Key West

I realize that I probably sound like a kindergarten girl returning home from her first field trip as I recount our snuba experience. It was so exciting for me that I guess I feel kind of like it was my first field trip.

On our second day at sea we were able dis-embark at Key West to do some diving. The water was very choppy that day so a lot of the groups cancelled their under-water excursions. We were lucky and got some pirate-like guides, they weren't about to let a little wind and waves cancel their plans. They took us to a shallow area that was more protected from the wind.

The boat ride to the dive area was an adventure in itself, as we were approaching the area and slowing down a bit, the "captain" pointed out a dolphin about 10 feet away from the boat! As I was trying to retrieve our camera from John's backpack it actually swam under the boat and disappeared into the water. So no evidence of this one, sorry.

Snuba is just like scuba diving except instead of carrying the air tanks on your back, they float on a little raft at the surface. Your breathing devices are attached to long hoses that connect you to your air supply, ours were about 20 feet long. At first it was a little uncomfortable, but we got accustomed to it quickly.

Our guide took us past some live sponges that we could touch, and we were able to see quite a few fish and coral. It was a bit disorienting under the water, so when a nurse shark (about 4 feet long) swam just a few feet away from John, he wasn't looking in the right direction. The rest of us saw it though. It freaked me out, even though our guide had told us before-hand that they weren't dangerous to humans. They feed mostly on lobsters and other bottom dwelling creatures. The last thing that I was able to see was a sting ray. It was just camped out on the ocean floor. I thought that it was dead, and being the scaredy-cat that I am, I wasn't about to make sure. When we all got back onto the boat our guide told us that he had actually seen two stingrays camped out on the bottom, and yes, they were alive.

We didn't get any underwater pictures, but here is an Internet picture of a nurse shark.

Afterwards, we were able to walk around Key West for a while, we bought some authentic Key lime pie, and we saw the REAL Sponge Bob. We couldn't resist getting our pictures taken with him. He looks happy doesn't he? So were we.