Islamorada dive report and some snaps 12-22-17

[deeper thoughts]

We were diving a reef by Davis which we haven't dove since pre Irma and on top of that the mooring ball was blown away. Noaa has been working hard fixing and replacing the mooring balls which were damaged or missing from Irma.
This ball was just replaced so we went to see the extent of the damage
There was no real damage to speak of
I included some pix to show the algae that is now around. That being said I did see plenty of fish nibbling on this stuff.
The dive site definitely changed a bit but if you haven't dove it prior you wouldn't notice any difference except for the algae.
water temp 76 viz 45 no current. flat calm seas
Fish life was amazing
Green and spotted moray eels exceeding 15
Most pix was shot with the tg 4 no strobe/housing just to give a feel of what it looked like

 

[deeper thoughts]

 

[drrich2]

Glad to know you didn't see a lot of damage. How are things looking topside in Islamorada? If people showed up sometime soon to stay a week, what would it look like topside?

Richard.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Glad to know you didn't see a lot of damage. How are things looking topside in Islamorada? If people showed up sometime soon to stay a week, what would it look like topside?

Richard.

You would be hard pressed to know that a Hurricane passed thru here.(Lower keys, marathon are a different story)
Islamorada looks fantastic and the village did a great job cleaning it up.
All restaurants are open .
That being said hotels here are few and far between. 68 pct of them are closed.
The village and the upper keys seems to be quite empty right now

 

[drrich2]

Thanks for the update. The Keys aren't in my 2018 plans, but I know it's been a 'region of interest' to many. Glad to hear it's looking good topside, except for so much hotel closure. Wonder why so much?

Richard.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thanks for the update. The Keys aren't in my 2018 plans, but I know it's been a 'region of interest' to many. Glad to hear it's looking good topside, except for so much hotel closure. Wonder why so much?

Richard.

Most of the Islamorada hotels are on the oceanside.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Another dive today in Islamorada(Hens and Chickens) Great conditions 35 viz(great for this site 1.5 miles off shore)
water temp 75 and no current. Dove the southern most ball number 10. Absolutely no damage from Irma less the one lobster trap I saw and some rope. That being said this site never had great coral anyhow.
What it lacks in coral it easily makes up for in fish and accessibility.
Couple snaps with the pocket camera

 

[Oldbear]

Keep posts like this one coming. The more posts there are the more divers will want to go dive there. Taking your business to the Keys is the best way to help them recover from Irma.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Keep posts like this one coming. The more posts there are the more divers will want to go dive there. Taking your business to the Keys is the best way to help them recover from Irma.

Thnx.

 

[iamrushman]

thanks for sharing the photos and the updates for post Irma...keep them coming.