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Snorkelling in the Keys |
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| After certification we
went down to the Keys to do some diving, fishing and hanging out. |
| We had spent quite a few bucks so we thought we'd do some snorkelling
along the Keys instead. Read here about our road trip down to Key West and our snorkelling at
Pennekamp Park Marine Sanctuary, Key Largo,
and at Key West. |
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Pennekamp Park Marine Sanctuary, Key Largo |
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| We first stopped off in Key
Largo to check out the local Marine Park. We had a first taster right off the beach where
we saw a bunch of cannons and a huge anchor in scummy water: remainders of a Spanish
bullion ship sunk off the Floridian coast a couple of centuries ago. We also caught a
glimpse of an arrowtail crab, a crustae largely unchanged by evolution for the last 500
million years.! Later we booked an excursion, where, with obligatory safety vests on, we
snorkelled around a boring, pale, fishless reef. So if you want to dive the Keys, you may
wanna leave Key Largo by the wayside and head straight down to Key West. |
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| date: June 9, 97 |
visibility: 0 to 90 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Key West |
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| This one turned out to be a
major success. Getting a cheap trip through the local Youth Hostel, we went out to two
spots which both offered great snorkelling and pretty much beat any scuba dive we did
before and after (mind you, this is before we are going to the Maldives). Jumping off the
boat, we were immediately surrounded by many curious snappers and grunts while some
barracudas eyed us from right underneath the surface. The reef was super shallow, often
less than 3 feet deep. We got to see some sleeping nurse sharks, large groups of feeding
fish, a sea turtle lazily swimming by and quite a few big tarpoon fish resting in some
deeper parts of the reef. Since some navy battles took place in this area during the
American civil war, we came across some shipping junk like nails, anchorlines, and pieces
of led. Ergo, we can only recommend Key West to all of you. |
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| date: June 12, 97 |
visibility: 100 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Key West Downtown |
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| That's it for Key West, the rest of the time we spent on getting drunk and hanging around.
Check out "Sloppy Joe’s" bar on Bourbon St. and once you're loaded, go across
the street to "Upstairs" , to drool over some cutting-edge silicone. |
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