Back                                                My early trips to the Florida Keys (The first)

My first trip to the Florida Keys was in 1963. I had taken up SCUBA diving with a friend (Ron Mercantini) and we had been diving in local quarries and inlets in the Trenton, N.J. area and along the Jersey Shore. Well the visibility in the inlets was poor and the quarries got boring after awhile, so it was off to paradise.

We drove down to Islamorada, just south of Key Largo in one of the most beautiful island chains in the world, the Florida Keys. We chose to stay in a small fishing and diving camp called Cape Cod South on the south side of Snake Creek on the northern edge of Islamorada. The owner of the camp was a great young guy who while flying back from Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba saw the islands pass below him and fell in love. His father owned and operated a charter fishing boat in Cape Cod, (hence the name Cape Cod South.)

The camp was more then a camp, though not much. There were a couple of rooms, a boat dock and bate house, but best of all he had a compressor and filled SCUBA tanks. He also rented a small fleet of fishing and diving boats. We were in heaven.

Treasure, Spanish Treasure. The Keys were and are known to be one of the largest graveyards of Spanish treasure galleons. (Throughout the history of the Spanish conquest of the new world many ships and fleets of ships were lost to the reefs of the Florida Keys. Ships would leave Cuba after filling their holds with treasure and other merchandise and head north. Keeping the Keys off their port side they would follow the coast north till they hit Bermuda then catch the Westerlies back to Europe. Many of these ships were lost to storms or Pirates.)

Spain decided that, instead of the ships attempting the trip back to Spain on their own, it would be safer if they traveled in a fleet with a warship in the front of the fleet and another one bringing up the rear and the famous treasure fleets were born. Over the years a few of the fleets were lost when they ran into hurricanes and were blown over the shallow reefs that protect the Keys.

I had Gold doubloons and pieces of eight bouncing around in my head as we rented a room.

The next morning we wondered down to the bait house and rented a boat. After getting directions to Alligator and Hen & Chickens reefs and the Spanish wrecks the Chavez and the San Jose (Which at that time was in the flats not far from Conch and little conch reefs. It has since been moved to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park) we took off on our first adventure.

Our first dive was on the Chavez (Which had sunk in 1733 along with 16 other ships of the 22 in the Plate Fleet.) The fleet was driven westward by a hurricane and scattered along the Florida Keys. The Chaves lays off Snake Creek in ten feet of murky water and the dive was very disappointing. With our first treasure ship behind us we headed for open water and our adventure.

The first reef we hit was Alligator reef. We spent an hour or so snorkeling on this mostly shallow reef. We did find a few beautiful wide lipped Queen Conch and a few flamingo tongues but all in all, other then the clarity of the water, it was also a disappointment. (We had been looking for a deeper dive.) So we headed for Hen and Chickens reef. Mistake, It was even shallower, Oh it was beautiful but like I said we wanted depth. Our first day over we headed back to shore. On our way back I got in the water and, holding onto a ski rope, had Ron tow me slowly over the sand flats. Looking down at the bottom, through my mask, I looked for unusual features on the sea floor. I had been told that I could find shells in that manner and I did. By the time we reached the dock We had several King Helmet Shells. The only problem was that Ron had found a beautiful (Not for him) sun burn. I mean he glowed a lovely bright pink. The burn was mostly on his back as we had been snorkeling most of the day so his back was facing the sun. He spent the rest of the day and all night sitting in our room with his back against the air conditioner. (He did have the comfort of a slice of Aloe Cactus which I gently rubbed over his back.) I went out to dinner myself that night. Ron? He went hungry. He said he didn't feel like eating anyway.

The next day I spent snorkeling along the shore and did a little fishing. It wasn't till the following day that Ron was up to going back out. (He dove with a tee-shirt on the rest of our stay.)

On our next trip out we found what we were looking for, fantastic diving. Not only did we find a beautiful deep reef (Conch Reef) but we found lobsters. We dove on Conch reef till our tanks ran out, picking up a couple of lobster, then snorkeled on Little Conch Reef and gathered more lobsters and a few shells and headed in for lunch and to fill our tanks.

After lunch we headed back out. We followed the directions that our host gave us and found the San Jose. It lay on the bottom in sixty feet of water. We tossed the anchor and I donned my mask and snorkel and jumped in, to get the lay of the land, so to speak. Bad news, about 15 or 20 feet below me was a Green sea turtle. He was swimming over the wreck and I wanted to ride him but knew I wouldn't get a long ride while holding my breath, so I got back in the boat and put on my tanks and went back to find and ride my turtle but my turtle was gone.

By the time I gave up looking for my turtle Ron was in the water and down we went to the San Jose. The wreck was in beautiful condition. (It had been buried under the sand for almost two hundred years before it was discovered and worked.) We searched the bottom hoping to find a doubloon or piece of eight but all I found were cannon balls which were to heavy to bring up as they were rusted together and a small piece of broken china that came from China under the Ming dynasty. No treasure, I was heartbroken.

Later that week I speared a large green moray eel while gathering lobster. We had been told that lobster's eyes were attached to their antenna and if one antenna was pointing at you but the other one was pointing back behind them they were probably watching you and a moray eel at the same time and you better be careful. Well I found that lobster with his antenna pointing in two directions and spotted the eel. After I shot the eel he commenced to bend the shaft of my spear into a pretzel and I couldn't get him out of the rocks he was in. I had to go back to the boat for another spear gun. I went back and finished him off. Today I feel bad that I killed him for no reason other then sport.

Our vacation went way to fast. We dove almost every day and gathered quite a few lobster, and a lot of shells, including a beautiful Triton's Trumpet that I still have. We had no way of cooking the lobster so we gave them to our host, who at the end of our stay threw a fish fry and invited many of our new friends. A goodbye party.

We ate and drank and partied and felt sad that we had to leave some of the nicest people and most beautiful islands we had until that time ever seen.

The Keys have changed since those lovely days when they were still new and undiscovered. When you could go out to eat in a restaurant and chose your table, when every once in awhile a car could be seen driving down U.S. Route 1 toward the Southern Keys and Key West and people would notice but even though they are now teeming with resorts; motels, restaurants, traffic and people, they are still beautiful. So take a drive and head south. Drive till you can drive no further then turn around and very slowly (Stopping along the way) drive back up till you reach the mainland. Who knows you may never make it, you just might stay in paradise.