It’s been 3 months since we last posted! Where have we been??
Good question, we’ve actually been traveling more than expected since moving to Key West. Between Tiff traveling back to Fort Myers once a month for work, plus holiday family visits to Maryland, the in-between weeks of Fall we did have in Key West we were out making the most of them.
Let’s take it back to the end of August. We had a pretty epic dive trip we never got to share with you. It was our first dive trip on RumHaven since moving to the keys. Kyle, our mooring-field neighbor on “forty-two”, mentioned he was a dive instructor, and that he actually had family in town that he was certifying to dive. So, we invited them to come with us for their last open water dive checkout.
Our First Dive Trip on RumHaven
It was a beautiful morning, with just a small squall moving south of us in the distance. We pulled into the Margaritaville Resort & Marina, where “forty-two” was docked for a few days. With a concrete wall on one side of the marina entrance, a rusty steel wall on the other, plus the charter boats moving about and high-dollar yachts to avoid, the scene was a bit nerve-wracking, and I wasn’t even at the helm!
Luckily, Will has nerves of steel and didn’t let the challenge bother him. We pulled into the slip, loaded up eight more dives tanks, and four people’s worth of gear and headed for Sand Key, a shallow reef diving site about 6 miles from the shore. The ride out was a bit bumpy. The waves had increased to 4-foot breakers by the time we neared the mooring at Sand Key.
Riding The Bull
Kyle and I headed up to the bow to grab the mooring ball. And that was probably the first time I’ve ever been worried about being tossed into the water. It felt like I was riding a bull while trying to thread a needle. (As you can see in our video linked below).
Once attached, we notice just how much slamming our boat was doing. Will and I made the mistake of going into our bow stateroom to gather our gear, which immediately made us seasick. We honestly didn’t even want to do the dive after that but mustered up the stomach to gear up and get in.
Where’s the Boat?
The visibility wasn’t great with the waves stirring up the bottom, but we did see some cool fish on the reefs at Sand Key, including multi-colored parrotfish, hog-fish, barracuda, spiny-lobster, and yellow-tail galore.
The problem with reef diving when the water is so churned up is it’s hard to maintain your position to the boat. When we finally surfaced, we realized the boat was about 40 yards behind us, with Kyle on the bow signaling to make sure we were okay. After a long, tiring swim back to the boat, we packed up, and headed off to the second site.
Deep Water Dive
This site, what we think is called the Cayman Salvage Master on dive maps, is one of Kyle and Sass’s favorite wreck dives. Once we grabbed the mooring, Will and I noticed the change in watercolor to the royal navy blue, signaling to us that we were in deep water. We found out the wreck was 90feet below the surface, which was deeper than either of us had dove before.
Thankfully the waves had calmed down some, and we decided we’d just take our time getting down the mooring line to the wreck. Wow! Was all I could say about what turned out to be a beautiful wreck dive. The visibility was much better, of course, since we opted not to take the go-pro. It was a peaceful dive full of fun coral and fish to admire.
Two Nights In Luxury
As we packed up and headed back to the marina to drop off our guests. We were invited to keep our boat docked there overnight. Of course, we jumped at the chance to plug our boat into shore power and blast the air conditioners. It had been a hot summer in the mooring field, and this felt like luxury living!
We took advantage of being at the marina by equalizing our batteries, washing the boat, and having an AC repair man come refill our salon AC that had a slow leak. We even found time to dip in the pool, walk to nearby bars & restaurants, and sit back to watch the cruise ships leave at sunset.
You can see all this and more in our video below!
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