North America Dive Operators

Key Largo, Florida - "Amoray Divers"

Dive Operator Snapshot

AMORAY DIVE RESORT
104250 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY

The Resort:  Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort IS a full service resort with a variety of rooms from typical hotel rooms up to multi bedrooms with kitchen's & living space.  This resort caters to divers who tend to be very wet and have lots of wet gear so you find the rooms floored with tile.  The rooms were always clean and nobody had any complaints.  The general feeling was that this resort would be rated as a solid 3 star hotel.

Their Boats: They have two boats available, a 45' power cat and a 26' "six pack".  Robb and I have dove off of their 45' power cat numerous times.  It is a GREAT dive boat.  The cat is a very stable dive platform with gobs of room for divers and their gear. Water entry is from either side or the bow.  Water exit is up ladders on either side.  This system generally works very well.  I like the bow water entry with a giant stride.  A few kicks and you are at the mooring ball for an easy descent.  The only downside we have experienced was once during a rough seas dive. The cat sits high in the water with the deck about 30" above the seas.  On this particular dive the boat was rocking up and down, side to side.  One of our novice divers did a giant stride off the side of the cat as it bounced up on a wave peak.  She stepped off and fell about 8' into a wave trough and lost her mask and reg. This event was an exception but does point out the trade off of diving off any boat that does not have a water level dive platform.  The Amoray Diver is moderately quick on the way out and in.  As I said, I like the Amoray Diver and would rate it as a 4 Star dive boat.

The Crew: For me this will be the hardest part to fairly rate.  Robb and I both did our Advanced Open Water training with two of the Amoray dive instructors.  Scott Lorence is a real pro, funny, and very thorough. We were both very pleased.  Two of our very best ever dives were with the Amoray Dive team.  But, two of our very worst dives ever were also on this boat with a different skipper and divemaster.  On one trip to the City of Washington the Captain failed to inform the divers that there was about a knot current present.  He opened the "pool" and divers were going off the front and both sides of the boat. Divemaster Robb, two brand new open water divers, my wife, and I all went off the down current side of the boat.  Robb and the two teenagers ended up fighting their way back against the current to be rescued by the Marriot's dive boat which was moored one buoy down current.  Before it was over, there were six of us, overheated and worn out, rescued by the other boat.  A simple mistake, yes, but one that could have turned ugly.  Our second dive involved a young Amoray instructor.  Through a series of events involving bad weather and a blown low end on the dive boat, our deep dive was changed into a dive on the Benwood.  One of the people in our dive team needed their deep dive to complete their Advanced Open Water.  We were informed that there was a deep hole just passed the bow of the Benwood where we would swim.  Our young "buff" instructor hit the water and raced towards the hole which was more like 100+ yards past the Benwood.  We all gave chase.  Robb had a problem clearing his ears on the descent and blew through his air trying to catch up.  When he finally arrived, he signaled that he was down to 1500 psi and was heading back.  My wife and I followed a few minutes later.  Our friend finally had to show the instructor that he was under 1000 psi and was 88' deep and needed to head up. He made it back to the boat after having to snorkle at the surface with a tank bone dry!  The good news is that the next time we dove with them, this young speed demon was no longer working for them.

After logging over 16 dives with Amy Slate's Amoray Diver we almost feel like family. That means we have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.  The inconsistency  results in a crew rating of 3 1/2 stars.

Location, Location, Location: One thing about Amy Slate's Dive Resort is its location.  It's real close by car from Miami.  This is a good thing.  We can make it from Orlando to the Resort in about 5 hours.  The bad news is that it takes the boat about 20 minutes to get from dock to the cut to get out into the Atlantic.  This means you will add 40 minutes of boat time to each dive trip.  The Amoray Diver Cat is a pleasant boat to be on so that extra twenty minutes can be used in setting up or stowing away your dive gear.
 

All in all, most of our dives were good to excellent.

The Bottom Line: So the challenge is how to give a fair evaluation to a dive operation we have used regularly over the past three years. Great boat, decent crew most of the time, location neutral - call it 3 1/2 stars.

The real bottom line is this.  Both Robb and I WILL dive with them again.  We will bring our families back and take advantage of the stable dive platform to dive our favorite shallow water wrecks, the Benwood and the City of Washington.

http://www.amoray.com/

Your Dive Professional Who Wrote This Review