Key Largo

Business trips to Miami in February are so rough.....

We have the weekend free here in Miami, so yesterday, I headed to Key Largo along with a fellow co-worker. One of our other co-workers had headed down there Friday night and got a room at a nice Marriott resort on Key Largo and we joined him on Saturday morning. The two gents wanted to go scuba diving in the John Pennencamp Marine Sanctuary, so I tagged along. I don't have a diving certification, so I snorkeled instead.

We climbed in the boat and headed out to the Atlantic and the shallow reefs south of Key Largo. First stop was a sunken World War 2 U-boat. It was used as target practice after it sunk so the boat was pretty blown apart, but I could still see the wreckage even from floating along the water's surface about 30-40 feet above the sunken shipwreck.

Loved snorkeling through the bubbles from the divers below; it was like a mini massage. The seas were a bit rough however, and my weak little stomach didn't like the constant tossing and motion either in the boat or floating in the sea. Let's just say I don't have to count those calories from lunch and I fed the fish well that day. Yuck, I know!

The best part however came when waiting to get back on the boat. I had been the last person off the boat into the water cause i wanted to let all the divers with their heavy gear get into the water first. So, when it came to getting back on the boat, I again waited for all the divers to get on the rope line and head back in. As I was treading water nearby, one of the dive guides all ready on the boat shouted, "Sarah behind you.... Dolphins!". I turned around immediately and saw fins, but when I looked underwater, I could not see the dolphins. So, I swam towards them. I looked underwater again, and holy mackerel batman..... there were about 7-8 dolphins all swimming together right in front of me! My guess is that they were about 5-10 yards away; they felt so close I actually reached out as if I could touch them. I couldn't believe what I was seeing... a pod of wild dolphins swimming right in front of me. I really wish I had an underwater camera right about that time. Oh well, that image will be marked forever in the memories in my head. Very cool!

The second dive stop was called French Reef and was pretty cool from above, but the sun had hidden behind some clouds it seemed so much colder in the water without the sun. Plus no dolphins. Hee. Once we were back on shore, we got dried off and headed to dinner at a cute little Mexican place right on the water. Again, the temperature was perfect... not too cold and not too hot. I headed back to Miami after dinner and a little over an hour later I was in my hotel room.

I think I really like Key Largo.

I have a few more photos of my day in Key Largo at my Smugmug site.