Christ of the Deep at Dry Rocks-Key Largo Reef Pics

[aquavista99]

 We visited several reefs off Key Largo on Monday, including Dry Rocks and Christ of the Deep. We saw a large adult bull shark on the first dive.



 

[aquavista99]

[aquavista99]

[aquavista99]

[MechanicalEngineer]

Too cool!

[Riderc82]

I can't wait till September when I go to Hawaii      looks like you enjoyed yourself.

[verper]

Nice pics.  Glad to see that some of the doom and gloom about dying reefs is false.  That looks alot like it did when I dove it back in the '80s.

[aquavista99]

I can't wait till September when I go to Hawaii      looks like you enjoyed yourself.

Hawaii is great for tropical fish.......lots of colorful tangs, butterflyfish, wrasses and the famous "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a Lagoon Triggerfish!"  Not kidding about the name of the trigger :-)

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Humuhumunukunukuapua'a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

[aquavista99]

Nice pics.  Glad to see that some of the doom and gloom about dying reefs is false.  That looks alot like it did when I dove it back in the '80s.

The reefs are very healthy. The Miami Herald ran a story last week about how Dry Tortugas (near Key West) was bouncing back after the major hurricanes a few years ago as well. The Florida Keys is the third largest reef system on the planet and each reef is a little different from the next.

[ohioreef]

Makes me want to go so bad!!!

[aquavista99]

Makes me want to go so bad!!!

You should book a trip. A host of eco-tourism and dive-snorkel services and accommodations are available throughout the Keys. The reefs start as far North as West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale and continue through the Keys and Dry Tortugas. You can even dive straight from the beach at Lauderdale By The Sea (just North of Ft. Lauderdale) and visit corals reefs 100 yards from shore. I posted some pictures last year on Ohio Reef from Dry Tortugas as well.

[aquavista99]

The Christ of the Deep Statue made the cover of this month's edition of Scuba Diving magazine. The dive is in only 25 feet of water.  The 8 1/2 foot, 4,000 pound bronze sculpture of Jesus Christ was designed and cast by Italian sculptor Guido Galletti and was donated by an Italian dive equipment manufacturer to the Underwater Society of America in 1961. It is located near Dry Rocks, about six miles east-northeast of the Key Largo Cut, in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.  I attached a few more pictures of the statue below as well.

[ohioreef]

I just need to learn to scuba dive!!

[aquavista99]

I just need to learn to scuba dive!!

If you can swim, you can see the reefs without scuba diving. Most of the dive boats offer snorkel and snuba trips as well. The majority of barrier reefs that surround the Florida Keys are in 30 feet of water or less so being scuba certified is not necessary at all. And if you can't swim, they offer glass bottom boat trips over some of the reefs as well.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

I've only ever gotten to scuba dive in fresh water! I want to go reef diving so bad it almost hurts. I'd never heard of this but I'm definitely making this a destination.

Also, anyone who's worried about SCUBA certification should know that I can barely swim 100 yards yet SCUBA feels almost as natural for me as biking around the block.

[ohioreef]

Any good SCUBA schools in this area?

[xXTheWendigoXx]

I went through the Southern Ohio Diving Association (SODA). They're located in Kettering across the street from The Greene.

[Midwest Express]

I went through SODA as well.

[Amstar]

I did as well.  Jim is a class guy.  I took the class at sinclair and got college credit for it.  double bonus. 

[Midwest Express]

The first time I took it was at Wright State.  I got a sinus infection and couldn't take the open water.  I was bummed.  I went back a couple years later and told them my story and they let me take the weekend class.  I missed my open water again due to weather and travel.  A year later... aka this year... they said if I had the time I could just come in... hit the pool for a refresher and then do the open water... no class.  To me that is awesome.  Willing to work with someone over a period of 7 years to get their cert!  I of course as the trend goes... didn't get it again this year cause with my job come travel.  Actually headed to Wash DC this weekend.  Just not in the cards for me to get my diving cert. 

SODA is a great place to go! No doubt!