The third largest barrier reef in the world is found off the Atlantic coast of the Florida Keys—and that makes for world-class diving all along the 100-mile stretch that runs between Key Largo to the north, and the southernmost tip in Key West. I spent several years in Key Largo and while I’m familiar with the other Keys and their diving, Key Largo’s dive sites are what inspired me to write the dive books I set in the Keys. Mer, my marine biologist heroine, visits many of them in the pages of Adrift and Beached, two of the Mer Cavallo Mysteries.
Florida is home to the only coral reefs in the nation and some of the best are off Key Largo. Molasses Reef and French Reef are two of the most popular and are great for all levels of divers as the reefs are shallow. At one point, thirty-two mooring balls marked Molasses, and seventeen divided French Reef, but Hurricane Irma snatched a couple of them.
Divers can find plenty of sea life on both reefs. Snapper, spadefish, porcupine, a variety of colorful tropical fishes, plus nurse, reef, and the occasional hammerhead sharks, rays, and plenty of sea turtles call the reefs home. Look for little critters too! Flamingo tongue and nudibranchs can be found on sea fans, and eel gardens often sprout in the sandy patches
The USS Spiegel Grove ranks as Mer’s favorite dive site–and the author’s, too (that’s me in the photo). It is a massive ship (the wreck has 7 mooring balls on it) and stretches 510 feet from bow to stern and 84 feet across the beam. It rests in 135 feet of water, and divers hit the superstructure at about 65 feet. The main deck is at 85-90 feet. That makes this an advanced dive and current can be strong. There are plenty of swim-through passages, but penetrating the wreck is dangerous. Almost all the commercial charters go out to the Spiegel and it is about 5 nautical miles offshore.
Local hint: Look for the “Spiegel Beagle” emblem—Snoopy riding an alligator—painted on the floor in one of the interior swim-throughs.
Looking for a shallow shipwreck? Check out the Benwood. The merchant marine vessel collided with another vessel one night in 1942 while both vessels were blacked out to avoid detection by German U-boats. The Benwood lies between French Reef and Dixie Shoals in water ranging from 25 – 45 feet deep.
Other not-to-miss dive sites include the USCGC Duane, another (deep) purpose-sunk artificial reef just a mile south of Molasses, and the Christ of the Abyss statue. The Christ statue is a bucket-list dive and frequently photographed by professional and amateur photographers, alike. Located in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the shallowness of the dive draws in droves of snorkelers—great if you are traveling with non-divers, but it makes for an extremely crowded site on most days.
Night dives are also popular—especially during the full moon when the coral spawns–typically in August and September.
Regardless of the site you choose, the gin-clear water of Key Largo is the place to start—or stay—on your Florida Keys dive vacation. And the perfect beach reads? Well, I hope you’ll say hello to Mer!
Parts of this blog were originally published on the Girls that Scuba blog. https://www.girlsthatscuba.com/scuba-diving-key-largo-florida/
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