Florida Keys snorkeling locations

[SFish]

Sounds like you found some cool stuff.

[thelawnwrangler]

Just Booked Key West and Marathon for middle May. I am really pumped. I snorkeled by the lighthouse in Marathon last time, and key west before. Anywhere else I have to go? Co-worker suggested Loo Key

[sam.basye]

We all like Elaine's pictures!

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by SFish

Sounds like you found some cool stuff.

Always fun to scavenge live critters off the beach. And any day at the beach, even 40 degrees and 15 mph winds, is better than a day at work!

Originally Posted by thelawnwrangler

Just Booked Key West and Marathon for middle May. I am really pumped. I snorkeled by the lighthouse in Marathon last time, and key west before. Anywhere else I have to go? Co-worker suggested Loo Key

Looe Key is very nice. I like it considerably better than Sombrero Lighthouse. Local charters out of Marathon do go to some other spots that are pretty good as well.

You might just try off the beach at Bahia Honda State Park. It's now big stony corals at all. But if you keep your eyes open and do more drifting than swimming, you'll see lots of stuff. In fact, a lot of stuff you won't see out on the big reefs. The shallows are quit different. If the weather is bad for snorkeling or diving, consider the Turtle Hospital or Aquarium Encounter, both in Marathon. We did them both last trip due to terrible visibility in the water. Both were fun and the turtle hospital was a great educational experience.

And please do us all a big favor and tell us about your trip when you get back. The good and the bad. That way we all learn.

May is a good month. It's before the rainy season starts and afternoon thunderstorms become an issue and the water temps are getting much more reasonable, especially if you snorkel shallows off the beach.

Originally Posted by sam.basye

We all like Elaine's pictures!

I do too Sam, I do too!

[thelawnwrangler]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Always fun to scavenge live critters off the beach. And any day at the beach, even 40 degrees and 15 mph winds, is better than a day at work!



Looe Key is very nice. I like it considerably better than Sombrero Lighthouse. Local charters out of Marathon do go to some other spots that are pretty good as well.

You might just try off the beach at Bahia Honda State Park. It's now big stony corals at all. But if you keep your eyes open and do more drifting than swimming, you'll see lots of stuff. In fact, a lot of stuff you won't see out on the big reefs. The shallows are quit different. If the weather is bad for snorkeling or diving, consider the Turtle Hospital or Aquarium Encounter, both in Marathon. We did them both last trip due to terrible visibility in the water. Both were fun and the turtle hospital was a great educational experience.

And please do us all a big favor and tell us about your trip when you get back. The good and the bad. That way we all learn.

May is a good month. It's before the rainy season starts and afternoon thunderstorms become an issue and the water temps are getting much more reasonable, especially if you snorkel shallows off the beach.

Thanks for advice.

Did the same time last year and we went to the Gulf side one of the days when winds were bad. I got to see a juvenile Atlantic tang and some anemones.

I might do a Kayak tour as well and just see what I see with that. I love the stuff you are finding. Where do you see the zoa's typically?

Then I will probably eat every meal at Key fisheries lol- they bring out scraps for the kids to feed the tarpon, but if you drop it off the side you get to feed nurse sharks lol.

[Ron Reefman]

Here is a chance to double up on your fun. You can rent a kayak, put in at the boat ramp right at the end of the Seven Mile Bridge (on the Florida Bay side) and kayak out to Little Money Key, about 1/4 mile from the ramp, or go under the bridge and just under 1 mile out is Money Key. Both these locations have great shallow flats for snorkeling and both have the green zoas. There aren't a lot at Little Money and they are tricky to find, but on the ocean side of Money Key toward the east end of the island not too far off shore there are big flat rocks that are covered with thousands of zoas.

Just remember, the daily limit is 5 polyps per person per day. Get stopped with more by FWC with more and they will take them from you and fine you WAY more than you think is fair! As in a hundred dollars a head or even more! They don't screw around and we've been checked several times at the island by boat, by jet ski and at the ramp. Don't risk it, the zoas grow fast enough when they get acclimated to your tank.

Here's hoping for great weather and clear water.

[thelawnwrangler]

Wow awesome- I will have to check that out.

[Ron Reefman]

I've been told by an old, long time serious diver, professional collector, that there are red zoas out there somewhere, maybe on the Florida Bay side of the Keys. But I've never seen any. So if anybody can shed some light on that, it would be very cool!

[Sinclair81]

These are some great places I would love to see. Ron directed me to this thread and suggested I post some questions here. I am thinking of spending a week in the keys and am looking for recommendations of a good beach and home to stay at? My wife and I have three kids and we typically rent a home for a week as our annual trip (last year at Captiva Island) and are hoping to put the keys on our resume. So please, if any one has some suggestions of some good beaches to play on the beach with the kids, I'm all ears.
Jim

[Fissues]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

I've been told by an old, long time serious diver, professional collector, that there are red zoas out there somewhere, maybe on the Florida Bay side of the Keys. But I've never seen any. So if anybody can shed some light on that, it would be very cool!

I saw some green ones at sombrero reef, no red ones though.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by Fissues

I saw some green ones at sombrero reef, no red ones though.

Yup. We've seen lots of the green ones at Little Money and Money Keys (opposite sides of the Seven Mile Bridge). The guy who told me about the red ones worked for Dynasty Marine as a diver/collector for many years and now works at their Aquarium Encounters location in Marathon.

A nice close look at some green ones.


And a long shot so you can see how many there are. And the fact that exposed to really bright light they morph to a sky blue color (see the ones closer to the camera).

[thelawnwrangler]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Yup. We've seen lots of the green ones at Little Money and Money Keys (opposite sides of the Seven Mile Bridge). The guy who told me about the red ones worked for Dynasty Marine as a diver/collector for many years and now works at their Aquarium Encounters location in Marathon.

A nice close look at some green ones.


And a long shot so you can see how many there are. And the fact that exposed to really bright light they morph to a sky blue color (see the ones closer to the camera).

how is aquarium encounters? didn't go last time because when given the option to see in the wild vs at aquarium I chose the wild lol

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by thelawnwrangler

how is aquarium encounters? didn't go last time because when given the option to see in the wild vs at aquarium I chose the wild lol

I'm 100% with you on that one! The only reason we went was because visibility was down to 18". We tried at the calmest spot I know, very well protected and still has lots of critters. I went out to 2 feet deep about 100 feet from the breaker and at least as from from shore. And even there I couldn't even see the bottom!

So, Aquarium Encounters... it's pretty much what any medium size aquarium place is like as far as seeing fish. They have a couple of nice round tanks that you can watch through the glass or from the surface. What they do that is cool, if you want to spend the money, is swimming with the fish and feeding the fish. There was a family of dad, mom, daughter and son and I think the kids had a ball.

They have a nice touch tank, but I knew more about the critters in the tank than the tour guide and I wasn't afraid to pick them up, she didn't seem very interested and didn't encourage others to reach in either. But when I did it and showed people things, like the eyes at the front end of the queen conch, she would add a bit of info as well and didn't seem to mind that I kind of lead the discussion.

They have a stingray touch tank as well. And a few other attractions, land turtles, saltwater ponds, a BIG orange iguana that is allowed to just walk around the place! One of my favorite things was the half dozen huge wood fish 'skeletons' that were all deep water fish. I mean a couple of them were 5' or 6' long. The artist who made them did an incredible job as far as I was concerned. I'll see if I can dig up a few pics.

But like you said, if the wild stuff is there to see, that's my number one choice. Being in the water with cool critters around is what it's all about. We played with several octopus, I've played with juvenile lobsters giving a light tug on their antenna, I've been followed up close and personal by a 2' cowfish, I got face to face with a big green moray eel, and in just 3' of water my wife drifted over a 4' nurse shark that was sleeping in a sandy hole! And all of this while snorkeling off the beach!

[matt888]

I have yet to see red zoas but there are maroon ones and I have them in my tank. I have dark blue ones that resemble "Tubbs Blue" zoas also from the Keys. I collect rock anenomes now because they are so damn hardy! Much more hardy than zoas and even those are fairly easy to keep.

Funny about the import car posts in this thread. I have an 89 Conquest TSi. Boost is capped at 10psi right now but it's currenty getting an ECU upgrade in preparation to a multiport fuel injection manifold upgrade (stock is a dual injector throttle body). Gotta love a rear wheel drive turbo car from the 80's! (As I play Beastie Boys and spool that little turbo) Such a cool little ride and I've owned Cobra's, Z06 vettes, currently have a 67 mustang fastback, but them Conquests/Starions are special little machines packed with technology that was cutting edge in 1985-89.

[Mr06evo]

Originally Posted by matt888

I have yet to see red zoas but there are maroon ones and I have them in my tank. I have dark blue ones that resemble "Tubbs Blue" zoas also from the Keys. I collect rock anenomes now because they are so damn hardy! Much more hardy than zoas and even those are fairly easy to keep.

Funny about the import car posts in this thread. I have an 89 Conquest TSi. Boost is capped at 10psi right now but it's currenty getting an ECU upgrade in preparation to a multiport fuel injection manifold upgrade (stock is a dual injector throttle body). Gotta love a rear wheel drive turbo car from the 80's! (As I play Beastie Boys and spool that little turbo) Such a cool little ride and I've owned Cobra's, Z06 vettes, currently have a 67 mustang fastback, but them Conquests/Starions are special little machines packed with technology that was cutting edge in 1985-89.

Cool car! I can't wait to get back into the car scene. I drive a 2013 honda accord automatic now. In 4 years of ownership I don't think I have ever red lined it.

[Ron Reefman]

Matt, care to give up just where you found maroon and blue zoas in the Keys? I think I've shared every scrape of location info I have over the last couple of years in this thread.

As for the Conquest Tsi, a good friend of mine in Detroit works for Chrysler (or whatever they are called these days... Fiat-Chrysler?) and he had one back in the day, before a wife and 3 kids came along. It was well ahead of it's time in both styling and technology.

Mr06evo, I drove a GMC mini van for way too long between 2002 when I sold my supercharged Toyota MR2 and 2015 when I bought my first Miata. The Accord is a really nice car... but an automatic??? Just teasing.

[Mr06evo]

Haha Ron, I actually wanted another stick. This is my first automatic transmission car. Can you believe they wanted to charge me more for a manual transmission Accord? I was trading in a BMW 335i that was giving me tons of problems at the time and just wanted to get rid of it.

[flacousa]

I thought this thread was about Florida Keys snorkeling locations


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by flacousa

I thought this thread was about Florida Keys snorkeling locations

It is, and you are welcome to post anything you want about snorkeling or the Keys and even better, post something about both. Do you have anything you want to contribute?

This time of year (cool/cold water for snorkeling) there isn't much being posted. So a few of us who post here a lot happen to share an interest in cars.

[Mr06evo]

Hey Ron, back on topic haha. I actually went to Harry Harris two weeks ago. Figured the water was too cold so I didn't bring a mask or anything. After getting there and seeing water full of kids I felt like a whimp. Saw a bunch of nice anemones from the beach area. I'm going to go back in a month or so and see if I find those zoas. Unfortunately I don't have an underwater camera, but I'll be sure to report back with my findings.

[matt888]

I find most of my zoas on the Gulf Side and our place is on BPK, so you know the general area. The zoas are everywhere in the 3-10' areas where you would find lobster. Problem is that you generally have to get your face 1-3' off the structure and carefully scan for them. Also, they seem to like the walls or sides of large structure, slopes, etc. Not many of them are flat on the Gulf floor. Greens, tans are most common. Maroon and blues are harder to locate. The areas with lots of growth like algae are best for zoas and the areas more sparce of the same are better for rock anenomes.

Patch reefs on the Atlantic side hold the Ricordia like in my avatar picture. They also have the bubble mushroom anenomes and zoas.

[Ron Reefman]

OK, looking at the water just off shore around the Florida bayside of BPK on Google Earth looks promising. But then I've been fooled before. Can you give me any help on where a good area along BPK is best for snorkeling?

I find that the green zoas we collect around Little Money Key turn light blue if we give them a lot of light. My frag tank and shallow reef tank both get them to morph. Then I have to show frag buyers what they look like 24" deep in my big DT.

I have a couple of new places to check out as well. One is on the Florida bayside of Bahia Honda and the other is on the oceanside of Marathon near a small offshore island. I think we will be down in May and June for a couple of long weekends.

[Ron Reefman]

SW Florida had a cold front (relatively cold for Florida) go through on Tuesday, so Wednesday a friend and I went collecting on a Sanibel Beach. It was chilly at 9am when we left home, and even cooler at the beach. But the sun came out and by 11am we had taken off our flannel shirts as it was quite nice out. I did forget to wear a hat and now I'm paying for it with a bright red head.

There were tons of Pen shells on the beach and lots of conch egg cases. There was a variety of sponges as well, which is were I tend to find most of the things I collect (inside sponges). We found a more than enough porcelain crabs and a few small pistol shrimp and serpent stars in the sponges we tore up.

I also noticed some chitons, limpets and slipper shells attached to the pen shells and I brought a few of each home. The chitons were small, but they attached to the glass in the tank very quickly and began moving around. I also collected a warty anemone and a hitchhiker anemone which are not photosynthetic but can be kept in an aquarium if you feed them. I found a black rubber/plastic piece off a boat that had a dozen small clams and they also quickly attached to rocks in my tank.

There were some nice purple gorgonians that were very 'branchy' almost to the point of looking a bit like sea fans. I found one with a purple snail (related to the Flamingo Tongue) and my friend found one with a nice little colony of feather dusters attached. We didn't know that's what they were until he got it back in his tank where the feather dusters then opened up. I passed up a couple of gorgonians that had very similar looking clumps of 'stuff' attached but because I didn't know what it was, I didn't want to risk putting it in my tank. Sometimes risky behaviors pay off.

I found a nice clump of red macro algae just in the water's edge which I have picked up before and it has done well in my display refugium, so I figure I'll try some in my shallow reef local tank too. I collected a good size (about the size of a quarter) decorator crab that has hollowed out a tunicate and wears it like a coat over it's carapace. I doubt the tunicate will survive in my tank, but maybe the crab will help keep it alive?

We found a couple of small octopus, one in a pen shell and the other in a sponge I picked up to tear apart. They are so cool to find and I almost feel bad that they have such a short life span. We also found big blue crab and a gulf toad fish that were still alive on the beach and we put them all back in the water and they all swam away.

All in all a pretty nice day. Just enough beach time and collecting to hold me over until our first Keys snorkeling trip in May. Well... not really. I can't wait for the water to warm up so we can snorkel. I have several new places in the Keys I want to explore.

[sam.basye]

Got any pictures?? Reading these collections after a storm are always exciting!

[Ron Reefman]

I didn't take any on the beach, my friend took a couple. I was in a rush when I got home so things just went into tanks. But I'll try and get a few pics of stuff in my tank and have friend send me his.