Boynton Beach & Key Largo, 1999
Author: Terry Passarino

Just got back from a great week in Florida. Started off in Boynton Beach and dove with Dive Charters International on the “Deeper”. Captain Leo Sand runs a great dive operation and treated us very good. I highly recommend his operation. Took us to the wreck of the Beck. This was our first wreck dive ever and it was awsome. The wreck sits upright in 87 feet of water and is intact. Saw a pair of 5 to 6 foot’ jew fish at the bottom. Could have used a lot more bottom time to explore the wreck. Our second dive was a drift dive and water temp was about 60’ and water temp was 87 degrees. Quite a difference from our 50 degree Monterey water.

Then, off to Key Largo. Took the advice of this board and did our diving farther down the Keys. Booked a dive with Underseas for the wreck of the Adalpholis Bush but it got cancelled because some of the divers did not show up. Instead, they offered us a reduced price on their boat going out the the Looe Key reef. It ended up being a great reef dive. We saw four sharks, lots of barracuda, tarpon, lots of colorful fish. The vis was about 40 feet and water temp was 87 degrees.

Next dive was with Lady Cyan in Islamorada. Dove the wreck of the Eagle. She lies on her side in 108’ of water and is broken in half. This was our deepest dive so far and was great. Vis was about 30 feet and not much current. Seeing these ships down there sure gets you hooked on wreck diving. Again, saw some huge jew fish (est. 400 lbs by operator). Second dive was a shallow reef dive but got to see another shark. Lady Cyan dive shop was great and even had lunch for the divers upon return to the shop.

Top side, didn’t seem to be much to do in Key Largo area. Most of the action and shopping is in the Key West area. Enjoyed spending the day there. Spent the last few days exploring the Fort Lauderdale area. Checked with local dive shops and there seems to be a lot of ship wrecks there and some good shore diving by Lauderdale By The Sea. Fort Lauderdale reminds me a lot of Hawaii and we are looking forward to going back there so explore the diving and sightseeing.

Thanks to all the people on this board and their suggestions. Made it a fun and successful trip.

Last edited on June 29, 2002