![\"At](\"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/709-1024x682.jpg\")
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If I had unlimited time and money I could spend as much time in the Keys as I wanted. But it is an expensive place to visit. Barely acceptable rooms cost nearly $200 per night in Key West. It\u2019s a bit more reasonable in Key Largo\u2026 especially if I book through \u201cRainbow Reef\u201d\u2026 but it\u2019s still not cheap. Finally I decided. I would on a few days in Key Largo before heading back to the Northernmost Caribbean.<\/p>\n
I was already in Miami so just like I figured, a little after noon I was in line for a 1 PM dive boat trip out to Molasses reef. I was once asked if I could only dive in one place in the world, what I would choose. For me Molasses reef would be it. It\u2019s a huge barrier reef just a few miles off shore from Key Largo.<\/p>\n
But I suppose choosing \u201cMolasses Reef\u201d is kinda cheating on my part. That\u2019s because \u201cMo\u201d, as the locals call it, is actually a collection of dive sites. With places with names like \u201cWench Hole\u201d, \u201cSpanish Anchor\u201d, \u201cFireCoralCave\u201d and \u201cHole in the Wall\u201d there\u2019s always plenty to see and explore. There are \u201cun-officially\u201d 10 dive spots at \u201cMo\u201d along with over 25 mooring buoys.<\/p>\n
For those that might just want to go snorkeling, there are just as many places on the inside part of Molasses Reef that are really good. There are also lots of other places in the area including several other reef areas and ship wrecks to explore. I won\u2019t try to describe them all here, but as you can see, it\u2019s not likely that you will ever run out of places to dive or snorkel<\/p>\n
The visibility\u2026 or \u201cvis\u201d\u2026 is almost always great anywhere around Key Largo. \u201cVis\u201d is the \u201choly grail\u201d for divers. For most places in the world, 30-40 ft \u201cvis\u201d would be a great day. In Key Largo that would be a bad day. This time was great as I expected\u2026 we had 60 \u2013 70 ft. \u201cvis.\u201d Just an average day for Key Largo.<\/p>\n
And the water was in the mid-eighties. I fully admit that when it comes to cold water, I\u2019m a wimp. I consider it to be winter-time diving any time the water is below 80 deg. F. And I won\u2019t dive if the temperature is much below 75\u2026 even then I wear a thicker wet-suit. Did I say\u2026 \u201cwimp\u201d. Warm waters are the reasons I dive in the Keys and the Caribbean. The pacific coast of the US is simply too cold for me all year round.<\/p>\n
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![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/594-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/dt>\n- The Tropical Adventure on the way to “Mo”.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
<\/p>\n
I arrived at the Rainbow Reef kiosk just in time to go out on the boat dive for two single tank dives in the afternoon. For the first dive we went to FireCoralCave. It\u2019s just what it sounds like\u2026 a cave with fire coral. Besides being a cave, this is also a swim through. You enter at one end and come out the other. But for this dive we couldn\u2019t swim through\u2026 it was occupied by a giant Grouper. This was a truly massive fish that must have weighed four or five hundred pounds. No\u2026 I\u2019m not making a silly exaggeration. It was really that big. Although the giant groupers don\u2019t seem aggressive toward divers, we didn\u2019t want to make him mad. Giant groupers are known to eat sharks. So we just let him have the cave.<\/p>\n
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![\"Although](\"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/PICT0367-1024x692.jpg\")
<\/dt>\n- Although it’s not a very good image, this is the giant grouper that occupied Fire Coral Cave. Look carefully to the left of the groupers mouth and you will see a sergeant major fish.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
<\/p>\n
For the second dive we moved over to Wench Hole. This has nothing to do with pirates or women or anything like that. Rather, a three masted wooden schooner, the Slobodana, sunk here in 1887. Today, what remains is a massive wench, some ballast, and a few gears. All around Wench Hole are huge coral heads which are home to zillions of marine life. I have been to Wench Hole a number of times and no matter what, I always see amazing stuff.<\/p>\n
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![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/PICT0384-1024x690.jpg\")
<\/dt>\n- The wench at “Wench Hole”.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
<\/p>\n
After the dive I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to my favorite tiki bar. It\u2019s actually the bar at the Holiday Inn swimming pool. The Holiday Inn in Key Largo has kind of a \u201cBogie and Bachal\u201d\u2026\u00a0 theme. The restaurant is called \u201cBogies Caf\u00e9\u201d and posters of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bachal adorn the walls. And of course the tiki bar is \u201cBogie\u2019s tiki bar\u201d.<\/p>\n
I sat down at the tiki bar and ordered my usual when in Key Largo\u2026 a Mexican Mojito. I\u2019m probably the only person in the world that orders that\u2026 tequila instead of rum\u2026 so the bar-tender immediately did a double take and then recognized me. He said it was good to see me and that it had been a long time. I said, \u201cyeah\u2026 way too long\u201d. I don\u2019t plan on it being that long ever again.<\/p>\n
I sat at the bar for a while chatting with some of the other people that had been diving with me. Most of us were going to go diving the next day and wanted to go to the Duane\u2026 an ex Coast Guard cutter sunk as an artificial reef. After a couple of Mexican Mojitos it was starting to get dark. I figured that I should go check in. It had been a really good day\u2026 warm weather, warm water, great diving, and new friends.<\/p>\n
Even though it was September, it was\u00a0a good day and\u00a0a great way to keep summer going.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I decided a trip to \u201cThe Keys\u201d was in order. I had not been there for nearly a year. OH THE HORROR OF IT ALL!!! So I figured that would be a perfect first step in keeping summer going past … Continue reading