Sole Watersports — Local services in Key Colony Beach

0/5 stars (not even 1) - paid professionals (Sole Watersports) should warn their customers if the sea is going to be rough. I would have paid not to have gone on that terrible excursion! Details: We went on a snorkeling tour (shorter one) and the weather seemed fine from Duck Key, however the sea was quite choppy, with 3ft+ (1m+) waves. Sometimes, the waves approached 5+ft. They said that this was "reasonable", however, most of the people on the boat barely got in the water, and many were violently ill. I've been on snorkeling tours before (flat Caribbean water), and never saw a situation where most of the people were on the boat! My kids could barely snorkel with the waves going over them and ended up sitting on the boat nearly the entire time, throwing up. [Also, these are the "cheap" snorkels without the top valve! Our personal snorkels were better, but they wouldn't allow them to be used] Perhaps they can say, "you can't blame the weather", and I'm sure many people on the tour would say "what can you do" (to be clear - there were a few who had no problems with the conditions), HOWEVER, we paid good money for this tour, and had they told us in advance that there would be such bad conditions, we would not have gone. Better to have lost the money than have had that experience! But they...

Sole' watersports was the most accommodating and friendly charter I have experienced in the Keys. I have been down to the keys doing work for the last year renting boats, doing charters and going out with SCUBA diving companies, and I have to say this was THE BEST. First, they met our schedule and even called two days in advance to talk about the weather with us. We changed our schedule based on weather and it was no problem at all with the Captain. Mark the captain met us at 7am to get out on the water, and although he had never done a trip like what we were doing (Diving for research) he was friendly courteous, and helped us out when it came to this challenge. He never once complained as many of our previous captains had about the weather or the fact that I had GPS coordinates and he hadn't been to that reef before. Overall, the weather blew us out of doing any actual work, so we did end up coming back early. Even then Sole' accommodated us to a degree I have not found anywhere else in the Keys. Thank you so much for helping us get out there even though we didn't get everything we wanted done, ya'll gave it the best effort and made us feel safe the whole...

Had an exceptional experience with Solé. The fun started before the boat ride. At the dock, there are large tarpin, nurse sharks, and parrot fish to look at while you wait after check-in. While boarding, the crew were very diligent about guest accountability (double checking the manifest). The crew also went over the safety procedures in a relaxed friendly tone. There were choppy 3-4 ft. seas the day of our trip. The captain offered to discount the trip if it turned out to be too much for snorkeling. He navigated the choppy seas well though, keeping the boat from bouncing too much. We ended up snorkeling after all. The seas were just on the edge of manageable for swimming. The reef was gorgeous, with diverse tropical fish to see and the remnants of a Spanish shipwreck, in water 12-14 ft. deep. The snorkel gear they give you is Cressi. Good quality. No cheap stuff. The sandbar on the backend of the trip was what you expect. The included drink offerings on the trip are beer, wine, and a modified mimosa. Gratuity is included when you book online (20%), but they put out the tip jar at the end if you want to contribute a...