From the June, 2008 issue of Scuba Diving Magazine. Hungry for fishy reefs and interesting wrecks? Bring your appetite to the Conch Republic.

Never, ever, have I liked the paparazzi.

Stalking celebrities outside their homes and then pouncing on them with rapid-fire camera strobes makes me blanch. So what exactly am I doing seconds after giant-striding into Fire Coral Cave off of Key Largo, Fla., swimming alongside a luminary and snapping as many photos as I can?

Being a happy hypocrite. Seriously. When you're in the Florida Keys and suddenly find yourself mere feet away from a colorful, slow-moving goliath grouper the size of a 1947 De Soto coupe, your instinct is to, well ... pounce. And here in the blue waters of Molasses Reef, the goliath grouper is the biggest A-list celebrity a camera-carrying diver could hope for. After teetering on the brink of extinction in the late 1980s as a result of commercial fishing, the massive fish are staging a comeback in the Florida Keys, thanks to the protections offered by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

"You see them on most dives now, especially on wrecks," says Bob Holston, who represents dive operators on the Sanctuary's Advisory Council. "We're also seeing the more juvenile ones coming back pretty strong. They're amazing to watch."

So are the schools of amberjacks, porkfish and grunts I witnessed earlier on the USCGC Duane, one of the Keys' classic wreck dives. In fact, after more than 15 years of sanctuary protection, dive operators say many of the best-loved dive sites in the Keys--reef and wreck--are fishier than ever. I can only smile in anticipation of what lies ahead on my weeklong trek through the islands the locals call the Conch Republic--a fresh and hearty helping of fish 'n' ships.

Key Largo

You know you've entered a serious dive town when a scuba superstore is the first building you see after the city limit sign. Key Largo claims to be the "Diving Capital of the World," and there's no better initiation to Florida Keys wreck diving than exploring its most famous site--the USS Spiegel Grove, a former U.S. Navy landing ship transport that is one of the world's largest purposely sunk wrecks. As the hulking vessel comes into view, the main deck looks as long as a football field, maybe two, only the "turf" is green lobed star corals and assorted whips and fans. There are eight mooring buoys on the wreck, and the one I'm following lands us near the wheelhouse. Shining a light inside reveals walls coated with circular orange cup corals so thick they appear to be serving as insulation. After peering through an open door, I look up and find myself locking eyes with a curious, solitary barracuda. Then, as I'm swimming from the wheelhouse toward the bow, at 95 feet, something else catches my eye: an American flag on the bow, so caked in silt its stripes are barely visible. It's stiffly--and barely--swaying in the mild current flowing across the staggeringly big wreck.

It's a far different experience on another, smaller Key Largo wreck, the Benwood. Its remains are scattered across the seafloor, like the skeletal bones of a brontosaurus, with a maximum depth of just 40 feet, but the fish life is no less intense. Schooling porkfish are everywhere, as are midnight blue parrotfish. Inside one of the ship's hatches, a school of bigeyes swims in a repetitive, circular pattern around a solitary highhat, which appears to be caught up in the confusion. Diving both the Benwood and the Spiegel Grove in the same day not only provides a great contrast, but also serves to whet my appetite for another classic Keys wreck, the Duane. The former Coast Guard cutter sits upright and intact, sporting two decades of marine growth. From the wheelhouse, I stop to look up toward the radar tower, where a school of grunts is swirling around its base, dramatically backlit by the Florida sun. When I look back at the tower minutes later, a school of silver amberjacks is aggressively chasing away the grunts, leaving a solitary barracuda standing guard at the tower's peak.

Such cat-and-mouse games play out 24/7 on the reefs of Key Largo too. They are a paradise for fish ID geeks, swim-through lovers, newbies and experienced divers looking to chill out and offload some nitrogen after deeper wreck dives. Joe Angelo, manager of Ocean Divers in Key Largo, says the area has about 75 named reef sites, most with classic spur-and-groove topography--coral ledges separated by sand channels. By its self-explanatory name alone, Snapper Ledge conveys both the marine life and topography found there, but the presence of octopus, Pederson cleaner shrimp and arrow crabs provides divers with nice surprises. At Coral Canyons, if you carefully explore the ledges, you may see moray eels, while the sandy environs of Spanish Anchor are home to southern stingrays. With depths averaging between 25 and 30 feet, the reefs of Key Largo are also popular with snorkelers, as is the world-famous Christ of the Deep statue, a gift given by Italian dive equipment manufacturer, Egidi Cressi.

Islamorada & Tavernier

This link in the Keys chain is mere minutes by car from Key Largo, yet is recognized as a distinct dive region in its own right. Its drawing cards are Davis Reef, Crocker Reef and the spectacular wreck, the Eagle, a 287-foot freighter. She was originally sunk in 1985, but in 1998, Hurricane Georges actually did divers a favor by ripping the ship into two pieces, creating an impressive chasm and making the wreck easily navigable. Visibility on the Eagle is exceptionally clear and even as we're still descending, I spot the resident turtle that has made the ship's smokestack its home. Though dropping down to a max depth of 111 feet doesn't allow for much bottom time, there's plenty to see here, from schools of bar jacks and sergeant majors to angelfish of every stripe.

Our guide, Jason Schwenke of Florida Keys Dive Center, has a special treat in store for our second dive of the morning--a "secret" site he's dying to show off. It's located between Davis and Crocker reefs, so he and the crew colloquially call it Davey Crocker, though it's more commonly known as Pleasure Reef. "If you don't see a nurse shark or a moray eel here," Schwenke says, "you're diving with your eyes closed."

He's right. Almost immediately, we're swimming toward a ledge where a group of nurse sharks, including one 7-footer, is camped out. We don't spot morays, but seeing the diamond-shaped scrawled filefish--a creature whose big eyes, protruding lips and neon-purple spots make it look like an extraterrestrial refugee from the classic Star Wars Mos Eisley cantina scene--more than makes up for it.

Marathon

Divers flock here--the second-largest city in the Keys--for a wreck appropriately named the Thunderbolt. It's a former U.S. Army cable vessel, later acquired by the Florida Light and Power Company and used to measure the impact of lightning strikes. She was sunk 22 years ago and is fully intact. Silversides abound, as do the jacks and barracuda that stalk them. Occasionally strong currents can make this dive an iffy proposition on off days, so it's best to check the dive forecasts and allow for a couple of days in Marathon to do a Thunderbolt dive. Another must-see Marathon dive is Samantha's Reef. At just 15 to 35 feet, you have lots of bottom time to spend chasing nurse sharks, schools of Bermuda chubs and dense packs of grunts.

Lower Keys

Following U.S. 1 southwest, you'll pass Bahia Honda State Park and arrive at Big Pine Key. That's the base for dive operators running trips out to sites at Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area and to the Adolphus Busch Sr. wreck, a 210-foot freighter purposely sunk a decade ago. The ship remains intact and upright with a maximum depth of 120 feet and a resident goliath grouper--rumored to weigh nearly 250 pounds--captaining the ship from the wheelhouse at 80 feet. What has my attention, however, is the Looe Key reef system, which was first set aside as a marine reserve more than 25 years ago, long before the creation of the larger Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. As a result of this long-standing protection, dive guides say you can expect to see more barrel sponges, elkhorn corals and brain corals here than on other Keys reefs. The Looe Key Reef system encompasses nearly 50 mooring buoys and sites are known by buoy numbers, rather than names.

We dive on the reef's west end, near Buoy 22 in an area local dive pros call "Shark Alley," because of frequent nurse and black-tip shark sightings. Dive pros also highly recommend this area because of the presence of goliath groupers, big brain corals and star corals. They also like Buoy 14, a mix of soft and hard corals, where juvenile snappers, grunts, barracudas and groupers swim free.

Key West

If wrecks are your passion, this little island is sure to top your "must-dive" list as it prepares to be the home of the USAFS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg. This 520-foot wreck, scheduled for a May sinking off Key West, would become the Keys' largest--she's 10 feet longer than the current champ, Spiegel Grove--and one of the largest artificial reefs anywhere. (For sinking updates, visit scubadiving.com/vandenberg). If everything goes according to plan, divers of all levels could access the wreck, from Open Water students doing checkout dives on the Vandenberg's helicopter deck at 45 feet, to intermediate and advanced divers swimming through her compartments and cabins on the main deck at 70 feet, to technical divers exploring even deeper. "It's going to change things drastically," says Bob Holston, of Dive Key West. "Now we'll have an 800-pound gorilla in our backyard."

But before the King Kong of wrecks hits the ocean floor, I'm making the most of my last dive of this trip on a site called the Haystacks, a collection of mountainous star coral formations in Western Sambo Reef. Doing my best impression of a pinball, I'm zigzagging from one emerald mound to the other, admiring schools of black-and-white-striped highhats and dark blue midnight parrotfish, and dropping down under ledges to visit the local lobsters. Above one pint-sized pinnacle, I'm soaring with a southern stingray and on another a turtle swims by, flapping its arms as if waving goodbye. Maybe it's some good karma being sent my way for something I did--or, rather didn't do--at the outset of this dive. When I first hit the bottom there was this large black grouper. My eyes widen as I reach for the camera to begin my pursuit, but then I pause, thinking of that goliath at the start of the trip. Somehow I resist the urge to pounce.

This one I'll leave to other piscine paparazzi.

Dive Site Sampler

Key Largo

USS Spiegel Grove
This mammoth ship, sitting upright at a depth of about 125 feet, merits many dives to fully appreciate. The coral-covered main deck is a great place to start, where tropical fish are on patrol. There are swim-throughs on the upper deck.

Benwood
The World War II ship's remnants appear strewn about, as if the vessel were once a Matzoh cracker, then broken apart by a giant's hands. This fun, shallow dive has groupers, barracudas and, if you look carefully, morays and crabs.

USCGC Duane
Its props bottom out at 130 feet, but you don't have to go deeper than 90 to get an eyeful. The wheelhouse, at 65 feet, is insulated with orange cup corals--use a dive light to fully see the color. Schools of jacks and grunts hold court under the radar tower.

Fire Coral Cave (Molasses Reef)
A swim-through lover's delight, with nice arches and plenty of life, from goliath groupers and Atlantic spadefish to nurse sharks and barracudas. Schools of yellowtails and sergeant majors appear to square off against each other here, combing the reef for nutrients.

Coral Canyons (Molasses Reef)
Beauties (abundant French and queen angelfish) and beasts (curious barracudas) dominate this site. If you're lucky, you'll find a moray eel or two.

Spanish Anchor (Molasses Reef)
Southern stingrays love the sandy plains here and morays like the crevices under coral heads. Schools of tropical fish are standard. Venture toward the blue and you may catch sight of a spotted eagle ray.

Christ Of The Deep
The dive is in only 25 feet of water and the landmark is a statue of Jesus Christ made in Italy and donated to the Underwater Society of America by Italian dive equipment magnate, Egidi Cressi.

Snapper Ledge
Another essential fish ID spot, only 30 feet deep. In addition to all the tropical "usual suspects," divers occasionally find octopus and arrow crabs. With the presence of corkscrew anemone, that means Pederson cleaner shrimp.

Elbow Reef
It's the home of three popular wrecks in shallow water, the Towanda, Mike's Wreck and the City of Washington. Barracudas, nurse sharks and morays all frequent the remains of the vessels, and turtles and jacks can also be found. Visibility here is often stellar.

Islamorada & Tavernier

Eagle
Hurricane Georges snapped this wreck in half years back, creating an impressive chasm and simplifying navigation. You'll wear out your fish ID chart here--there's even a solitary turtle that has made the smokestack its home.

Pleasure Reef
The secret's now out about this newly discovered little gem, nestled between Davis and Crocker reefs. The ledges are nurse shark central. Schools of grunts are all around, as are occasional oddballs like the scrawled filefish.

Davis Reef
Schools of grunts and porkfish use the ledges to shelter themselves from predators and morays and nurse sharks also hang out. Sergeant majors guard their eggs in the nests they've assembled.

Conch Wall
Diving here starts at a shallow 15 feet, then drops to 90 at a sandy bottom, making it one of the region's deeper dives. The site derives its name from the presence of queen conch, but what's unusual here is the quantity of barrel sponges.

Marathon

Thunderbolt
Occasional strong currents and the 115-foot depth make this an adventure best suited to advanced divers. The attraction is the remnants of a research ship whose sole purpose was to be a magnet for lightning strikes. Ouch!

Samantha's Reef
Nurse sharks are plentiful here, as are schools of grunts and Bermuda chub. It's another chill-out dive site hit with beginners and veterans.

Lower Keys

Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area (Buoy No. 22)
Dive pros call Buoys No. 21 to No. 24 Shark Alley, for nurse and black-tip shark sightings, but an appropriate name for No. 22 would be Jimmy Buffett Reef. It's a parrothead paradise, with redband, midnight and stoplight parrotfish. Nice barrel sponges, sea fans and brain corals, too.

Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area (Buoy No. 14)
This spot has tons of reef fingers, running in a north-south direction, awaiting exploration. Groups of barracuda forebodingly follow your every move. Schools of blue tang swim here, as do black groupers and gray angels.

Adolphus Busch Sr.
It's a 210-foot freighter sunk in the late '90s to establish an artificial reef. The maximum depth is about 100 feet, and currents may be strong here, off the shores of Big Pine Key.

Key West

Ten-Fathom Ledge (The Shrimp Boat)
A shallow spur-and-groove reef that tops out at about 50 feet as you swim south. Glide over coral mounts, or descend downward to see what's lurking in the ledges. There's also the scattered debris of a sunken shrimp boat.

Haystacks (Western Sambo reef)
Magical. After you descend, you're in a sand channel, flanked by mushroom-like mountainous star corals. Black groupers like it here, as do schools of highhats, spotted drums and rock beauties. Don't be surprised if you spot a stingray resting in the sand, or a turtle making the rounds.

24 Hours in Key West

After A nitrogen-fueled romp through the Florida Keys, there's no better place to spend your off-gassing day than Key West. This artsy enclave, which has attracted poets, pirates, presidents and parrotheads, has topside diversions to suit any taste, from the stately and gorgeous Hemingway Home, where novelist Ernest Hemingway crafted some of his masterpieces, to the taverns of Duval Street. But at day's end, there's only one place to be: Mallory Square. The famous Key West esplanade is home to nightly sunset festivals where tourists and locals alike gather to catch a glimpse of what they call the "green flash" that occurs the second the sun dips below the horizon. Afterward, seemingly every street performer in creation--from fire-eaters and troubadours to jugglers and acrobats--is there entertaining the throngs in a spectacle that is best described as one big, joyous outdoor circus. For more information on attractions throughout the Florida Keys, visit fla-keys.com.

Our Thanks

Scuba Diving would like to thank Ocean Divers (oceandivers.com), Florida Keys Dive Center (floridakeysdivectr.com), Underseas Inc. (flkeysdiving.com) and Dive Key West (divekeywest.com) for their generous dive support.

Florida Keys Resources

Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort
800-4-Amoray
amoray.com

Captain Hook's
800-278-4665
captainhooks.com

Conch Republic Divers
800-274-3483
conchrepublicdivers.com

Dive Key West
800-426-0707
divekeywest.com

Florida Keys Dive Center
800-433-8946
floridakeysdivectr.com

Garden Cove Divers
305-395-9555
GardenCoveDivers.com

Hall's Diving Center
800-331-4255
hallsdiving.com

Holiday Isle
800-327-7070, ext. 644
diveholidayisle.com

Horizon Divers
800-984-3483
horizondivers.com

Island Ventures
866-293-5006
islandventure.com

Ocean Quest
800-356-8798
oceanquestdivecenter.com

Scuba-Do Key Largo
800-516-0110
scuba-do.com

Sea Dwellers
800-451-3640
seadwellers.com

The Florida Keys & Key West
Fla-keys.com/diving

InDepth

Water Conditions: Diving is year-round, though the best conditions are from May to September, with relatively calm seas and good vis--except during tropical storms and hurricanes. On clear days, visibility soars to 120 feet, but average vis is in the 60- to 80-foot range. Winter storms can stir up chop, and along the shallow reefs visibility can drop to 30 feet or less, but when the storms pass, visibility can improve with just a couple of tidal shifts. Water temperatures range from the 70s in mid-winter to 80s in summer. For the latest dive conditions, check the National Weather Service buoy reports at ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Florida.shtml.

Getting There: You can fly into Key West and Marathon and then drive to your final destination, but the easiest way is to fly into Miami, then rent a car to get to U.S. 1.

Money Matters: Three-day weekend packages at a dive resort, including accommodation, continental breakfast and diving, start from $650 p.p., dbl. occ.

For More Information: To get detailed listings of Florida Keys dive operators, comprehensive travel guides and special dive deals, visit scubadiving.com/travel/northamerica/floridathefloridakeys. Also check out divekeys.com/index.htm; fla-keys.com/diving; and divecapital.org.