My 14 year old son (who is newly certified with the Open Water Dives coming in a Quarry) and I were in the Florida Keys for Spring Break and trying to get some dives in. High waves and wind kept us from 10 of our planned dives with one of the dive shops, but on the last day we finally got a call that they were going out so we took a small (30') boat out with 7 other divers.

The waves were still 3-5' ( or 4-6' depending on who you ask. :-) ); the head was broken in the boat (which we were not told until someone USED the head) and most of the boat got horribly seasick. After passing on two spots which were too shallow given the waves, the boat moored over a reef in 60' of water.

Visibility was about 10' - and the dive briefing consisted of ' its deeper over there, shallower over there; watch the current (but no idea which way the current was running). Come back in 1 hour or with 500 psi in your tanks' and off we went.

We were used to the poor vis due to our quarry diving, but without a guide in the water, we spent most of our time making sure we knew where the boat was and not really looking at what we could see. Disappointing, esp when other shops we called later said they put a DM into the water as a guide who knows the area and where to go.

Oh well, better luck next time.