Key Largo: Snorkelling

We drove 175 miles on this road...across, then back home.

Great place to take a snorkelling trip

April, Martha, Trish & Rainie up in the boat

Some local coral

Pretty Blue Fish

Yellow & Black striped fish

Kelly touching the Jesus statue

Conch Fritters

Martha at our lunch restaurant

Kelly & Autumn - the photographers

Humphrey Bogart made Key Largo famous in his 1948 movie with Lauren Bacall, but it is known now as the Diving Capital of the world thanks to a living coral reef a few miles off shore. I went with my friend Rainie, her sister April and their mother Martha plus two of April's daughters (Kelly & Autumn) for a 5 hour drive south-east from Tampa/Venice to Key Largo. We drove the width of the tail of Florida (175 miles) through the Everglades across Alligator Alley, so named due to all the alligators that used to be hit by cars as they crossed the road. They now have it all fenced, but one critter snuck out and he was dead by the side of the road today. The area is also home to Florida panthers, thanks to a recovery program. Our destination was the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park where we were booked on a snorkelling trip. Our boat departed at 12.30pm and although there were a few clouds about, the skies were mainly blue and the seas calm. April had lived in Southern Florida all her life and had never been to Key Largo, and her mother had never snorkelled, so it was a first for both of them.

We were not disappointed. Our boat departed at 12.30pm and took about 20 mins to reach the snorkelling site. The weather was hot, and the water was beautiful, clear & warm. It seemed to me that the salt content must have been high, as you could just lie on top of the water and float. It did help that we were all issued with flotation vests, but they only had one puff of air in them. The Captain took us about 6 miles off the Key Largo coast to an area known as 'Dry Dock'. He told us that if we swam out a little way, past an underwood abyss that we would find an 8' Jesus statue that was in 25' of water. He was right - it was amazing sight to behold with such beautiful colourful fish darting around. Apparently it is one of the most famous & visited underwater sites in the world. Kelly & August dove down and touched the statue's fingers, but there must have been too much residual air in my vest as I just couldn't dive far enough. The girls each had an underwater digital camera and took some photos for the blog. The time flew past, and before we knew it, it was 3pm and we were disembarking. A most enjoyable adventure.

April, Kelly & Autumn had to get back home the same day, but the rest of us stayed overnight in a motel in Key Largo. We had dinner in the motel restaurant, and for an appetiser, I had my first taste of conch fritters. Like bits of calamari chopped up and mixed into a regular fritter. We finished with locally famous Key Lime Pie. Yum.

We headed home this morning but stopped off for lunch at the delightful city of Sanibel right on the water. The restaurant was on the marina, and had won the People's Choice award for 8 years in a row. A very pleasant interlude...

We arrived back home to Murray & Tom. The boys held up okay, but not so our RV. We had put it in to have some work done on it on Friday, but they didn't get to it until today, Monday. They discovered we needed a new dash airconditioner. and have had to send to Indiana for the part. Now we have to wait for that to arrive. Meanwhile, while they were working on the RV, they discovered the gas line from the portagas to the fridge & stove was showing signs of rust & wear, so they are going to clean that up as well. We have our fingers crossed that we get the RV back by Wednesday night, otherwise I am sure we are going to wear our welcome out here staying with Rainie & Tom! We are very grateful to our friends for their generous hospitality.