After yet another round of cruise cancellations in early 2022 we decided to take a trip to Florida to go snorkeling with the manatees and check out the Florida Keys. Our trip began in mid-March in of course the middle of an unusual cold snap in Florida (oh, and of course $4.00 per gallon gasoline!).
Our journey started with a 9 hour drive from our home in Oak Island, NC to Crystal River, Florida, home of American Pro Dive Center where we had previously snorkeled with the manatees about 10 years earlier. This is a great company to work with, the prices and service were both excellent. The morning Crystal Springs manatee tour and the afternoon Crystal River snorkel trip was about $50 per person with a Groupon.
The morning of our tour, we woke up to brisk 34 degree morning and set off to the dive shop. The good thing though was that the water at Crystal Springs maintains a constant year round temperature of 72 degrees so the water was very warm even though the boat ride was chilly. We rode around to several places before finally finding some cooperative manatees who would allow us to swim with them. We finally found a mother and calf as well one or two others who were happy to hang out and entertain us. If you go, there are very strict rules regarding approaching and touching manatees so be aware of that. On our previous encounter the manatees were playful and we were able to pet them and rub their bellies. No such luck this time, but we were able to snorkel and observe them for about one hour. Afterwards, on the way back to the dock we saw numerous manatees, of course, but it was a little warmer by then and the fact that it was the first day of daylight savings time ay have played into that as well. Enjoy this video of the trip.
After great day of snorkeling, we headed to Tampa where the next day we had tickets to attend an Andre Rieu concert. If you are not familiar with him, he is a Dutch violinist and Director of the Johann Strauss Orchestra and is known as the King of the Waltz. He is often seen on PBS during their fund raising events. He brings a fun twist to classical music with interactive programs, dancing in the isles, and elaborate costumes. Please enjoy this clip from the concert.
Finally, we headed south with a brief stop at Siesta Key and then on to Key Largo where we spent the rest of the week. We arrived at King’s Camp RV Park and Campground and Key Largo about 8 pm. The office was closed but getting the keys was not an issue as it had been prearranged. However, the map provided was very vague and we spent about a half an hour trying to find our “hotel room.” Eventually we found it, it was just around the corner from the office. As far as the room itself, it was very nice by campgrounds standards but not quite a hotel room. It had a bed, microwave, and refrigerator. The big downfall was no sink so you had to wash your dishes in the bathroom sink. The date plus was it was reasonably priced for the Florida Keys. It was $160 a night but everything else I could find it was 5 to $800 a night. Crazy prices!!
The morning after our arrival we happy birthday snorkeling tour he went to a place called Grecian rocks which I later found out that’s generally a fallback location when the conditions aren’t great at other sites. We were a little disappointed, the waves were choppy it was a long swim from the boat to the reef and there were not a great deal of fish. I guess we are spoiled by the snorkeling in the Caribbean and Mexico. After that trip we decided to cancel our other tour which was a couple days later. Instead, we decided to hit some of the state parks and snorkel there from the beach
After returning and grabbing some lunch, we decided to check out John Pennekamp State Park which was only a mile from the campground. Some of the information regarding this state park is inconsistent. There are two beaches there one is called Far Beach which is the farthest point from the entrance and the other is called Cannon Beach this day we went to Far Beach. We were told by the ranger at the entrance and there were fewer people and better for snorkeling there. It was a nice little beach and the snorkeling was fair (just as good as the reef). After enjoying a few hours there we headed back to the campground where we met some other visitors and watched the sunset from the little waterfront park area which also had a small beach area.
The next morning we got up early I’m headed to Key West which was about two and a half hours further south. We really enjoyed our day in Key West. We parked in a parking lot near the Butterfly Conservatory and walked a a couple of blocks to the southernmost point in the US where we waited in line about 20 minutes to get a picture taken.
Afterwards we walked several blocks to the lighthouse where we climb the lighthouse took some pictures and visited the lighthouse and keeper’s quarters. Then finally, we took a longer walk up Duval Street and had lunch at Margaritaville. Since parking is at a premium in Key West we chose to park and walk to the attractions. It was long, but easy walk with lots of shade. I would recommend this method to anyone visiting. It seems like a long way not to do a whole lot but you’ve got to do it right?
We arrived in Key West about 10:30 a.m. and left at 2:30 p.m. On the recommendation of friends in Oak Island and visitors down there we decided to stop at Bahia Honda State Park, about 45 minutes north of Key West, to take a beach break and do some more snorkeling. Bahia Honda state park is a beautiful park on the Atlantic side of the Keys. The beach was nice and the snorkeling was fair with some fish and relatively clear water. The coolest thing was that when we were coming in from snorkeling a small manta ray follow us in and came right after within feet of the edge of the beach.
The following day, Friday, after doing some shopping we made a return trip to Pennekamp State Park where where we checked out the other beach named Cannon Beach. At the beach there were a couple replica cannons on each end of it the beach giving it its name, or at least that’s what we thought. About 200 feet offshore there is a rope with buoys implying the end of the swimming area however, when you swim there it is marked as a no wake zone for boats. About 10 to 20 ft be on that rope it gets a little is a small shallower where there is an old Spanish shipwreck with its anchor and cannons covered in Coral. It was very interesting to check out and there was an abundance of fish there. On the way back to shore, there’s a deep crevice that you can follow back to the shore. It was probably the most interesting of our snorkeling experiences there.
On Saturday, our last day there, we decided to go to the history of diving Museum in Islamorada. It was quite interesting and we were glad we took the time to go there. The plan on the way back was to once again go to Cannon Beach however, and it was now the weekend and there was a significant line backed up onto the highway to get into the park. Hence we decided not to go and went back to the campground so we tried out to be there. There was a small swimming but you could also go beyond there and do more snorkeling. We chose to stay at the beach which we did for a couple hours and then wrapped it up and headed out to dinner as we had to leave early the next day to head home. All in all the keys was an interesting place to check out but in our opinion we probably wouldn’t do it again due primarily to the traffic and the cost but we are glad we did it. There are just other things we’d prefer to do with our time and money.