Finz Dive Center

Finz Dive Center works out of 6003 Peninsular Avenue on Stock Island, just outside Key West, and it is a NOAA Blue Star operator, the sanctuary's designation for dive businesses that train their crews and brief their guests on protecting the reef. The boats are six-packs, capped at six divers, and a divemaster gets in the water with you rather than watching from the rail. Both owners run boats themselves: Robert Trosset III captains and instructs, and Rives Millwater has been diving for 25 years.

Close to home the menu covers two tank reef dives, wreck dives, combo trips pairing one wreck with one reef, night dives and private charters. The Vandenberg is the headliner, and her main deck sits at 108 feet, which means Advanced Open Water certification is required to dive her and nitrox is the natural choice. Joe's Tug and the Cayman Salvage Master fill out the wreck list. Spearfishing goes out on scuba or freediving, and they start beginners on the basics rather than assuming you already have them.

The trip worth planning a vacation around is the Dry Tortugas. It is 70 miles west of Key West and a 10 to 12 hour day with lunch and snacks aboard and six guests maximum, diving sites like Sherwood Forest, the Maze, Dante's Inferno, Texas Rock, the Bat Caves and the Windjammer wreck, out where Fort Jefferson sits on Garden Key. Nitrox is available, and they will rinse, dry and store your gear between days. Call (305) 395-0880.