My FL Keys vacation!

So my now fiance's mother decided to treat herself to an early 50th birthday present by renting out two condos for the entire family to spend a week on Marathon Island in the Keys. It was an amazing beach front condo and we spent the first day just lounging on the beach. We also took a trip to Key West, which I will say I was pretty disappointed with. The snorkeling trip to Sombrero Reef however was amazing. There were hundreds of fish, a stingray, and a massive 6ft barracuda that was hovering underneath the boat and would stare at you as you climbed up or down the ladder on the boat, slightly unnerving. We also spent an evening touring a sea turtle hospital which was pretty cool. The center is on the cutting edge of developing a cure for a turtle disease that causes tumors to grow all over their body. Well w/o jabbering on any further, I'll just let the pics speak for themselves.

The resort:




Key West docks:








The resort at night:


Turtle hospital resident:


Nickname "Nascar", a boat injury has left this poor guy with a permanent disability that causes him to only be able to swim in circles to the left.


Snorkeling photos:

 

Nice! We have some family friends that have two homes in Marathon Key so we spend a decent amount of time down there. A beautiful place. Good snorkeling too. Did you go to any reef in specific?

 

Great shots, thanks for sharing!
Love the sunsets.

 

Yeah, we went to Sombrero Reef.

 

I love Sombrero reef. Haha. Small world. Did you see the resident green moray or hammerhead? Sharks kinda pass through the area but there is a massive green moray that posts out in a rock pile dead center in the reef.

 

Thanks for sharing. I'd like to see that for myself someday.

 

Ah man, no, I didn't see either one of those guys. The hammerhead would've been awesome to see.

 

I was really suprised to see it. The friend I was with visits the reef often and told me how he swam with it whenever he dove or snorkeled there. Its really docile apparently. I didnt believe him until I saw it. He was super chill, atleast six feet long too. The locals call him Bob. lol

 

Just curious why you were disappointed in Key West? We always take a ride down there when we visit Key Largo and love it.

 

I was expecting something with decent beaches and at least good Key Lime pie. Although, the restaurant we ate it was really good. I'm sure the high temperatures and ton of road construction didn't help my overall impression either.