Dive Site Recommendation - Off of Key West?

[1000RR]

Looking for a dive site recommendation. Some friends and family (and I) will be heading down to Key West tomorrow for a week. We'll bring a couple waverunners (not for diving from) and will also rent a boat for a couple days. My daughter and I dive so we were thinking of taking a tank each w/our gear down there. The thought was while we have the boat for a couple days, maybe make a stop somewhere for a quick dive.

We are both OW certified and have done a bit of drift diving as well as some wall dives in Grand Cayman, so usual diving is ~60' and we've gone to ~100'. I marked the Vandenberg off the list, that's one we'd do with a dive OP but not on our own. I was thinking Sand Key but wasn't sure if it was worthwhile to dive (vs snorkel), was wondering if we could tie to a buoy and some folks in the boat could snorkel from there and we could dive from there. But would want to be on the deeper side (assume that to be the ocean side of Sand Key). Another option was to do the Cayman Salvage wreck... it's about 65'. It can have a current but that is not too concerning. We'd just nix the dive if the Gulf Stream was ripping too much to enjoy it (safely).

Any recommendations?

 

[Wookie]

Western sambo is an ecological reserve (no fishing) with moorings and a deeper component to it, but with snorkeling as well. Sand key is where 10,000 cruise ship
Snorkelers a day go to see their friends stand on the reef for pictures. Middle sambo is good as well..

 

[1000RR]

Yikes, Sand Key no longer sounds good at all... I will look up Western Sambo and get some coordinates - thanks for the suggestion.

 

[1000RR]

Ok Wookie, I got the coordinates and such... it's actually just straight, almost directly South of the house we're renting down there... on a canal. Do you have any recommendations for which end of Western Sambo to buoy up to? From the Ocean side, the western side, eastern side or middle?

 

[Wookie]

Ocean side if you’re diving, west if you’re snorkeling, Oceanside shallow if you’re doing both.

It isn’t that big.

 

[oly5050user]

On KW next Saturday at the Galleon. Really need the break out of New York. Long time friend , a local Captain out of key largo , will also come down for a visit as well.