AD 2017 Q4

less significant (often absent), so sites such as
Aquarium, Spanish Anchor and the Winch
Hole are generally effortless and rewarding.
Three mooring buoys mark the site
Deep Molasses, where at 45 to 65 feet the
bottom transitions from spur-and-groove
hard corals to large barrel sponge and
deepwater gorgonian. The marine life is
different too; here divers can encounter reef
butterflyfish (Chaetodon sedentarius), which
are conspicuously absent on the shallow reef.
Large queen and blue angelfish are around
on virtually every dive, and turtles frequent
this area as well. I have seen manta rays here
and even photographed an exceedingly rare
blanket octopus (Tremoctopus violaceus).
You never know what might come swimming
by, borne on Gulf Stream currents.
Many other sites are in the Key Largo
portion of Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary, each offering specific attractions
to those in the know. At North North
Dry Rocks, the angelfish are especially
photogenic against the colorful encrusting
sponge. Divers can take in the large field
of elkhorn coral at Horseshoe Reef. The
seasonal aggregations of glass minnows in
the swim-through tunnels of French Reef
and Minnow Caves are remarkable.
THE FISH
Fish are the grand differentiator in Key
Largo diving. There are just so many, and
they are accustomed to living in a marine
protected area, so they do not see divers as
threats. For underwater photography, this
is a revelation, and it is the reason I have
taught underwater photo classes here every
year since 1982.
Hundreds of thousands of divers visit
Key Largo each year for scuba diving and
snorkeling adventures. I am sure at some
point just about every one of them has
the same thought I do when I am at the
gunwale of a dive boat, looking over the
side into the crystalline water: I can hardly
believe we have this here, that it is so good
and just six miles offshore and 60 miles
south of the Miami metropolitan area’s
6 million people. AD
Key West
GULF OF
MEXICO
Big Pine
Key
HOW TO DIVE IT
Marathon
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
FLORIDA
Islamorada
Miami
Tavernier
GETTING THERE: The Florida Keys are “The Islands You Can Drive To,” and
that is how most people get here, via a flight to Miami International Airport
(MIA) and a rental car. Since “the Stretch” (the 18-mile road connecting
Key Largo to the Florida mainland) was improved with a barricade divide
to avoid the frequent head-on collisions of the past and an elevated
bridge to avoid the delays caused by the old drawbridge at Jewfish Creek,
daytrippers from Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are the new normal.
CONDITIONS: Most of the dives are shallow, at least on the coral reefs
(30 feet and shallower). But deep wreck dives can be had on the Spiegel
Grove and Duane. On these wrecks it is the current, not the depth, that
can be challenging. To sink these large ships upright and still allow
35-40 feet of clearance for shipping traffic, they had to go in deep water.
Deeper water is prone to Gulf Stream flow, which is unpredictable and
likes to meander. On any given day the current might rip, or it might
be totally slack. It can change dramatically between the surface to the
bottom or over the course of any given dive.
Perhaps the biggest surprise novice divers have when diving Key Largo
is how rough it can be when the winds rage. There is no leeside protection
here, and a southeast wind can build some pretty heavy seas. The dive
operators are savvy and professional, realizing the challenge is not getting
guests off the boat in heavy seas but getting them back aboard on a
bucking dive ladder. Because Key Largo is normally calm, warm and clear,
I think many visitors are unprepared for when conditions turn ugly and may
not have experience coping with heavy seas.
Key
Largo
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