Key Largo: May, 2005

Travel We traveled via US Airways to Miami. Arriving in Miami, we picked up our car from Thrifty car rentals that we had reserved using Travelocity. We had reserved an economy car but when we arrived, all they had was minivans so we got one for the same price. That has been my experience quite often recently. Reserve the cheapest car possible. When you go to pick it up, they inevitibly try to get you to upgrade. When you stick to your guns and say no, then they admit to not even having the cheap car you rented and they give you a bigger one at the same price. Try it. If they stick you with a car that is too small for your needs, you can always choose to upgrade later. The trip to Key Largo was really easy. Only took about 1 hour and 15 minutes and that was pretty much following the posted speed limits. On our return, we spent the night in Miami as our flight left early in the morning. We booked a $59 room through Hotwire. Turned out to be at the Holiday Inn Miami Airport. Great deal.

Accomodations We stayed at Ed & Ellen's Lodgings and couldn't have been happier. It is a small place. Only 3 units. They are right on Highway 1. The room was clean and had a small kitchenette which was great for pre-dive breakfast and post-dive lunch. Ed was quite the character. Gave us lots of info on the local places of interest. Bottom line, we stayed there for the price -- $59/night. We felt we got a great deal.

Food The first night we ate at Sundowners. The food was quite good. The view was fantastic. Just a bit pricy for a budget dive trip. Recommended if you want a nice meal and are willing to pay for it. The next night we drove to Hawks Cay and ate at The Water's Edge Restaurant. Again, very nice, great view of the bay and some really nice yachts but pricey. We ended up splitting a rack of ribs and rather than serving one meal with an extra plate, they served two plates, each with half a rack of ribs and a baked potatoe and vegetable. Classy! We went back to the Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar (see notes from our Tavernier trip). The view was still good and the bar was packed. I didn't think the food was as good as last trip. For a great burger and fantastic service, check out Hobos Restaurant at MM 104.2 on the Bayside. We had lunch there before heading out of town and wished we had another chance to go back. Check out the following dining guide: Florida Keys Dining Guide

Activities We found numerous things to keep us occupied, most of them in Pennekamp State Park. The day we arrived, we snorkled in the park. They have a "Spanish Shipwreck" that you can snorkle on. I put it in quotes because it is a re-creation of a spanish shipwreck. They salvaged the cannon from another shipwreck and recreated a wreck scene. It makes for nice snorkling as the wreckage provides cover for many fishes. Another day after diving we rented a two person kyak and did the kyak trails inside the park. It was a really nice way to spend an hour or so. We also walked the mangrove trail and the hammock trail in the park. Both were short hikes but well worth it. Things are well marked and they give a nice lesson in the mangrove system and the different plant life in a Florida Hammock.

Diving We booked our diving with Horizon Divers. We did 6 dives over 3 days with the gang from Horizon and had a blast. Thanks Capt Tom, Capt. Bob, Andre, Sally and especially DM candidate Dennis from Halifax! The crew was really fun, helpful and just made the trip great! Horizon Divers has a pretty big boat and they do their best to keep it filled. If you are looking for diving in a small group, give them a call and see how many divers they have booked. We specifically chose them because they have the dual hulled Cheeca View. Tracy likes these types of boats better as they ride much smoother on choppy seas (even with this, we had seasick people on each day of diving). Admittedly, the first two dives we did have a pretty crowded reef. On the last two days, we were pretty much the only divers that were not part of a certification class so we had the reef to ourselves while everyone else did their skills. The conditions were great. Temperatures reached the mid to high 90's each day. Water temp was about 79. I dove in a 2mm full suit and was fine. Tracy dove in a 5mm full suit and was comfortable although she did get cold on the second dive of the first day. The first dive was on the Benwood wreck. This is a WWII era wreck that is pretty much busted apart. Great fish habitat and the highlight of the dive was a big crab walking around on the wreckage. The second dive was Woody's at French Reef. Nice corals. Basic reef dive navigating the sand channels. Tracy found a puffer fish living inside a barrel sponge. All our remaining dives were on Molasses Reef. We dove: Northstar, Spanish Anchor, Eagle Ray Alley, and Logans Run. All similar types of dives, navigating the various sand channels. At Logans run, we started off in the Aquarium and then ventured out to find the winch hole (we found it on the way back to the boat). On all of these dives we found Lobsters galore. Green Moray Eels on 3 of the 4 dives. At Spanish Anchor, we found a school of HUGE Permit. They just circled and circled near this opening in the reef. Amazing to watch. At Eagle Ray Alley we saw nurse sharks and a reef shark (my first one!). At Logans Run we saw more nurse sharks. I could dive that reef forever!

Copyright © 2005 Kris Warmann. All Rights Reserved.