Everyone loves Key West, with its amazing sunsets, perfectly blue, clear water, and good times for all! Divers have the distinct pleasure of enjoying both on shore pleasures and those that await beneath the waves. With gorgeous reefs and spectacular aquatic life, plus some fabulous shipwrecks, Key West is truly a paradise for divers, new and experienced alike. Let’s take a few minutes to explore just a handful of Key West’s top dive sites.
Marquesas Keys
The Cosgrove Shoal lighthouse marks Marquesas Keys’ south end, and as this group of ten remote islands are located 25 miles west of Key West, you’ll be glad when you see the light – it means you’re almost to your destination! These lush, tropical islands, with their long, sandy stretches of beach, are named after Marquis de Cadereita, who commanded the 1622 Spanish Treasure Fleet that was lost in the vicinity during a fierce hurricane. This is the area where the Atocha and Santa Margarita were lost! Though they are not a state Sanctuary Preservation area, the islands are part of a National Wilderness Area. The mangroves are inhabited by many endangered bird species, and the beaches are nesting areas for the Atlantic green and loggerhead turtles. In addition, this is the only breeding site in the United States for endangered Hawksbill turtles.
With a lagoon that is the only known atoll in the Atlantic Ocean, plus massive coral heads running all along the south side of the entire chain of islands in just 8 to 12 feet of water, as well as ten known wrecks lying within two miles of the Marquesas Keys, there is enough diving here to keep you on the bottom for as long as you want to spend there! In addition, the reef line, which is located about six miles south of the islands, is peppered with crevices and caves, as well as fantastic overhangs and walls that drop off to as deep as 120 feet.
Novices will enjoy sticking to the protected areas, which are home to a splendid array of fish and plenty of turtles. A little further out, you’ll find that visibility is usually about 100 feet, and the strong current that plays along the reef’s edges attracts huge pelagics. You’ll find large sharks, enormous barracuda, permit, snapper, jewfish, tarpon, grouper, and lobster, plus jacks and bluefish everywhere you look!
Eastern Dry Rock and Rock Key
Located a quick six mile boat ride from Key West, Eastern Dry Rocks is a Sanctuary Protection Area, which means the lobsters are big and beautiful, and so are the fish! Rock Key is located just half a mile away. Both areas are fantastic patch reefs, perfect for simply snorkeling, and great for extended bottom time on shallow dives. With spur and groove formations and huge coral heads, plus an old Spanish galleon located just to the southwest of the marker, as well as grassy patches where turtles come to graze, this is a magnificent site for all divers. You’ll need to make quite a few dives here to explore the entire area thoroughly!
The wreck at Eastern Dry Rock is very interesting, with heaps of ballast stones and scattered cannon balls, bits of rigging, and even some old brass fittings and other artifacts to find. Remember to dig around in the sand some distance from the wreck, since the ship has been swept by hurricanes over and over again as the centuries have marched past! You never know what you might find.
At Rock Key, some of the coral fingers are in such shallow water that they break the surface at low tide. This little patch reef, which is really an extension of Eastern Dry Rock, grew up around a shipwreck dating back to the 1800’s, which was carrying tiles. The old ship is so overgrown that it is hard to find much more than tiles and ballast stones among all the sea fans and sponges that took it over, but there are some bits of hardware, chains, and other interesting artifacts nearby, which are from a second, unknown wreck that hit the reef some time later.
UFO seekers believe that Rock Key could have been hit by a UFO, due to a dish-shaped depression on the eastern edge of the key, at 15 feet. Nobody really knows what happened here!
Both reefs offer massive brain coral formations and heaps of other coral growth that make them perfect for underwater photography. They are teeming with fish and other marine life, like moray eels and stingrays, so be sure to bring your camera with you on this dive!
Eastern, Middle, and Western Sambo Reefs
The Western edge of Sambo Reef is marked with a red channel marker (#30), and a second red channel marker (#28) delineates its eastern end. There are plenty of mooring buoys here, plus several yellow buoys which mark sections of the reef as a Sanctuary Protection Area. Some portions of the reef are off-limits to recreational divers, and are marked with orange buoys as Ecological Reserve – Research Only areas. This extensive reef system is located a short five miles from Key West, so it is very easy to get to.
The entire reef is populated by blue tangs and very large blue parrotfish, plus lots of butterfly and angelfish, damsels, and other tropicals. The coral is magnificent, with stands of both elkhorn and staghorn coral, big sections of massive brain coral heads, and plenty of sea whips, sea fans, and other soft corals. Depths vary from very shallow to about 40 feet, and visibility here is excellent. The entire area is perfect for all divers to explore!
Ten Fathom Ledge
Located a little more than 11 miles southwest of Key West, Ten Fathom Ledge is not marked with a buoy, and if you want to dive here, you’ll need to go with an experienced charter. The ledge begins at 27 feet, and extends to a wall which leads all the way down to 115 feet. The area is in open water and is subject to a strong current, and the rich upwelling of nutrients here means that the fish life is absolutely astonishing. This is a great place to encounter larger sharks and rays, huge tarpon and barracuda, and some very big snappers. The wall and ledge area is home to lots of lobsters, and if you have a Florida saltwater fishing license with a lobster stamp, you can catch your own dinner here if you want to. Watch for huge schools of blue tang and parrotfish, plus lots of grunts.
Besides the fantastic life you’ll find at Ten Fathom Ledge, there are quite a few caves to explore plus the wreck of the All Alone, a tugboat sitting in 90 feet of water. There is also a small patch reef in the shallower area, which is called Kedge Ledge, and contains some 18th century anchors encrusted in coral. This site is not for the inexperienced, but it is very popular, so go on a weekday if you can. Be sure to carry a snack for the groupers – they’ll follow you around, waiting for a handout!
Ten Fathom Bar
Located 8 miles southwest of Key West and half a mile south of Sand Key lighthouse, Ten Fathom Bar offers depths from 25 to 130 feet, and is an absolutely spectacular dive with a wonderful wall that extends from the top of the reef at 25 feet, all the way to the bottom! This is one of the few places where Manta Rays are seen with some regularity, and divers usually see plenty of stingrays napping on the ocean floor. The deep water coral growth and huge barrel sponges, plus the rare black coral trees that grow in profusion here are incredible. Large sharks, barracuda, tarpon, jacks, and other big fish are commonly encountered here, as are smaller reef fish. There is often quite a bit of plankton growth here, which cuts visibility to between 30 and 50 feet, and there can also be a strong current, which makes the site unsuitable for novice divers.
Whether you decide to enlist the services of a liveaboard and spend an idyllic vacation wandering from Key West to the Dry Tortugas and back again, or if you choose to take day trips with one of Key West’s many capable dive operators, you’re certain to enjoy your visit!