adurso
Contributor
My family took a trip to Key Largo the 23rd through 29th of June. We went through AguaAzul Diving. Two of the people in our dive club are partners in the enterprise here in VA. They are both instructors and Coast Guard captains. The booking includes housing and boat, tanks and weights. The boat takes four customers and the two skippers. You go where you want, when you want. Worked out really well for my family. We hit the civil war wreck the first day, little choppy, but viz was great. There were Nassau Grouper and a juvenile Goliath Grouper following us around as well as a plethora of nurse sharks acting like puppies. Wife and kids a little seasick so only one dive. The following days we did the City of Washington, the Benwood, Elbow Reef, Molasses Reef and French Reef. All were beautiful. Several days the locals mentioned the viz was poor, coming from Virginia, anything over 10 feet is amazing!
I have attached a couple of thumbnails representing some of the wildlife, I did not get any of the large things because my family took my camera away and burned up the film before the sharks and barracuda showed up. The best shark repellent is film in my camera! The nurse sharks and reef sharks expressed curiosity but stayed away, except for a 4 foot nurse shark on the Civil War wreck that wanted to get real close to me, it looked like a puppy wanting to be fed. I assume divers have been feeding it...My family have never seen larger animals underwater so it was quite a surprise. My wife stared down a great barracuda who was hanging under the boat, my daughter found an 8 foot nurse shark under an overhang and became somewhat nervous when it came out to see what the bubble blowing things were. The reef sharks stayed a distance away. There were lobster everywhere. They seemed to know it was a no-take area as they were hanging out wanting their pictures taken.
If you have not been to Key Largo and these reefs it is well worth a trip there! We plan on returning as often as possible!
I have attached a couple of thumbnails representing some of the wildlife, I did not get any of the large things because my family took my camera away and burned up the film before the sharks and barracuda showed up. The best shark repellent is film in my camera! The nurse sharks and reef sharks expressed curiosity but stayed away, except for a 4 foot nurse shark on the Civil War wreck that wanted to get real close to me, it looked like a puppy wanting to be fed. I assume divers have been feeding it...My family have never seen larger animals underwater so it was quite a surprise. My wife stared down a great barracuda who was hanging under the boat, my daughter found an 8 foot nurse shark under an overhang and became somewhat nervous when it came out to see what the bubble blowing things were. The reef sharks stayed a distance away. There were lobster everywhere. They seemed to know it was a no-take area as they were hanging out wanting their pictures taken.
If you have not been to Key Largo and these reefs it is well worth a trip there! We plan on returning as often as possible!
