Location:Bahia Honda State Park, Fl...official beach bums
Today was definitely the highlight of not only the Florida Keys, but our trip so far. The winds and choppy water had died down enough so that the snorkel tours were once again running. We tried to do a last minute Dry Tortuga tour, but unfortunately it was already booked. In retrospect this was the best thing that ever happened. Turns out one of the Keys best reefs is a short boat ride from Bahia Honda and the snorkel tours there are about 1/8th the cost of going out to the Dry Tortugas. Also, the Tortuga snorkel trip takes 10 hours, the one today was 3. Just about perfect. Now we'll have enough time to do BOTH the snorkel tour and play around Key West, one of my favorite places. Here I am so darn excited about going out on the tour.
It's only about a half hour boat ride to the Looe Key Reef and Natural Marine Reserve. The calm, blue, crystal clear waters were amazing. Here's Ned enjoying the boat trip back from a fun morning of snorkeling. I think he's still in awe of what we saw.
I've done my fair share of snorkel tours, Maui, Belize and Malaysia, but I can honestly say that today's snorkeling was the BEST ever. The minute we dived into the water and looked down we saw hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of different fish. All you really had to do was just stay put and everything would come to you. We swam over a shark,
but the coolest thing was when a school of about hundred yellow-gold and white fish, about 8 to 10 inches in length, swam around and between Ned and me. They were sparkling in the water and just swimming around and around us. Unbelievable. We were just euphoric with the experience. The camera just couldn't adequately capture this moment. Ned said that it felt to him like the fish were saying, "Hey Ned, come join the club!" Here's one of the fish, without the crowd.
All the fish we saw were really so colorful it was hard to believe they were real.
Yeah, I loved every single moment of this snorkel trip!
We cleaned up and headed to Key West. It was hotter than hell...(who better to judge than me?) and even though we tried an iced coffee drink, it didn't seem to help much to cool us off. What a great excuse to hit all those air-conditioned shops.
This isn't our first trip to Key West, so we skipped the Truman White House Tour, Hemmingway's Home and Southern Most Point. All things we've done before. Instead we decided to just walk around and take in the vibe. Sooooo, there are so many pictures I could post. Do I post the sweet, romantic vibe of Key West. Like this one?
Or the touristy things that were so indicative of Key West?
Perhaps I should focus on the Cuban connection, like watching handrolled cigars being made?
Well actually my favorite thing was all the crazy, off the chart, kooky wackos. Like the guy who was wearing JUST a blue "sack" over his sack. He then put on a tutu to cover up when riding his bike. Yeah, that happened. Ned took a picture of me, but seriously focus on the guy in the tutu on the bike in the right.
I have so many more pictures of this wonderful, ecclectic place. Okay, just one more of the wackiness. Mad Max with a spear gun while riding his bicycle. Why not?
We finally settled on dinner at a fun Cuban restaurant. Dang, they sure make their mojitos here a lot stronger than at my house. Just sayin'.
I'm already thinking about our next trip. Who wants to come? They grow cacao there so it would be a legit trip...sorta;)
What a great day!!
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