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hcs3
03/08/2002, 12:50 AM
considering a trip to john pennekamp this upcoming jan/feb. will be a week or 10 day vacation. it will be our second (read: cheap) vacation for 2003.

my wife and i are avid campers, so that seems to fit. any info on the campground?

we are also registered divers, with our own equipment, so diving and snorkeling is a must. actually, it is the only reason i'm considering going there.

we will be towing our own boat from illinois. traveling a distance on the water won't be a problem as our boat clips around 55 - 60mpgh.

is this a good dive place? or too touristy? any places better to consider?

there seems to be a plethora of info for the reefs around pennekamp. is this hype, or are the reefs really as good as the advertisments say they are?

TIA

henry

luminary
03/08/2002, 09:40 AM
I've only been down there on one weekend trip, so treat accordingly...

Most of my diving was done off of Palm Beach. I found Pennekamp to be exactly like that, only the reefs were in MUCH better condition. It's amazing what a few laws can do.

The diving was excellent. Crystal clear water, lots of nice, vibrant creatures. My only gripe would be that it was definitely touristy. We did our diving off a charter boat. The boat wasn't bad at all but the sites were definitely crowded. When we did the Christ of the Deep, there were probably 15 charters within about 500 yards of each other.

Since you're bringing your own ride, I would try and stay away from the more "mainstream" reefs. You should be able to find reefs that aren't normal charter stops and have some great diving.

One thing I might add...Don't even consider trying to sneak around and collect anything, even a pretty empty shell. On both of the trips our charter was stopped by the marine patrol. For no reason, just a random spot check. Don't risk it...

hcs3
03/11/2002, 01:16 AM
thanks for the reply luminary

have you dove anywhere else in the keys? i'm open to other options. looking for a nice campground with great boating, snorkeling, and diving opportunities.

i wouldn't think of taking anything from the reef, but thanks for the heads up.

henry

gregt
03/11/2002, 06:21 AM
Henry,

The diving from there all the way down the keys is pretty much the same. Like luminary says, the biggest problem you'll have is finding a spot where there aren't 20 other boats. Pick up some charts, they'll tell you exactly where to go.

Personally, I've found that the further down you go, the less divers there are, but that just may be coincidence. I usually stick around the Key Largo area. I must say I enjoyed the reefs we went to in Marathon better.

It's really not that difficult to move around, you could always try different sites further down if you aren't happy with Pennekamp.

hcs3
03/11/2002, 11:07 AM
hi greg

thanks for the info.

i figured if you got a bit away from pennekamp that it might have less divers. it seems like pennekamp is advertised the heaviest of all the sites down there, and therefore i have assumed it would be the tourist trap.

do you know anything about the quality of campgrounds down there? i seem to be having trouble locating one where campfires and alcohol are allowed...

henry

ic_spotz
03/14/2002, 09:33 AM
I do a lot of diving in the Keys. I have never been to Pennekamp though. Since you're bringing your own boat spend the $20 and get a real chart and look for things that look 'reefy'. There's one chart for the upper Keys and another one for the lower Keys to the Dry Tortugas. You can find fairly shallow reefs several miles offshore. Every time I've gotten in the water down there I've been pleased. Even when the conditions weren't perfect the dives were great. Alligator Reef is another protected area further down the keys...around Mile Marker 80 or so. It's incredible! If you go down and park yourself on the sand for a few minutes all kinds of critters appear out of the rocks. It's absolutely beautiful. Tenesee Reef too is nice. There are many wrecks to dive too. They're supposed to be sinking a huge (500+ feet) ex-Navy ship called the Speigle Grove sometime this spring. It's going to be in 125 feet of water with the top of the superstructure at 40 feet. If I find out when that's happening I'll post it...

Enjoy your trip...

Scott

Unresistible Blue
03/17/2002, 08:45 AM
My favorite memories of a half-dozen dive trips to the Keys is Sombrero Reef. Its 8 miles off Vaca Key (Marathon) in the Middle Keys.

But I have to say - I dove the Keys in the early and mid 80's and went back down a couple years ago - either my memory really exaggerated the beauty, or the reefs look nothing like they did "way back when"...

I dove Bonaire 2 years ago - WOW!! Great reefs, and the access was all from shore. No cattle boats!

Unresistible Blue
03/17/2002, 08:52 AM
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