Need diving and snorkeling recommendations for the keys.

[turtlemoye]

So the wife, 7 yr old daughter and I will be staying in Marathon from Sept 21-25th. I'm a diver and the wife has snorkeled in the past but this will be the first time my daughter gets to snorkel in the ocean. We will be flying into Miami and driving through Key Largo on the way down and eventually plan to get to Key West on a day trip so we will eventually cover all of the Keys.

First question is for dive recommendations. I hope to dive 2-3 days and have no clue where to go. While we will be staying in Marathon (very close to the Dolphin Rescue Center) I'm open to driving to other locations to visit a good dive operator. What do I want to see? Honestly I'm not that picky: wrecks, eagle rays, octopuses (octopi?) I really don't care as long as it's a good safe boat.

The other recommendation I'm looking for is snorkeling spots. Is there anywhere interesting that can be accessed from shore? I really hate crowded cattle call boats but understand the the main reef is a few miles off shore. If you had to take a "snorkel excursion" are any boats or spots better than others?

Thanks in advance,
Turtle

 

[sportxlh]

When I am in the upper Keys, I dive with Conch Republic in Taviner the most. I've also been out with Silent World and Quiescence as well and had good experiences. I don't know about Conch, but I believe that Silent World and Quiescence make trips to shallow reefs that include both divers and snorkelers: which might be perfect for your family.

For diving the upper keys, interesting wrecks are the Speigle Grove, Eagle and the Duane. I like the former two better than the latter. From Marathon, it would be a quick trip to Key West where you can also dive the Vandenberg. The last charter I used out of Key West was Cap't Corner. It was a cattle type boat, but the on-deck DM's were helpful and the price was cheap cheap cheap compared to other operators. I brought my own tanks and only paid $55!! Can't beat that!! The Thunderbolt is a wreck not far from Marathon but I've not dove it.

If you go out with Conch, request that they take you to Conch Wall which is a really beautiful deeper reef in the upper keys that does not get many visits. I've only been to the site once, but remember it as one of the best in Florida. There are a lot of great shallow reefs in the upper Keys and the dive operators seem to decide exactly where they will go each day based on conditions.

I don't know much about diving in the middle keys, every time I've tried to dive out of the Marathon area, the weather would not cooperate. I'm sure there are plenty of good operators in the Middle Keys as well.

I think you can snorkel in Pennekamp park in Key Largo from the beach, but I don't know if there is much to see. Also, you can snorkel from the beach in Bahia Honda state park, just south of Marathon, but again, I don't know if there is much to see.

Enjoy your trip

 

[PatW]

I have been diving in the keys something on 4 trips now. I don't know of any shore diving in the keys that one would recommend. The good reef dives are off shore and a fair ways off shore. I think that Key Largo has the best diving. PenneKamp has a fair number of sites that permit a combination of scuba and snorkling. I generally dive with Quiesence. They run 6 Paks and are at mile marker 102 or so.

 

[CajunDiva]

Here's a great resource for you:

Dive Key Largo, Florida Keys with Rainbow Reef Dive Center;scuba diving:diving, Florida keys, florida diving

Rainbow Reef Dive Center is the shop we dive with in Key Largo. They have a fantastic website where you can research just about anything in the area, including a map of the dive sites and detailed information about each site. There is also a section about attractions in the area. You can gather all kinds of ideas there!

 

[turtlemoye]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

 

[JesperS]

I can highly recommend Spirit Snorkeling in Marathon. It's one stop, Sombrero Reef, so you get to spend a lot of time in the water. Not sure what the max passengers they take is, but when we've gone out with them it hasn't been crowded and have had very pleasant experiences.

Can't wait to dive Sombrero now that I'm certified, it's a beautiful reef.

And the earlier poster is correct, there are really no shore dives in the keys, you gotta get out on the boats.

I'm taking a long weekend with my son in a few weeks to try out four different dive outfits in Key Largo. In fact, it's the weekend before you go.

If you want to wait, I plan on doing a review of the four outfits (Rainbow Reef, Quiescence, Silent World, Scuba-Do) asap afterwards. Note that I believe all four are dive only affairs, and spirit snorkeling is strictly snorkeling.

Edit: After re-reading the original post, I also wanted to mention you are going to be just about perfectly centered in the keys, so you're about 1 1/2 hrs (in good traffic) from KL and KW, so you have a plethora of choices available. In general, KL is considered the "diving capital". For Marathon specifically, I have seen some good reviews for Dive Duck Key which is, I think, technically a part of Marathon. If not, it's immediately prior to Marathon. With the caveat that I haven't used them myself (yet)

I <3 the keys.

 

[turtlemoye]

Thanks JesperS. Regarding shore access, I was mainly looking for places that can be snorkeled. While we will likely snorkel together in Key Largo or on Sombrero Reef I was also hoping there might be somewhere that my wife and daughter could just wade into and see something while I'm off on another dive. Unless I hear otherwise I'll assume the best option for them will just be one of the public beaches.

 

[snowdog61]

John Pennekamp State Park is well worth it if you are in Largo - Horizon Divers (big & little boats) and Quiscence (8-pack) are two operators that i can recommend. Looe Key Dive Center in Ramrod Key nearer to Marathon does a combined diver/snorkler boat and i can recommend that operator too. Divers numbered around 8 so wasn't really a cattle boat though it is a large boat.

 

[JesperS]

Haven't made it to Looe Key yet (it's not a island, it's a reef). I've heard it's a fantastic dive and snorkel site.

Bahia Honda State Park is just south of the 7 mile bridge, and is well worth a visit as well. This is another possible place for shore snorkeling (but there won't be a whole lot to see). BH Park runs snorkel trips to that site as well, and my friends enjoyed it Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys Beach, Beaches in the Keys, State Park in the Keys, Florida Keys State Park, Public Beach Florida Parks

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that you must stop by the No Name Pub on BPK, excellent opportunity to see lots of Key Deer which is great for the family, and it's a real Keys experience eating there.

For the little one too, make sure you stop on your way in or out at Robbie's marina in Islamorada. Couple of bucks gets her a little bucket of fish to feed the tarpon on the dock, another stop we always make (usually on the way back home as a last hurrah).

 

[rjla67]

The lower Keys has several nice snorkeling spots that are easy to get to and lots of fun. My wife and I travel quite a bit to the Keys to snorkel from Tampa and our favorites are:

Bahia Honda State Park: You see more here then you think if you know where to go. Stay away from the Sandspur Beach and go to the beach right by the concession stand by the old bridge. On the ocean side, anywhere from the old Flagler bridge east is good, but stay away from the channel as it is very deep and the current is very strong. It can sweep you out in a hurry. Another good spot is on the bayside again by the old bridge along the rocks. You will see a ton of baby fish there kinda like a nursery. Caution here as there are lots of Scorpionfish here so you gotta watch where you stand up or put your hands. Also, stay behind the break wall for the channel for again, it's a fast current there. The best place however to snorkel that is calm, lots of nice corals both hard and soft is on the other side of the inlet to the marina. Almost no one goes there so you can usually have the whole area to yourself. Just walk around the marina at the concession stand and take a path to the beach on the other side of the mangrove trees. Only caution here is a little to the west is another inlet for the boats for the campers, and it's really silty there and we often see Nurse Sharks hanging out on the bottom there. Overall, it's by far our favorite.

Key West Marine Park: This place is awesome. It's right in Key West by the White Street Pier. Nice open sand here, and the further out you go, the more fish and corals you will see. Also, there is part of the old pier that is underwater and i's like you are scuba diving a wreck, but only in 4 foot of water! Lots of nice fish here and corals too. If you snorkel outside the old submerged pier, you will see all kinds of cool stuff.

Fort Zachary State Park: Also in Key West, this is nice park to see some bigger fish. At the beach, stay on the far right side where the rocks curve around by the channel. If you go around the rock, there are huge numbers of big fish, many the size and variety you would see on the reefs. Caution that around the outside of the rock wall the depth drops down pretty quick as you will be close to the boat channel, but this is the only place we have seen some bigger exotic fish, including Lionfish.

Keep in mind that any place you go snorkeling in shallow water like 5-10 feet, visibility can be tough when it is windy. We spent a week in July down there and everyday the visibility was horrible when we were there. Every spot we went to was bad, and the best place we ended us was at Bahia Honda on the bayside by the marina since the landscape and area was more protected so the winds didn't stir it up too bad. I have several videos to show what it's like in each place at OceanBahia - YouTube These are all snorkeling videos and taken in 5 foot or less of water to give you an idea what you can see. While it's nothing like one would see diving, we enjoy doing it and see some amazing things really close up