It’s been just over six months since the USS Vandenberg was sunk.  Our artificial reef is coming along nicely- not everything is stark white any more, but covered in growth at this point.  We were out snorkeling and freediving recently, and the vis was about 80 feet.  No current, and hardly any wind.  Perfect Key West snorkeling conditions!  Here are a few photos.

You can see the growth

 

Sometimes when it’s windy, it’s fun to head out in the boat to the Gulf side, or Back Country.  It’s different there, and snorkeling is just as much fun as out on the reef.  In these pictures you can see lobster, hogfish, red grouper, puffer fish, snapper, angel fish, spade fish and more.

 

Key West snorkeling is always great, but lately we had some clear water on the Gulf side.  We headed out to the back country to check it all out and voila, beautiful coral heads, fish, and nice calm waters.  Ahh, July in Key West!

 

You Can See Scuba Divers Below this Freediver

After all those months of anticipation for the Vandenberg sinking, we finally got to dive it last week. Freediving the Vandenberg is definitely the ultimate wreck experience for freedivers. When the vis is good, you can see the Vandenberg from the boat! That’s because the top decks, satellite dish, and almost all other parts of the ship are painted white. They’re not covered with growth yet, either. You can look down from the surface and see a barracuda outlined against the floor of the top deck.

In fact, barracuda seem to be the only major fish that have shown up yet, at least ones you can see while freediving the Vandenberg. The top deck is about sixty feet down. I can get down to 45 feet if I crunch my eardrums a little, which means it’s my limit for now. One guy we were with swam under a beam (no tanks, remember) but I’m not there yet!

The fun part was freediving down, tankless, and seeing scuba divers nearby with all their bubbles streaming out behind them, all that gear, oy! In some of the pictures below, you can see the scuba divers. The Vandenberg is exciting for everyone, including Key West scuba enthusiasts. But for me, freediving the Vandenberg was the ultimate experience. I can’t wait to go back.

Freediver Sitting on the Vandenberg Crane

The warm water here, and Key West snorkeling is really taking off. No longer do you need a wetsuit, the water is so warm. Just a stylish rashguard and shorts or bikini bottom will do…with lots of sunscreen on those uncovered parts! The water is finally calmer, and some days the ocean around Key West is like a lake. Don’t get me wrong- the winter cooling breezes are always a welcome part of any Key West snorkeling trip. But smooth water is excellent for snorkeling.

These pictures were taken today, and although conditions were excellent for snorkelers, the water was a bit green, making the vis a little bit compromised. But as you can see in the barracuda picture, taken at about 20 or 25 feet, you can still see bottom. This barracuda was following us, lurking, as it seems lots of barracuda do. They think all boats are fishing boats, which means wonderful bits of chum showering down for them to eat. Not this time! They get close, making picture taking fun and easy. But don’t worry, they are afraid of people, they won’t harm you.

 

Star Gazer is an underwater sculpture set on crystal white sand near the main reef.  It’s also an artificial reef,  since some coral has managed to latch on and grow.  There’s a nice Jew Fish (oh, sorry, Goliath Grouper), some very large Angel Fish, and lots of Mangroves.  Star Gazer is kind of surreal and surprising, since it’s obviously some sort of scupture with meaning.  It’s got something to do with stars and navigation, and I hear you can get a map to it, which shows certain elements you can hunt for, like a game.

Even without the chart, Star Gazer reef is fun to snorkel or dive.  It’s maybe 20 feet deep and clearly outlined against the white sand so even from the surface you can see the massive table-like steel shapes.  Look  for the  newest resident, the Goliath Grouper.  He’s really shy, so you can’t get too close to him.  He hasn’t figured out yet that Star Gazer isn’t very good cover for a huge monster like himself!

Star Gazer Reef is Full of Fish

Goliath Grouper Thinks He's Hiding

Bye Bye Jewfish

Yay, it’s a celebration!  It’s April 15, and taxes are done!  In Key West, we celebrate by heading out to the Nine Foot Stake and jumping in.  It’s a Key West snorkeling celebration.  The conditions were perfect for a pleasant day of snorkeling.  It’s only blowing 8 knots, and the water temperature, according to our local Key West dolphin tour guide, is a wonderful 82 degrees.  Lovely weather for a 3/2 wetsuit.  For spearos, not ideal conditions, as you can see below.  But everything is relative, and we spotted mackeral all over the Nine Foot Stake area.

Here are some vis report pictures.  One is taken from the surface, at about 30 feet depfth.  The next is taken halfway down.  The one with the diver in is at about 30 feet.  Very green.

Ten Fathom Bar is  very popular spot for scuba divers, but it’s great for Key West snorkeling too.  Especially if you can dive down.  The visibility is usually pretty good, and the shallow end of the Ten Fathom Bar is only about 35 feet deep.  If you can get down far enough on one long breath, or if you’re tank diving, look for all sorts of coral down there, plus of course fish.  Here’s a shot of some friendly bar jacks snapped on the Ten Fathom Bar.  These fish move around the reef a lot, and they are very curious so sometimes you’ll have them swimming right up to you.  The occassional bar jack will just come at you head on to check you out but don’t worry, no injuries from a head-on collision have ever been recorded in Key West waters.

Bar Jacks on the Ten Fathom Bar