What We Did in Key Largo – Dive Trip Dreary Day

My favorite “souvenirs” probably are not at all what you would expect. I do not own a single T-shirt or hat from an event or restaurant, concert, or location. My absolute favorite souvenirs are useful items. Items I can use, but that have that history of being obtained while on a trip… The perfect filet knife from a fishing trip to Cedar Key, rubber boots from a camping trip to Georgia, fish tail palm trees from a boating trip to Stuart… all useful items, but with a fun history of the vacation. We knew there was a shop in Key Largo that just might have a few items we “couldn’t do without!”

Even though we thought we brought everything we possibly could want on our dive trip, we arrived thinking we would like to find a good dry bag. Coincidentally, so did one of the other divers, so we all went on a shopping junket.

First we went to Divers Direct Key Largo, a huge dive shop. We looked at all the new gadgets, and selected a couple brass rings, and a Velcro strap for securing items.

If there was anything, anything at all that we needed; this would be the place to find it! Divers Direct is huge!

We looked at the dry bags, looked them up online, compared prices, realized we still had not found exactly what we were looking for – one that could be folded very small for packing.

Next stop, Shell World! We picked up two bright beach towels to use on all future dive trips, then admired plenty of taxidermied fish and sea life.

Finally, we headed to West Marine Key Largo. They had some great-looking backpacks that also were dry bags. We weren’t sure if we wanted big backpack dry bags like the Outdoor Foundry brand they use on the SV Delos – interesting story on YouTube – or something more compact.

We looked at the Ronstan bags, which are so durably-made and visible with their bright red exterior, however, the models they had in stock at West Marine were the huge versions. We were looking for something a little more portable and smaller. We all settled on the more compact size that fits into any small pocket on a dive bag made by Advanced Elements. It worked great – two of us purchased and used them in the rain that day!

The Dive Shop at Quiescence Diving Services was our last stop, and there we looked at all their sunscreen. We were thrilled to find that they carry the Stream2Sea brand recommended to me by Mermaid4Life’s Robbin on a previous dive trip.

Also we looked at all the various books for fish identification and shark identification. I couldn’t decide on one at that moment, since I knew I already had a couple at home.I was most interested in the Greenberg book in particular, since it’s a classic, timeless publication. I could not find my copy, so I did finally order a used one from Amazon, and it was great to be able to identify the fish from the diving on the trip later. I enjoy buying used books – it makes me feel like a recycle / reuse / repurpose / reduce advocate!

What we learned: Having a cell phone and being able to check online prices for something that is not strictly a locally-produced item is handy.

Also, taking back something fun for your next dive club raffle drawing is a thoughtful way to include those who weren’t able to go on your adventure.

What to Read Next: Jules Verne Undersea Lodge – Salvaging a Dive Trip

Or: That Time We Didn’t Get to Dive With Dive Quiescence