Florida trip advice

[7Hogwarts]

Hi All,
I'm going to Florida Keys in a couple of weeks. I would like some suggestions for places to snorkel/ maybe dive, LFS there. We're staying on Marathon Island. Or any other must do places.:chickendance:

[reeftank21]

Pennecamp state park. You can catch a boat at Key Largo. Good snorkeling but a bit chilly this time of year. Water will be mid to low 70's.

[reeftank21]

If you want to dive I can recommend a boat. I was on a trip in the Rea Sea with an operator that has a boat in Key Largo. Call Dick Smith at WildCountry he can tell you exactly which one it is. The guy is a Bloomington native and worked at Wildcountry years ago.

[Rcalhoun]

second John Pennecamp state park. on the southern side of the island they sunk an old naval ship to stimulate an artificial reef and for divers to check out. I've yet to see it though :( there is a really nice reef about 300 yards to the southeast of Duck Key, i'll see if I can find my old dive log books and I can get you GPS coordinates for it. Also, if you really want to see some cool stuff that you normally wouldn't see, take one of those glass bottom boat tours through the mangrove's...lots of little critters most people didn't know about.

oh and if you're going to the Keys...you HAVE to check out Jimmy Buffets Bar in Key West, great place to get blitzed.

alright here are a few GPS coordinates for you, I'm not sure what your certification level is for SCUBA, but most of these are nice and shallow with plenty of groovy wildlife to check out.

25'03.161N - 080'20.020W the Benwood, off key Largo goo wreck dive, if you go look for "Brutus" a very MASSIVE Jewfish that haunts these waters. he's friendly, most locals feed him on dive trips.

24'39.671N - 080'59.651W Horseshoe Reef, nice and shallow with some good coral (least thats what I wrote in my log book!)

24'39.061N - 081'01.741W Herman's Hole, nifty shallow reef, the corals have grown to form a hole in the center of a big ring. Worth checking out and you can easily snorkel this site.

24'51.070N - 080'37.210W the USS Alligator, was an old pirate hunter ship. thar be cannons here!

hope that helps you out a bit. honestly the best spots I've found is by just scooting around in the boat, soon as something interesting pops up on the depth finder we'd anchor and hop in to check it out. If I can find the rest of my log books i'll bring them with me on Sunday.

[7Hogwarts]

This sounds awesome! Thanks!