South Beach Diving

Miami was bright and hot and the buildings in South Beach look like Licorice All-Sorts have gotten drunk on hideous fruity cocktails and thrown up all over them.
Nobody wears anything resembling a full item of clothing. And it is fabulous.

As Nell and I were making our way down the United States, in order to hop a flight to Colombia, we decided that Miami would be a great final destination. And it would be hot. And we could do some diving.
We arrived at our hotel, grabbed our towels, ran across the road into the sea – and it was like jumping into a hot bath.

We had tried to arrange a days diving before we left New Zealand.

One place that had been recommended to us was the Tarpoon Lagoon Diving Centre.
Over the course of several emails, they told us to give them a call when we arrived. Sadly, they dont answer their telephone so we took a walk down Washington Avenue and came across South Beach Divers.
We had been hoping to dive at least one, if not two, of the wrecks that are so close to the Miami coastline but unfortunately their trip schedule did not quite match with our required flying times. Instead they were heading down to the “John Pennekamp Marine Sanctuary” in Key Largo.

“Only a one hour and fifteen minute drive South of Miami and you will come to the drawbridge at Jewfish Creek.
When you cross this bridge you will find yourself in Key Largo, the first island of the Florida Keys.

Christmas Tree worms and Florida Corals

This chain of coral islands is legendary for its lore of pirates and sunken treasure, but today countless visitors have discovered the real treasure of Florida Keys lies just offshore, its world-class diving and snorkeling. The waters offshore of Key Largo offer some of the best diving in the world. Visitors to Key Largo quickly understand why it is the “Dive Capital of the World”.

Key Largo was one of the first areas in the world to dive into conservation of its marine habitat. John Pennekamp Coral Reef Park was founded in 1960 and the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary was created in 1975.
As a result, the reef has been protected for more than four decades. This protection has provided a uniquely rich coral environment where the 600 species of tropical fish are numerous and friendly – a veritable paradise for diver and snorkeler.” (source: South Beach Divers)

We arranged equipment rental and headed down to Key Largo.
The boat was a really good size (think just a little smaller than Perfect Day) and the weather, well, is the weather in Miami ever bad?
Heading out to the dive site, we giggled at the tourists who had hired knives to strap to their legs! The other thing that we thought hilarious was the amount of weight that the Dive Guides try and load you up with.
Firstly, the water is 32 degrees. Yep 32. Nell and I were only diving in bikinis. Yet with a 2 pound steel tank, they wanted to load another 4 pounds of weight into our weight belts. We took the weight from the Dive Guides and then when they were not looking, we quickly shoved most of it under our seat on the boat.

The first dive site we visited was called The Hole in the Wall near Molasses Reef – named for a ship that ran aground there carrying molasses.
There is a great swim through here – more than big enough for 3 people. We met a guy from Australia (Clinton) who had sized up the knife wearers as buddies and then sidled over to us instead.

The Winch

There is another dive site here called The Winch Hole. This was just off to our left hand side so we had the opportunity to explore this too.

A ship that had run aground on Molasses Reef in the early 1800 ’s and tried to get itself off the reef by letting their anchor out over the reef and into the deeper area and then using the power of the winch, tried to pull the boat off the reef.
Well, the winch proved stronger than the boat and was ripped off into the ocean taking with it the bow of the boat, thus the boat sank. All that remains is the winch, beautifully positioned on the sand surrounded by coral reef. It is still recognisable and makes a great photo opportunity.

The Corals were amazing (fact: Most people think Corals are rocks – they are actually animals featuring a mouth).
We swam past huge purple Gorgonian fans and steered clear of the Fire Coral. We watched Triggerfish, Clown Wrasse, Trumpetfish and watched the Parrotfish feeding. Goodness! Squirrelfish, French Angelfish and then we found a Lobster.

There are loads of fish to be found at the hole in the wall, swimming in the amazing visibility (30m +) and hiding under the rocks. At a depth of no more than 12m, our hour long dive time wasn’t longer as the boat allows that as an absolute maximum.

Our second dive was at a dive site called the Aquarium. No need to hope to see lots of fish here!
Here, we are told, is where you see the larger fish as the channel with the bowl at the end creates a good feeding area. Surely enough, a beautiful 2m grey nurse shark swims near enough for a look (but not near enough for a photo) and we see Great Barracuda.
Another hour long dive, in fact just over, in incredibly warm water with great visibility.

If you are off to Miami, I would definitely recommend South Beach Divers and our boat charter, Ocean Divers.

Trumpetfish