If you are staying at Grassy Key and want to do a local snorkel, try looking up slack tide (time between high and low or low and high) and then going to the bridge on the east end of Grassy Key. If you park in the lot and cross the road (it can be a little busy, so make sure you wait and don't get hit...), there are some fairly deep (6-8ft) boulders that generally have some interesting fish and inverts. The current can really get ripping sometimes, so slack tide is the best for there, but its really close to where you are staying and no boat is required.
We have collected a few times there and you can find some neat stuff if you get up close and aren't afraid of sticking your head under rocks. FWC does like to visit there though, so make sure your licenses are in order and you keep within your limits. Never had a problem with them since we always ensure we are legal, just FYI.
Depending on where you will be taking the boat I can probably give you some suggestions for other areas to try snorkeling or collecting if you have a GPS. We spent quite a bit of time down in Big Pine last month, and got to do some exploring.
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