UPDATED March 4, 2021
Just keeping you informed of the changes at our Capt. Hook’s locations. We have changed the self-imposed COVID-19 capacity limits to increase the number of passengers we can take on our boats. We have not opened them up to full capacity yet but have increased the capacity to 75% of the Coast Guard approved and tested capacity during normal operations. For online booking, we have opened up waitlists on our boat activities so we can accommodate as many divers and snorkelers as possible by contacting you and movement between the three dive shop locations. Monroe County is still asking all of us, crew and passengers to have masks on during travel to and from the dives and snorkeling sites and during transition from one dive site to another.
UPDATED November 22, 2020
Not a real update except for a reminder that we are asking you to wear your mask when you come inside and at least social distance when outside. We will be wearing our masks when we serve you. We know this is a pain and hope this is over soon. We hope you have an excellent Thanksgiving and be careful and safe as we head into the Holiday season!
UPDATED June 1, 2020
New Store Hours!
We are adding some hours for the return of the tourists and the taking down of the checkpoint at the beginning of the Keys this week.
We hope everyone stays safe and looks out for one another. We are asking that you wear masks in the store and social distance as well. We will be certainly glad to see everyone again and hopefully we can make a real go at it again.
MARATHON
7am to 5pm…Fish Feeding @ 4PM
In the Marathon store, we are also providing back door service if you want fuel and bait, so you do not have to enter the store.
Most charter captains will be returning to the dock around 4PM if they have a full day charter or an afternoon trip. It is a good way to get back in tune with what they are catching out there.
BIG PINE KEY & DIVE KEY WEST
8am to 5pm
Air fills are outside! Hydros are performed on Mondays and Thursdays. Special arrangements can be made for fleet and large order hydros!
Many of our dive customers are considering private charters right now, where they team up with the friends and family and book a private dive charter with just those known divers and snorkelers. Private charters are booked at all three locations.
UPDATED MARCH 18, 2020
New Store Hours!
We are extending our hours starting tomorrow, Monday, May 18 as we progress towards fully opening up. Got to ourselves get back in shape for this! It’s a process!
We are doing whatever we can, by servicing our customers outside of the building, but we are not restricting access to the inside except capacity restrictions by the county and a focus on social distancing of 6 feet. We are asking you to wear a mask when coming in but we are set up to bringing the product to you. We will be wearing a mask when you come into the store.
We have hand sanitizer and we will ask you to use it. We are washing our hands too. And we clean all the time now. There is a subconscious squeezing pressure on my ear when I clean now, almost like it is my mother showing me where I missed, so we are doing a good job.
Marathon….7AM to 3PM…Fish Feeding @ 2PM.
We are going to try to still service our fuel and bait customers from the back door to reduce the number of people in the store.
If you are interested in live shrimp, it has been coming in around 8 to 8:30AM. If you don’t want to wait around for our shrimp deliveries, give us a call at 305-743-2444 and check on the supply. We order based on the weather and selling out each day. We do our best to predict the demand and we back that up with frozen bait of all kinds and frozen shrimp. Leftover shrimp usually does not survive the night this time of year.
Daren and our new rental boat company will begin offering rental boats for the beginning of June. Booking can take place right now online.
Air fills are outside! Hydros are performed on Mondays and Thursdays. Special arrangements can be made for fleet and large order hydros!
Dive Key West….8AM to 1PM
At all of our locations…
We are booking online and by call for everything we have to offer. We are starting up in June for our dive boats with the restriction of a group of no more than 10 divers.
We have been getting a lot of inquiries about private charters too!
Any rental agreements will be filled out at the picnic tables. We have not been doing a lot of rental equipment, heck we haven’t been doing a lot of anything but we are seeing more people make it out Rest assured for our rental gear, we are following a sanitation and disinfection process researched and developed by our MTAC personnel, and then further tailored to meet the requirements for COVID-19 and later confirmed by Diver’s Alert Network (DAN).
UPDATED MARCH 14, 2020
Having recently added to our staff, Dr. Matt Welder, our Director of Capt. Hook’s MTAC (medical training in austere conditions) and being around medical professionals all week supporting the USU Dive Medicine Course, some in the thick of the crisis, we are very aware of the COVID-19 virus situation. (See Capt. Hook’s MTAC page).
Foremost on our minds is the safety of our employees and our customers, which is why we have taken the following precautionary measures:
We are, and will be frequently, cleaning all surfaces with an anti-viral agent to reduce the possibility of any transfer.
Our rinse for all of our rental equipment is Sani-Q, which is on the list of the Center for Disease Control as a disinfectant/ combatant of COVID-19, and we are following the directions to ensure complete sanitation of our equipment.
For dive instruction, we will be simulating breath sharing and not actually sharing a regulator between divers or instructors.
Most, if not all, of our instruction is private, and we have eliminated all group instruction situations where participants don’t know one another. We have enough instructors to accommodate everyone that wants to learn to scuba dive.
We are following all guidelines recommended by the CDC and adhering to travel bans and prohibiting employees from returning to work, if needed.
Employees are being informed to report any travel by themselves, family members or friends that they have come in contact with.
As a safety precaution, employees that suspect exposure to the virus will be self-quarantined and not allowed to return to work for 14 days. We are doing all we can to keep our employees abreast of COVID-19 developments.
We will continue to update you on our efforts to minimize the impact of the virus and modify our approach as more information makes itself available.
