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Description
Key West is known for
some to be one of the best snorkeling desinations in the world. All along
the keys is the nation's largest reef which is a protected sanctuary in
the Atlantic Ocean. We decided to go first thing in the morning when the
snorkeling is supposed to be the best.
How to get there
We were picked up
from the dock at the Wyndham Casa Marina. Our captain drove four of us
six miles out to the reef on a speed boat. It was about 15 minutes from
the marina to the reef.
What it's like
 The
captain of the boat was very friendly and explained about snorkeling and
the type of things we would see at the reef. We had to swim about 100
feet from the boat before we started to see the reef. Our trip was at
10:00 which is early and a good time to see a variety of fish. We were
novice snorklers and had to go back to the boat a few times to rest and/or
fix our equipment, but the snorkeling lasted for about an hour and a half.
Various kinds of coral were found including a rare moose coral that was
being re-introduced into the area. Also, the government was introducing
queen conch which were about as big as a basketball. We could dive down
and pick them up as long as we put them back in the same place. We could
not touch anything else in the area. The water ranged from two feed to
about ten feed deep. I do not know all the different types of fish I saw.
Some fish were a cluster of twenty fish while others would be by themselves
hiding under a coral overhang. There was one long skinny silver one that
kept following me around and appeared to just stare at me. I found out
later it was a baraccuda and they behave like that because they are very
curious fish. They are at the top of the food chain in the reef and do
not have anything to be afraid of. One highlights was when my boyfriend
and I literally swam through and entire school of about 200 small striped
fish.
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