From the southern tip of the Florida mainland to Key West, hundreds of islands curve in a southwest arc, all linked by the 112-mile Overseas Highway. The diving is straight out of the Caribbean—complete with full-service dive shops and comfortable resorts, warm-water reefs, tropical fish and amazing wrecks.
The popular gateway to the Keys, Key Largo is the ideal introduction to diving in this archipelago (the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 2,900 square nautical miles, beginning in Biscayne National Park and extending all the way to the Dry Tortugas).
A handful of keys, including Plantation, Windley, and Upper and Lower Matecumbe, make up this area. The colorful Eagle wreck, 6 miles off Lower Matecumbe Key, rests in 110 feet of water and is home to resident angelfish and green moray eels.
You can dive one of the oldest and fishiest wrecks in the Keys—the 188-foot Thunderbolt, a former World War II cable laying ship—or spend nearly endless bottom time exploring Sombrero Reef, where corals thrive.
The Lower Keys are the least developed of The Florida Keys and in many ways the most natural. The Lower Keys is known for its rare and endangered Key deer, the diminutive cousins of white-tailed deer.
A fitting end to a Florida Keys road trip is experiencing Key West’s fabled attractions, from the Hemingway House to Hog’s Breath Saloon, Mallory Square at Mile Marker 0, and of course, the diving.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are those of the sponsors and are not an endorsement nor do they reflect the opinions of PADI or any of its publications.
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