Snorkeling in the Keys

Long ago and far away our friends asked their daughter if she wanted to take a family trip to Disney World to celebrate her graduation. She sighed and said that she wasn't sure. Later, half in jest, I suggested that what she would really enjoy was a trip to the Keys to learn to snorkel. Immediately she perked up and said that that sounded like fun. And a plan was born.

In the Keys the best snorkeling is several miles offshore. On two different afternoons we took an afternoon cruise out to several different reefs.

We started our excursions with an unglamorous lunch in the parking lot.

Some were happy about this

And some were not.

We had plenty of time on the 45 minute boat ride to put on sunscreen, eat snacks, and (in Alisyn's case) get a little seasick.

Later we got our gear.


The ocean was just beautiful and the sun was nice and hot. I hid in the boat most of the time (my skin is actually not very sun-friendly) but the kids all enjoyed sitting up front.

Elise had a "Titanic" moment.


After snorkeling we all wanted to dry off and get warm.

I am always happiest when there are still mask marks on my face.

Underwater cameras are very seductive. (Disposable ones, that is--I know that there are expensive underwater setups that work very well.) The things you see while you're snorkeling are so beautiful and you just want to take pictures of them to save the memories. Then you get the film back and nothing looks nearly as good as you remember it--everything is farther away and often a little blurry. When Russ & I were in Maui we skipped the underwater cameras--though I would have loved to have filmed him swimming with the turtles!

We got a camera both times we went snorkeling in the keys. Not so much to take pictures of the fish, though we did some of that too, but to take pictures of our kids. I love looking at these pictures, because it reminds me of how quickly our kids got the hang of snorkeling (lots of pool practice helped there) and how much fun they had. They were diving around like pros!

The last stop of the snorkeling cruse was by a reef containing a statue of....Jesus. Yep. Jesus. Someone put a statue of Jesus on the bottom of the ocean. I think it's called "Christ of the Abyss." It was interesting to see, but better than seeing it was hearing my kids talk about it.

"Mom, take me to Jesus!"

"Come on Mama, I want to go to Jesus!"

"Mom, I've seen Jesus!"

Maybe you had to be there...but it was very funny at the time!

I loved going snorkeling with my kids. It was a lot more work than just going with Russ, but I loved sharing the wonders of the ocean that I love with them.

Thank you Erin for choosing the Keys!