My wife and I recently traveled to the Florida Keys on a spontaneous getaway. While we were there we decided to book a few dive trips (4 in total). We called around and spoke to a few dive shops that were in or near the Key Largo area. All the shops were extremely friendly and gave very detailed descriptions regarding what their dive charter costs and where they would take their divers. We ended up calling one dive shop in particular who informed us that they run smaller charters, only holding a max of 6 divers. To this point, we’ve only been on larger boats that hold large amounts of people. Even when we traveled to the Eastern Caribbean and went on a boat in St. Thomas, it was still a larger boat with lots of people. Needless to say we thought “why not?!” So we booked the dive trip with the notion of if we weren’t fans then we would never book a small charter again.

So, finally the morning came, my wife and I were up early to be at the dock around 8:30am. The morning was cool with a light breeze. We had filled out all the dive paperwork and information the day before the dive, this way we were essentially ready to go. We took all of our gear down to the dock and there sat 3 small boats, like the one pictured above with the people in it. Initially we were a bit skeptical, at least on a large dive charter you know that the waves won’t effect the boat as much. We met the captain who was extremely kind and very helpful. Two more people showed up and the captain said “okay, that is everyone so let’s go!”

As soon as the boat left the dock, the vibe was completely different. On a larger boat, with tons of people, everyone seems to be somewhat stressed regarding where to sit, watching their gear, getting situated, etc. On a smaller boat, everyone was relaxed and just going with the flow. Your gear was a mere 8 feet away from you, not 30 feet like on a larger boat. The captain was able to talk to us face to face, not through a microphone. We were all able to relax and enjoy the boat ride without being crammed together. Once we got to the dive sites, it was pure perfection. Amazingly blue waters, gorgeous and healthy corals, thousands of fish, it was amazing. We did two dives the first day and both dives were flawless. On the ride back, the captain gave us ideas about what places are good for lunch and dinner. He informed us that while in the Keys, if the restaurant begins with the letter “S” then it probably has really good food. Yes, he was 100% correct.

We did two more dives the day after, and just as the previous day, the dives were amazing. We’re not saying that booking a dive charter on a larger boat is bad or that there is a lack in customer service with larger boats. However, there is a different vibe from going on smaller boats with far less people. Not to mention, when you get into the water, you’re not crowded with people from your dive charter. When we were actually diving, we didn’t see a single person whereas when we’ve dove with larger boats, it is virtually impossible to avoid swimming near other people.

Ultimately, if you haven’t dove on a smaller boat, try it. Make sure that the dive charter is reputable and has some reviews online. We try to do our due diligence when going on a dive charter because you want to ensure that you’re not willingly walking onto a nightmare excursion. For us, the 6 people boats were perfect. We’re planning another trip to the Keys coming up soon and booked 2 more dives with the same dive charter. It is all about stepping out of a comfort zone and experiencing new things, you truly never know what you might find. For us, we took a chance and had the most amazing time with an awesome dive shop.

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to check out our Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/next_dive for pictures and videos of our adventures!