This is the largest dive company over ever been with. They run an operation here! They've got a…read morelarge platoon of boats and people coming in and out from dives all day long. But despite the scale of the business, which I'm normally iffy about big operations like this, we had a great time. Our five master was so fun and energetic and down to earth. She found us some great sea life: nurse shark, sea turtles, lion fish, eel, barracuda, parrot fish, puffer fish and more. Our first dive was the Brentwood. It's the first wreck dive I've ever done and I loved it! There was so much sea life and the bullet holes in the wrech were so neat to sneak a peek into. The second dive was French reef and again so wonderful. We got to go into little caves and arches in the coral. It had been a while since I had to set up my own tank and BCD so I had to ask some questions to remember. They will help you out, but there is some labor on your end unless you ask. Overall a fantastic 2 tank dive in January in 75 degree water. I would definitely dive with rainbow reef again. Especially with how competitive the prices are!

Dove 2 days with Rainbow Reef. Fun and knowledgeable crew. Captain Jack got us to dive sites…read morequickly, avoiding storms and dicey weather. Inexpensive 2 tank boat dives. These folks will give you concierge service and will take your BCD off of you and handle them for you in the water if you need that. They will do as little or as much as you request. Guides have good knowledge of dive sites and what marine life we would likely encounter. We have our own equipment so cannot comment on rental equip. Overall atmosphere was relaxed and fun while still managing to focus on safety.

Amazing experience with Rainbow Reef Dive Center! My wife and I had a great time diving with them…read more The entire staff was incredible friendly, professional, patient, and always willing to go above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and safe. As newer divers, that meant a lot to us. You can tell they genuinely care about their divers and love what they do. We felt well taken care of from beginning to end. We will definitely be diving with Rainbow Reef again. Highly recommended!

We had a very mixed experience with this shop, both in terms of the diving as well as the retail…read moreside. Overall, do not recommend. There are much better options in the area. We do want to say that couple of the staff really stood out for excellent customer service - Jo as a dive guide was amazing, as was Savannah on the retail side - but the overall attitude is very much like you are just a number to fill seats. I question the safety standards. We went out in pretty questionable conditions (there was still thunder and lightening when we left the dock), and we witnessed people diving that really had no idea what they were doing, were bouncing around, kicking coral, not at all in control of themselves in the water - and none of this was directly addressed. The customer service in the dive center was pretty terrible - after we purchased over $1000 in equipment at their retail store, we were told we would get a free dive. Cool. So we booked a dive for 3 days later, and when we showed up, we were told that because we booked online instead of calling them, we could not use that free dive. We tried a few times to get this resolved and were just told "well that is our policy." There are so many options for diving in this area, I do not recommend this shop - they do not seem honest or like they really care about the dive experience, just filling seats.

Dived with them twice and had an amazing experience each time! Cannot go wrong with any of their…read moredives: sharks, turtles, we saw it all! The staff was top notch. Please bring cash to tip and thank them after.

I dove two days with these guys. The staff seemed pretty cool and friendly. They had the best…read moreprices for diving that I could find ($65 for 2-tank boat dive with online discount mentioned, normally $70). So make sure you call in and mention you saw their online discount...they knock off $5. A complete gear rental package was $30...pretty good equipment except for the fins. Their boat is docked right next to their office so no long haul there. They usually have 2 dives per day...a morning and midday departure. Being from the west coast, I needed the sleep time and opted for the afternoon departure. Being such a good price meant there was a trade off...here it meant, if you're a certified diver, then you're not getting a dive guide with you. They paired me up with a couple other guys...none of us were sharp on underwater navigating so we had to surface to get our bearings a couple times. But the site we were taken to, weren't very deep anyway. The dive sights were OK, but nothing to brag about. Overall, I liked OD and would use them again if I'm in the area again.

Did a 2 tank dive Saturday June 13th and another 2 tank dive Sunday June 14th. Everyone at the shop…read morewas very nice, crew was great, and guide was awesome as well. We saw a large sea turtle and was my first time seeing a manta ray which I hear is rare. Would def dive again!

This is my favorite dive shop in the keys! Michael, Wolfman, George, and Emma are just incredible!…read moreTheir motto is "No stress diving" and it really is! They're always smiling, always eager to help, and always relaxed (but professional)! They will do as much or as little as you wish to have a good dive. They aren't one of the big names in town, but they will make sure you have a great day on the water. One of the biggest benefits of a small operator (10 pax boat) is that they can go to more unique dive sites than the big passenger ships. They also can cater the site more to the level of divers on the ship and adapt as conditions change. They're also a Blue Star operator, meaning they practice the very best, safest, ecologically-sound boating practices​ that keep our amazing coral reefs safe. They are located inside the infamous Key Largo Undersea Park with Jules Undersea Lodge and Marine Lab in it. They share a dock/marina and take their 2 boats out from here. I did some work dive training with them and more recently did a Dive Against Debris certification through them (and free dive!). Both experiences were awesome and I would highly recommend Island Ventures for your Key Largo diving and snorkeling! Their shop shares facilities with Marine Lab, including clean showers and bathrooms to change in. There's also a dunk tank for your gear after and a wheelbarrow to get your gear from parking over to their dock. Come dive with Island Ventures and have the time of your life!

If hindsight were a thing, I'd probably want to redo my 1st experience of Molasses Reef as a…read moresnorkeling trip.  Unfortunately, I actually went there initiallly via a glass-bottom boat tour, and as a result we saw virtually no fish :-( Maybe it wasn't the boat but the time of day we went - regardless, I expected to see tons of different fish, but I actually saw less than a hundred of maybe three different species... It also might have been the fact that the boat's engines were so loud that they scared off a majority of the fish we might have seen.  Whatever the actual cause, I suggest that you skip the boat tour and come here to snorkel instead.

My buddy and my best night dive ever - multiple sharks and eels, including a free-swimming one…read more Just about everything else you'd want in a dive - a ray and octopus, an 1887 wreck. The reef has fantastical shapes which provide ledges, holes and lots of growth for the fish. In addition, the water had bioluminescence (turn your lights off)

We had a great afternoon with Jennifer today! She showed us around Islamorada and we had a really…read morerelaxing day - she was very attentive to customizing the day for us and super nice to spend a day on the boat with! Plan to contact her again for our next trip down to Islamorad

Captain Jen is the best!! We took a half day and spent a few hours snorkeling and some time at the…read moresand bar. She made sure we had everything we needed for snorkeling. We saw a turkey and 2 dolphin sightings- a smaller family of about 5 and then a whole pod! If you are down in the keys and are looking to get out on the ocean Jen is who to go with!! My family had an amazing time :)

The experience first with Jill was amazing! She is very sweet and really seems like she truly…read moreenjoys all of her customers! She is very communicative, and overall such a great person! We had Captain Trevor and he is a saint! It was extremely hot and gross out yesterday and all of us weren't feeling the best and he made sure we all had as much fun as we possibly could! We make the keys a yearly adventure for my husband and I, and we will definitely be back next year for another tour! Thank you Jill and Trevor for honestly the best experience we have had thus far in the Keys! Ryan & Marinna

We had an amazing time on our four hour private tour with Captain Trevor. He was very knowledgeable…read moreabout the keys and gave us many insights on the areas we were exploring. He was also communicative and made sure to tailor the tour for what we wanted to see. The area around Islamorada that we explored was beautiful. We got to see mangroves, manatees, a ton of fish while snorkeling, and a sandbar. This is definitely one of the best ways to explore the area! I also worked with Jill to book the tour. She was really helpful in explaining the different options and making sure we were all set. Overall, I would highly recommend this tour if you're visiting the keys!

My wife and I are pleased to have used Ocean First for our dive vacation. Alisa was a terrific dive…read moreguide (Ask her about the scuba sign for Grouper!) and Jardin did everything in his power to make us comfortable. I would have to say Permit Ledges has to be one of the best dive sites we have been to, with a less bleached reef, a shark, two turtles, puffer fish and schools of barracuda. Highly recommend you use them for your dive trip in the keys!

The crew at Ocean First Key Largo are top notch dive professionals. We live in Colorado so we have…read morebeen to Ocean First in Boulder, CO so it made sense to go to their sister company for our OW training for our Dive Master Certification! My husband and I stayed right next door, we could walk to The Hideout for breakfast or lunch and then walk over to the dive shop. The boats are clean, and in great shape. They are small, so it feels very personalized and almost private! The instructors were super knowledgeable about the Florida eco-system and they all made training FUN. Jardin, the GM, managed to schedule it so that we worked with the entire team while we were in Key Largo. It is a small but mighty team. Jardin, Al, Keith, Alisa, Jackson, Brian - you were all amazing and we will be back!