Snorkeling at Western Dry Rocks and Sand Key Lighthouse

Today was truly a highlight of the trip. After breakfast at the famous Pepe's, we decided to take the sailboat out to go snorkeling at the reef. The first stop was Western Dry Rocks, just a few miles west of Sand Key Lighthouse. The water was perfectly clear and it was a beautiful day for snorkeling. We spent about 90 minutes snorkeling around the reef and enjoying the afternoon. We saw some huge tarpon in schools, as well as some of the most beautiful parrot fish. After exploring, we decided to scoot over a few miles toward the lighthouse, and we picked up a mooring over at Sand Key Lighthouse. We spent another hour or so snorkeling there, where we saw a huge stingray as well as a pretty decent size nurse shark. Again, the tarpon were plentiful and very large, as were the parrotfish, king angels and countless other varieties. Another great day. When we get home, I'll load some photos because the kids had their underwater cameras, so we can't wait to see what kind of treasures they were able to capture!

We got back to the dock around 6 and we're headed out to dinner shortly, probably to the old Irish Pub....no, not Irish Kevins....we do have kids with us, so maybe next time!

Tomorrow, we're going to try our hand at a little sport fishing with Mr. Z, although Pam and Caroline may stay back and hit the spa for a peddicure instead. We'll see how that goes!

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Part of trip: Cooper Annual Sailing Vacation - 2009

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