After our first day of snorkeling in the keys, we had to do it again. By the end, we were exhausted and a little sunburnt, but it was amazing. There were more unique fish I saw than I could count. One of my favorites was at our first stop, I saw a porcupine fish. It looked like a puffer fish with its round shape, it's little spike and small round fins. It wasn't inflated. I would never have expected to see that fish, but I did.
A few days later my husband and I traveled to Marathon key. It is a long key right in the middle of the Florida Keys and next to some of the best snorkeling spots in the keys. We decided last minute on a snorkel trip that would take us to the nearby Sombrero Reef. At first, we knew nothing about this reef, just that it was one of the most popular snorkeling spots around.
The next day we woke up early. This time we made sure to extra lather ourselves in sunscreen. The boat ride took us out on the bay side of Marathon key and went under 7-mile bridge towards the ocean side. The morning sun was beautiful reflecting on the water, but already hot. The sky was blue, hardly any clouds, the wind was gentle, a perfect day for snorkeling.
We soon approached the Sombrero Key Lighthouse, a famous lighthouse built before the Civil War. It's a cast iron structure that stands 142-feet-tall. Our boat was headed near the lighthouse to a protected patch of Sombrero Reef. Sombrero Reef, as our captain said, is over 200 miles long stretching along the keys and the 4th largest reef in the world, although it might be the 5th.
Our boat anchored about 200 feet from the lighthouse. The captain announced that there was a strong current so to swim from the back of the boat so the current can carry you back if you get tired. We jumped in the water ready to go but soon felt just how strong the current was. I looked down into the water. The water was about 30 feet deep and most of the coral lay in front of us; we had to swim against the current. At first, I barely got anywhere. I looked and I was still next to the boat after swimming for a minute. So, I used my legs and let my flippers carry me.
We approached the first coral patch. In front of it 30-feet below was a strip of sand. Allen saw a nurse shark on the bottom. I looked but it had already left. We swam farther and saw beautiful coral below us. Large rainbow parrot fish like we saw on our first snorkeling tour nibbled on the coral. The fish seemed unphased by the strong currents. Their little fins were perfectly attuned to navigating the water with ease.
On the other hand, I struggled to maneuver in the fast-moving water. Both mine and Allen's snorkel masks fogged within minutes. I struggled to tread water as I rinsed my mask in the salt water, but it still fogged again. Even in the fog, I saw many fish.
We let the water carry us back to the boat to defog our masks before setting out again. Back by the boat were schools of sergeant major fish and other fish, so close I could touch them. I quickly rinsed my mask and got back in the water. This time we swam out farther, swimming hard against the current. The water got shallower the closer we got to the lighthouse.
Allen swam ahead, but I didn't worry too much, I would catch up to him I just had to enjoy this. I swam along with the fish and savored the experience, this time calmer and more accustomed to the water, I swam along with sergeant major fish with their bright yellow and black stripes. I was in their world swimming along with them. Sure, maybe I didn't fully understand this alien world, but here I was experiencing it alongside them for a moment. I swished my flippers and felt the water rush along my arms, smooth and weightless.
Now we were in less than 10-foot deep water and I saw the coral and fish better than before. Long ravines separated the patches of coral. Fish were swimming all through them. I watched as yellowtail damselfish swam in and out of the coral, going about their business. The damselfish looks like a starry night. It has a dark blue body with white dots on it that shimmer.
There were schools of blue tangs and more kinds of fish than I could identify. We let the water carry us back to the boat again to defog our masks and rest a minute. We still had 20 minutes so we went back out one last time to enjoy the fish. This time over the first strip of sand near the boat I saw a big grouper fish on the bottom. He was about 3-feet long and white with black spots. This was the first grouper I ever saw. They are large fish and favorite food in Florida.
We swam further out again and near the top of the water, we saw a long skinny silver fish remaining still. It was a barracuda. A small one, but definitely a barracuda then we saw two more just 10 feet away. On other snorkel trips people had seen them, but this was my first time seeing one, it was a very cool fish.
We swam back to the boat and I stayed in the water a while longer watching a big school of yellow and silver fish swims past the boat. As I swam toward the boat my hand brushed something soft that I thought was a wrapper at first, I looked closer and it was a small jellyfish, I had bumped its back.
This snorkel trip was challenging with the currents but it was amazing with all the new things I saw. I was glad to have had another hour of swimming among the fish, enjoying their world with them. The next day we went on our snorkel excursion at a swimming hole.
