By rcompa from Boston, MA on May 11, 2007.
After reading the review about hooking up to the reef, I HAD to find out if this was true. I’ve been diving for several years and had only heard of this being done. Sure enough, they dropped anchor near the reef and it dragged along the sand and finally caught. I spoke with the boat captain right after that because I was so surprised, but he immediately defended it, saying that every year they apply to the Department of Environmental Resources to put in a mooring ball system but his petitions are denied every year; he said local legislators always say there’s not enough money for the upkeep, but that he doesn’t believe it. He also said they try to counteract the effects by always mooring in the same place. I guess he figured I didn’t believe him, because he gave me their website to check out - as proof - and they really do have a record of their work with DERM. I dug a little deeper, and found out that it’s policy in Miami, but that South Beach Divers and their boat captains have a really good rep for protesting this resistance to mooring balls.
As for the transportation issue the other person had, I booked online and the website was clear on which dives had transport and which didn’t. Even though I had signed up for it, when I got to the shop I saw a bunch of staff members shuffling around helping people get to the dive site who didn’t have transportation. Regardless, I’ve never had my transportation provided to a pier without paying extra. You’re renting dive gear, not a limo service.
Overall, I had a great dive trip, everyone was friendly and very forthcoming with answers to my questions. Plus, the wrecks in Miami were amazing to check out - if you’re advanced, definitely do one of the deep dives!
South Beach Divers is located at 850 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
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- 5-Star rating
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rcompa recommends this business.
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John Davison says:
My family has gone snorkeling with South Beach Divers every year for three years now and we always have a great time. There staff is excellent.
Posted on 06/12/2007 at 12:14 PM