Karelmakov
Registered
We just got back from Key Largo and wanted I thought I'd report. We were really looking forward to getting away from the winter in the northeast and doing some diving, but it turned out that we picked a weekend with record-setting lows for the region. What luck indeed.
Our plan was to dive three days, and the first day, Friday, turned out to be very nice. It was 70 degrees topside, sunny, and the sea was very flat. We dove with Rainbow Reef, which we like a lot, and went out that afternoon to French Reef. Water temps were around 72, and myself and my buddy decided to add a 3mm shorty overtop 3mm fullsuits. The other two members of our group wore just the 3mm fulls, and no-one had any major coldness complaints.
Dive #1 Christmas Tree Cave. Vis was roughly 40 feet, and there was some current. The water temperatures were also fluctuating a lot from spot to spot; there must have been different currents mixing in the area. Overall, though, the dive was fine, with few noteworthy sightings, just a nurse shark, a relatively large school of barracuda, black margates, etc.
Dive #2 Sand Island. The vis here was slightly worse, but the water temperature was stable and comfortable. I was impressed by the number of sea fans. We saw three nurse sharks, two green morays, and a big snook. A pleasant dive, and as we exited the water and returned home, I was sure to be thankful for the warm weather, lack of wind, and calm seas. For it would be the last of it.
On Saturday the cold front moved in and by morning it had dropped into the high-40s as we headed out to sea. We were doing Molasses Reef. The ride out wasn't bad (we were still dry), and the seas weren't too rough. It wasn't raining yet, but was overcast, and the winds were picking up.
Dive #3 Spanish Anchor. For all the complaining we would do later about the cold, this was arguably the best dive of my young underwater career (30 dives at time of writing). Vis was around 40 feet and no current. It was not long into the dive when we spotted the first eagle ray. By dives end I would count 12 of them. At one point there was a chain of 3 in a row. At another point there was one swimming directly above a southern stingray (we saw two of those on the dive as well), which made for a pretty cool photo. Several of the eagle rays were very large, much larger than the couple I had seen in our last scuba trip to Bonairep. Almost forgotten amidst all the ERs was the large green sea turtle we spotted who let me swim up close to it.
Dive #4 Eagle Ray Alley. Funny, I suppose that after seeing a dozen eagle rays at Spanish Anchor, we proceeded to this site and saw only one, but I guess one is better than none. The surface interval was frigid, as the temperature had dropped about 5 degrees down to 44, and it was windy. And did I mention we were all wet? We were back in the water quickly, but some of the chill lingered and we were all a little less comfortable on this dive. The vis was down, and the thickening clouds above water made things pretty dark. Still, we saw the aforementioned ER, a resting southern stingray, three green morays, a nurse shark, a medium-sized Nassau grouper, and a small green turtle- maybe half the length of the previous one. Not too shabby.
On the ride in, we huddled for warmth as the rain starting drizzling and the seas got pretty high. Because of the cold air, a layer of steam was rising from the ocean, creating a low fog that reduced surface visibility to roughly 50 yards. We figured that if the weather kept up like this, as it was predicted to, this would be our last dive of the trip. Sadly, that turned out to be the case. In fact, we were lucky to have made it out that morning, as all the afternoon trips were canceled.
Sunday was sunny, (though still in the 40s) but the winds were gusting up to 30mph and the ocean was too rough for any trips to go out. Disappointed but not surprised, we drove up to the Everglades for the afternoon. Here, you could really see the effects of the cold weather. The shallow water cooled severely, and there were dead fish everywhere, with dozens of vultures in the sky anywhere you looked.
So that's it for a frosty weekend in the Keys, which managed to still be a lovely time. The final tally: 4 fun dives, 1 extra day on shore, and 4 people wondering why they picked the one weekend when Key Largo decided to act like Minneapolis. I guess you roll the dice anytime you decide to dive Florida in the winter: sometimes its nice, sometimes its a little cool, and once every century it has wind chills in the 20s.
-Darren
Our plan was to dive three days, and the first day, Friday, turned out to be very nice. It was 70 degrees topside, sunny, and the sea was very flat. We dove with Rainbow Reef, which we like a lot, and went out that afternoon to French Reef. Water temps were around 72, and myself and my buddy decided to add a 3mm shorty overtop 3mm fullsuits. The other two members of our group wore just the 3mm fulls, and no-one had any major coldness complaints.
Dive #1 Christmas Tree Cave. Vis was roughly 40 feet, and there was some current. The water temperatures were also fluctuating a lot from spot to spot; there must have been different currents mixing in the area. Overall, though, the dive was fine, with few noteworthy sightings, just a nurse shark, a relatively large school of barracuda, black margates, etc.
Dive #2 Sand Island. The vis here was slightly worse, but the water temperature was stable and comfortable. I was impressed by the number of sea fans. We saw three nurse sharks, two green morays, and a big snook. A pleasant dive, and as we exited the water and returned home, I was sure to be thankful for the warm weather, lack of wind, and calm seas. For it would be the last of it.
On Saturday the cold front moved in and by morning it had dropped into the high-40s as we headed out to sea. We were doing Molasses Reef. The ride out wasn't bad (we were still dry), and the seas weren't too rough. It wasn't raining yet, but was overcast, and the winds were picking up.
Dive #3 Spanish Anchor. For all the complaining we would do later about the cold, this was arguably the best dive of my young underwater career (30 dives at time of writing). Vis was around 40 feet and no current. It was not long into the dive when we spotted the first eagle ray. By dives end I would count 12 of them. At one point there was a chain of 3 in a row. At another point there was one swimming directly above a southern stingray (we saw two of those on the dive as well), which made for a pretty cool photo. Several of the eagle rays were very large, much larger than the couple I had seen in our last scuba trip to Bonairep. Almost forgotten amidst all the ERs was the large green sea turtle we spotted who let me swim up close to it.
Dive #4 Eagle Ray Alley. Funny, I suppose that after seeing a dozen eagle rays at Spanish Anchor, we proceeded to this site and saw only one, but I guess one is better than none. The surface interval was frigid, as the temperature had dropped about 5 degrees down to 44, and it was windy. And did I mention we were all wet? We were back in the water quickly, but some of the chill lingered and we were all a little less comfortable on this dive. The vis was down, and the thickening clouds above water made things pretty dark. Still, we saw the aforementioned ER, a resting southern stingray, three green morays, a nurse shark, a medium-sized Nassau grouper, and a small green turtle- maybe half the length of the previous one. Not too shabby.
On the ride in, we huddled for warmth as the rain starting drizzling and the seas got pretty high. Because of the cold air, a layer of steam was rising from the ocean, creating a low fog that reduced surface visibility to roughly 50 yards. We figured that if the weather kept up like this, as it was predicted to, this would be our last dive of the trip. Sadly, that turned out to be the case. In fact, we were lucky to have made it out that morning, as all the afternoon trips were canceled.
Sunday was sunny, (though still in the 40s) but the winds were gusting up to 30mph and the ocean was too rough for any trips to go out. Disappointed but not surprised, we drove up to the Everglades for the afternoon. Here, you could really see the effects of the cold weather. The shallow water cooled severely, and there were dead fish everywhere, with dozens of vultures in the sky anywhere you looked.
So that's it for a frosty weekend in the Keys, which managed to still be a lovely time. The final tally: 4 fun dives, 1 extra day on shore, and 4 people wondering why they picked the one weekend when Key Largo decided to act like Minneapolis. I guess you roll the dice anytime you decide to dive Florida in the winter: sometimes its nice, sometimes its a little cool, and once every century it has wind chills in the 20s.
-Darren
