Diving Molasses Reef and Pickles Reef

Dave and I head out diving again with a period of calm seas. We head to our favorite site -SW end of Molasses Reef. Visibility was good although there was a strong current. A small leak in my regulator hose shortened the dive a bit. Lots of barracuda patrolling the area. Also some grouper a sea cucumber and even a stone crab. Coral in this area is looking better every time we come out.

Click the link below to watch the YouTube video of the Molasses Reef dive.

2nd Dive - Pickles Reef - Pickle Barrel Wreck. Buoy#3

For our 2nd dive we decided to move to the Pickle Barrel Reef to avoid the current issues at Molasses. A better than usual experience there today. Some colorful tropical fish, some nurse sharks. Good views of the pickle barrel wreck in the shallows and a Balloonfish and some nice new stands of Elkhorn coral including a nursery.

Click the Link Below to watch a video of the Pickles Reef Dive

Key Largo Dry Rocks

Christ of the Abyss Statue

Elkhart Coral

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Since it was a calm day Dave and I decided to take the long 15 mile run NE to some reefs we seldom dive. 1st stop was Key Largo Dry Rocks., home of Christ of the Abyss Statue. The original statue of Jesus Christ is located in the Mediterranean Sea . A third bronze statue, from the original mold, was presented to the Underwater Society of America in New York in 1962, and shipped by boat to Chicago, where it was set up for unveiling in the ballroom of the Palmer House Hotel at the Underwater Society of America 1962 convention. On August 25, 1965, it was placed in approximately 25 feet (7.6 m) of water off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, near Dry Rocks, approximately six miles east of Key Largo in the National Marine Sanctuary, just outside of John Pennekamp State Park. The statue weighs around 260 kg, and the concrete base to which it is attached weighs approximately 9 tons. It is located a patch reef frequented by both divers and snorkelers. Visibility is usually not the greatest due to shallow water getting stirred up on windy days. There were some nice stands of Elkhorn Coral on this reef, which is becoming a rare sight.

Click the link below for a brief video of the dive.

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North Dry Rocks Dive -Nov 18, 2019

Great stand of healthy Elkhorn Coral

After diving Key Largo Dry Rocks and the Christ of the Abyss, we headed less than a half mile further north to North Dry Rocks, another shallow patch reef. We were surprised by the beautiful stands of Elkhorn Coral, an endangered species. We don’t see many of the larger pieces anymore, especially after hurricane Irma. I think it is one of the most beautiful species of coral.

Click the link below to watch a video of the dive.

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Diving French Reef - November 12, 2019

Dave and I did a couple of dives at French Reef today. Water temps are holding around 80 degrees. Although you do not see a lot of coral growth on this reef, the reef structure is interesting. There are are lots of swim throughs the coral heads and some need “caves” you can enter, as see in this video. SCUBA divers are allowed to enter caverns without Cave certification as long as they remain in sight of the exit at all times. Sand Cave seen in this video meets that criteria. It is a cool experience to see the streams of light coming through the roof of the cavern and your bubbles collecting on the ceiling.

Fall Keys Dive Trip with Bob Bauman. Sept 28-Oct 5th, 2019

Bob and my annual fall dive trip to my home in the Florida Keys did not get off to a great start. We arrived to find strong winds and heavy seas. Too much for me to launch my boat, so we checked with local dive charters and found it they were also not going out in these conditions. Winds were 20+ knots for the first 5 days fo our trip. The winds finally subsided to 17-19 knots on Thursday. Still too windy to bother launching my boat, but Conch Republic Divers was heading out. So we booked them for the mornings on Thursday and Friday on their big dive boat. Conditions were still not great, but at least we got 4 dives of an hour each over the two days before we had to return to Minnesota.

The boat ride out isn’t bad, it getting back into the boat that is the most difficult in rough water conditions as the ladder is plunging up and down with the large waves and you have to grab it at the right time and hold on tight and ride it back up the wave.

Thursday’s dives were at Pickles Reef (Pickle Barrel site) and then Snappers Ledge.

Molasses Reef Dive

Friday we again went out the the Conch Republic Diver. Winds had subsided down a little and the ride out to Molasses Reef was fine, however visibility was down and there was quite a bit of surge underwater. It is noticeable in my video - which is a combination of shots from both Bob and me.

Conch Reef Dive

Last dive of the day and trip was at Conch Reef. Not a lot to see there and visibility was again poor. Buts its alway nice to be in the water. Again I edited the video using shots from both Bob and me.


Diving Molasses Reef with Dave - Nov 3, 2019

Just arrived back in the Keys for the season on October 30th. After a couple of successful fishing trips, including the morning the November 3rd. I contacted Day to arrange an afternoon dive since the weather so so good and the water temps were still 81 degrees - meaning no wetsuits!

We explored the southwest edge of Molasses with good visibility and some nice coral growth. Nice Goliath Grouper, Green Turtle, Moray Eel and a sleeping Nurse Shark/

To view my YouTube video of the the dive by clicking below.


Fishing for Dolphin and Tuna October 31 2019

2 successful fishing ventures on the Conetagious with Dennis and Skip in Islamorada FL. Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) and Tuna and Snapper. We also caught a couple of sailfish, but have no photos as we are not allowed to bring them out of the water.

April 15, 2019 - Return to Alligator Reef

Dave and I both wanted to return to Alligator Reef before the season ended and we returned north. Although the weather was predicted to be great, it was a bit choppy for the long ride down. Few boats around so we picked our spot on the reef. Visibility was great and we encountered lots of eels again as well as large schools of fish - but not to the degree of our first trip. I did have a close encounter with a very large sea turtle. He eyed me warily and then seems to wave me off.

I also got a great video of a parrotfish doing a dance trying to shake off a remora.

The video of the overall dive can be found in the link below.

On our way back home, we stopped at a small patch reef with 1 mooring buoy. I do not know the name, but it was a decent reef with some nice coral, fish and a nurse shark. Visibility was a little stirred up - as it was shallow and exposed to the wind. Turned out to be a decent 2nd dive.