Snorkel and Dive the Florida Keys

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Aug 15, 2003

The joy of discovering the underwater world begins with the simple act of putting your face in the water. That first snorkeling experience is quite often the beginning of a lifelong fascination with the ocean. That's how it started for me over 18 years ago snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. If it is this fabulous to snorkel, what must it be like to dive? The next year we became certified scuba divers and haven't stopped exploring the oceans since.

We have some great snorkeling and diving right here in the USA, and particularly in the Florida Keys. You can rent a mask, fins, and snorkel almost anywhere in the Keys for a very small price compared to the enjoyment you and your family will experience drifting over the coral. Age doesn't matter, so get everyone involved in snorkeling and increase their comfort level in the water before starting kids or adults on dive certification classes. Once they get a birdseye view of what incredible things you can see, you won't be able to drag them out of the water. Some of the best snorkeling reefs in the Keys include Carysfort and South Carysfort, North Dry Rocks, Key Largo Dry Rocks, Molasses Reef, Coffins Patch, Sombrero Reef, Looe Key and Western Dry Rocks. All of these areas have sections as shallow as 15 feet, with many rising all the way to the surface. You can easily see branching elkhorn coral, brain coral, star coral and hundreds of species of fish including Sergeant Majors, Yellowtail Snappers, Blue Striped Grunts, Parrotfish, Blue Tangs, and Trumpetfish.

Keys diving is good year-round with average water and air temperatures of 80 degrees F. Visibility is normally 60-80 feet, although it can extend to 100 feet or more when the clear waters of the Gulf Stream bathe the reefs. Surface conditions are usually calmer in the spring, summer and fall because the trade winds are not as brisk as in the winter. The current can vary from none to strong, depending on the Gulf Stream or the tides.

There are literally hundreds of dive sites in the Florida Keys covering more than 100 miles of reef. Some favorites beginning in the north at Key Largo and working our way south to the tip of the Keys at Key West:

Carysfort and South Carysfort Reefs in the northern section of the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary have a gentle slope from the surface to about 65 feet with excellent coral coverage and lots of fish. North Dry Rocks are inner bank reefs that are closer to shore. Like the outer bank reefs, they have well developed spurs covered with coral alternating with sand channels, providing habitats for a wide range of fish species.