Key West – We see the reefs, a snorkel trip

Christina was a great guide!

It was predicted to be a very calm day with light winds and waves so we decided to hop on a fast cat for the seven mile trip out to the reefs. Tony was the captain and Christina was the snorkeling guide. There were only five customers aboard and since we wanted to venture the farthest, Christina led the way with Matthew close behind, we followed.

Although it was calm for the ocean, there were still one foot rollers coming in with an occasional one higher so you do quite a bit of bobbing up and down, tiring. The water was not as clear as we were used to at Bonaire or the BVI but not bad, you could see about 20 ft (at Bonaire you can see 100 ft!) There were lots of Barracudas of all sizes and the usual reef fish (Parrot fish, Filefish, Queen Angelfish and others).

Suddenly we saw a shark! Christina, our guide, saw it first and pointed it out, a reef shark, not aggressive and quite shy. It swam on by as we snapped pictures. We saw him a second time on the way back to the boat. Christina could dive and touch bottom in 20 ft of water! Matthew loaned her his camera and she dived for a shot of a lobster near the bottom in a crevice.

Just a reef shark - Matt's photo

After an hour or so we returned to the boat and Tony moved to the other side of the reef and we dived again, a much shorter time since we were tired from the first dive. There were lots of fans at this spot and many sponges too, quite pretty.

Matt's photo - lots of fish

Finally it was time to head back at 13 kts, in all it took about three hours, a very nice trip, recommended (Sunny Days snorkeling trips, 3 hours, 2 reefs for $38). You can usually find a coupon somewhere (e.g., at Cuban Coffee Queen) that knocks off $3 from the price).

Midnight Parot - Matt's photo

I asked Tony who had the best fish sandwiches and he said BO’s Fish Wagon is always voted best by the locals, that’s were we listened to the music on Friday night with the McKeevers. The best Cuban sandwiches were to be had at the Cuban Coffee Queen on the edge of the same parking lot where BO’s Fish Wagon was located. With that I marched over and ordered three Cuban sandwiches and I can attest to Tony’s excellent recommendation, just delicious and huge!

Many fans in the area

We wandered over to watch the sunset at Mallory Square but a big cruise ship blocked the south side, still we saw the sunset but it went down behind a small island so there was no chance to see a green flash, oh well.