The Coral Reef off the Florida Keys is spectacular! Fantastic coral formations abound: nearshore patch reefs, offshore bank/barrier reefs, and fringing reefs. Colorful tropical fish dance and swim among the corals, dazzling the newcomer to the reef. So much for the brain to absorb.
The Florida Keys is a unique environment. With its prevailing southeasterly breezes and the warm Gulf Stream just offshore, the weather is tropical/subtropical. These factors permit coral to grow here, its only location in the entire continental United States. The most spectacular reefs are protected by the National Marine Sanctuary and marked off by yellow buoys as Special Preservation Areas. Fishing, lobstering, and collecting shells, tropical fish and coral is prohibited.
The National Marine Sanctuary offers a pamphlet to educate the public to these SPA's. From this we have created the map of areas that we can visit during our Easy Adventures snorkeling tours. (Click picture for a larger view, then click your browser's back button to return to this page.)
We had the best time. We saw so many fish and the coral was amazing. We'd come back to the Key just to do this again. We had Captain Kelly. She was GREAT. We booked this charter based on the comments on the internet. We were delighted with our choice. The O'Brien Family, Ontario Canada, 3/12/2008