Snorkeling at Key Largo

Phil and I had reservations at John Pennekamp State Park for 4 days. The highlight of our stay was a snorkel trip out to the reef. This is the third largest coral reef in the world. We chose to go with Keys Diver, because they stopped at 3 different locations, and it was an excellent choice. Looks like we are the oldest people on the boat, but the old people were all downstairs.

Our first stop was the one I was really looking forward to, and you'll see why in a minute.

The coral here is just beautiful - sea fans, plumes and whips, along with the hard coral.

There were lots of fish here too.

But here's what I really wanted to see - the statue of Christ of the Abyss.

Located in 20 feet of water, the 9-foot high bronze statue was a gift in 1961 from the Underwater Society of America.

It's a copy of one that is in the Mediterranean Sea near Genoa.

You are allowed to dive down and touch his hands, but no hugging.

We then had some more time to look at some of the 55 types of coral here on the reef-

And some of the 600 species of fish.



This is a short movie I did while snorkeling. You can click on the link below to see my camera.

Canon PowerShot D20 12.1 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Image Stabilized Zoom 28mm Wide-Angle Lens a 3.0-Inch LCD and GPS Tracking (Blue)

Our second stop was a spot where the reef is right underneath you. You are not allowed to touch the coral, but it's fairly easy to float on the surface.

Since we were closer to the coral, it was easier to take pictures.

Our last stop was probably the best for seeing fish, but I couldn't stop taking pictures of the coral.

I took over 300 pictures on the trip!

We saw quite a few Barracuda, but this one with his mouth open scared me a little!