & the Fly mm90 at the tavernier shopping center; coffee shop w/ excellent sandwiches;

if you go down to Key West & need to eat while driving thru Marathon, stop at Herbie's; it's just past the airport at 63rd street; a very good, local flavor restaurant; prices are low but be warned they only accept cash;

No Where Bar & Grill mm112; you have to drive back towards Miami for this one; very local but damned good sandwiches & they have 25 cent drafts for Monday night football;

need 1 hour print film done? head for the Winn-Dixie at mm90 in tavernier; prices are about ½ of what the K-mart on Key Largo charges, it's only about 10 minutes down the road & you can go back up to Snappers for lunch while you wait for the processing to be done; excellent staff here, as opposed to the K-mart where you ring the service bell until the blister on you hand can't take it anymore;

need shells and gifts? use the Shell World shop at mm 97.5 instead of the Shell Man stores; much nicer gift selection, shirt selection & prices seemed a little better;

whew, didn't think this would go on so long; hope I've helped anyone that wants some key largo info; feel free to send any e-mails if you want further info;

later, johne

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