Florida Keys snorkeling locations

[bhbell]

We see juvenile tropical fish all the time. But they are so hard to collect. I'm to the point that unless it's something I don't have, like a spaghetti worm (hard to transport), or an unusual color serpent star, I don't bother. I just enjoy the shallows because I can play with the animals which you really can't do very well snorkeling out on the big reef with a charter. Following an octopus or a reef squid watching them change colors as they move from place to place is always fun. I got to feed a 2' cowfish when I'd break open a rock boring urchin (there are thousands of them) at the site we were snorkeling off Bahia Honda State Park.

Catching fish is a learned skill with a long curve to it. I started saltwater aquarium keeping while in the Marshall Islands. I scuba so thought catching them would be easy... Not. Took a number of attempts to get it figured out. At one point tried to catch them on a #14 trout hook. It worked, but they were still a bit big for my 55 gal tank. Finally found a net that had a clear vinyl tube and a mesh bottom to it. I used a tickle stick to get them to swim into the net, then lift it up (they typically swim down first), close the net off with my other hand and then transfer them to my collection containers.

I'll have to look around for a deal. I pretty much do the same thing as you guys. I don't care about the hotel because I spend so little time there. I have been snorkeling in Thailand before. That was pretty cool the fish were so use to people they would come right up to you but that was a guided tour. Got stung by jelly fish. Clear blue about the size of a silver dollar. Wrapped around my thumb. There were some cool green fish with black strips almost looked like some kind of Angelfish.

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[Ron Reefman]

Catching fish is a learned skill with a long curve to it. I started saltwater aquarium keeping while in the Marshall Islands. I scuba so thought catching them would be easy... Not. Took a number of attempts to get it figured out. At one point tried to catch them on a #14 trout hook. It worked, but they were still a bit big for my 55 gal tank. Finally found a net that had a clear vinyl tube and a mesh bottom to it. I used a tickle stick to get them to swim into the net, then lift it up (they typically swim down first), close the net off with my other hand and then transfer them to my collection containers.

bhbell, thanks for the advice and info. I really appreciate it.

A learned skill, yes, I believe that is true. A friend of mine, using a net like the one you described is quite good at it. He is a diver, but does most of his collecting (including fish) while snorkeling. He also says it requires a great deal of patience. My wife gave me a net with the clear sides and net bottom for Christmas, so I'll try my hand at it starting this spring.

 

[bhbell]

I always enjoyed leisurely dives where I could reallystudy an area. Others often seemed to want to just cover area or distance it seemed. I one time was pursuing a sharp nosed puffer round and round a coral head. When I came around one time I spotted a 6 foot grey reed shark swimming leisurely toward us about 30 feet away. I pointed it out to my wife who was my dive partner. She looked at it, gave me the ok sign and then gestured for me to get back to chasing, and catching, the puffer. I still remind her of this every time I see one in a store or picture.

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[SFish]

I've never collected any thing before but it's cool to see these animals in their natural environment. I thought the elk horn coral was cool and the sea fans as well in the keys.

 

[Ron Reefman]

We had a cold front go through on Saturday which brings with it a strong west wind off the Gulf of Mexico. We don't get strong west winds very often down here. In fact this wind went from S to SW to W to NW fairly quickly, so I wasn't sure how effective it would be. But that kind of wind, if it's strong enough, and lasts long enough, will wash some cool stuff up on the beaches. So Sunday at high tide (11:30am) my wife and I went out to the beach.

There were quite a few sponges washed up. We've found that the orange sponges that are kind of like interlocking fingers, somewhat ball shaped and with lots and lots of little cavities and crevices seem to be the best for finding hidden treasures. We spent about 2 hours out on the beach with temps in the upper 40's or low 50's (that's darn cold in SW Florida) and winds of 10 to 15 mph. I came home with about 20 Porcelain Crabs and a couple of Pistol Shrimp. One sponge in particular had several red/purple crabs which is kind of uncommon. Most of the Porcelain Crabs we collect are various shades of olive green. BTW, the photo of the crab in my hand was taken when we were home as my hand would have been more blue than flesh toned. It was cold.





Elaine quickly got cold hands tearing apart sponges and went about taking photos instead. That's her passion. If you want to see some pics, let me know.

 

[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]

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!

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.

We all like Elaine's pictures!

I do too Sam, I do too!

 

[thelawnwrangler]

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. :beer:

 

[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]

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.

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[Ron Reefman]

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]

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]

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]

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.