RJ Diving

On my first trip to Miami, I was lucky enough to spend a day out with RJ Diving. Simply put, the water was amazing, the snorkeling was gorgeous, the company was top-​notch and the customer service was fabulous (shout out to Captain Keith for being an incredible host with the most)!!
Although I didn’t participate in the diving on this trip, I still had an incredible time out on the water and enjoyed every minute. I did notice that the entire crew of divers on-​board seemed to have a great time. Listening to their conversations about what they experienced while diving made me think that maybe, just maybe, I should try it out sometime! What a fun way to spend the day.
Many thanks again to Captain Keith and RJ Diving for making my first (and hopefully not last) trip to Miami such a memorable one. I hope to get back for another visit, and trip out to sea, in the near future!

I’ve been diving with RJ Diving for 5 years now and I’ve had nothing but amazing underwater experiences, great customer service, and the hopes of returning sooner than later! I have always felt safe while on board and left feeling rejuvenated after diving the incredible reef off of Miami Beach.
I’ve seen some awesome sea life while diving with them including: beautiful schools of large fish, turtles, sting rays, dolphins, and of course lobsters!
Running a dive boat with dozens of people multiple dives per day is not easy feat. It requires stamina, superior knowledge of weather/​water conditions, mechanics, and most importantly a true love for sharing the sport of SCUBA with the public! It is the service industry and Capt Mike and his crew always do a fantastic job of making me feel welcome and showing my dive buddies a great time. I’ve seen them cater equally to new tourist divers as well as those included in the hundreds of repeat divers like me. I’ve brought my non-​diving friends on board just to snorkel and they had a blast, too! Looking back on the Miami skyline is a pretty cool sight from the boat. Capt. Mike holds a PHD in Underwater Archeology and also teaches at UM so you can always pick his brain about maritime history and he’s happy to chat. They run a successful nonprofit called REEF GUARD that raises thousands of dollars each year for ocean reef conservation in Miami-​Dade County. They also support our local community by offering discounts to firefighters, police, and other service departments.
The dive boat leaves from Miami Beach Marina which is clean, safe, and accessible. It’s also conveniently located steps away from Monty’s if you want to grab a tasty bite and brew with your dive buddies at the end of the day. Can’t wait to blow some bubbles again this weekend!

Arrogant, and does not promote safe diving practices. No personal floatation devices on the boat (that were visible). Stated a surface current in one location was 4 knots, but it was much stronger.
Unfortunately they are the only dive boat in the Miami area. If you dive with Tarpoon, Grove, Sugar Grove, and others, you will be stuck on their boat.
When you pay to be on a boat, you expect to be treated with respect, like a customer. This was a mess. 4 dive shops on one boat, Divemasters who were supposed to be properly educating divers about the conditions, ignored them to get in the water.
One divemaster (250lbs) teaching OW told a 300lb, 50 year old student that he shouldn’t worry about swimming against a 4 knot current and breath like he always does. Uh, not only is that a physical impossibility, it was going to induce panic because he would feel like he couldn’t do what he was told.
None of the divemasters had a dive plan. The captain of the boat bossed everyone around (not too impolite though).
Lastly after we aborted a dive for safety reasons (another diver panicked and almost drowned my wife), they refused to refund our money. That was the last straw.
Use at your own risk.

Went out with some friends. We all called in advance and made reservations but when we showed up there were 48 people on the boat! Needless to say, the boarding was chaotic at best. The crew did a pretty good job but had a hard time coordinating so many people. In my experience these boats usually take out about half that amount of people. There wasn’t even room for everyone to have 2 tanks in the holders, each diver’s second tank had to be placed underneath the seat.