This year, my sister and I decided to meet in South Florida during my spring break. She and her boyfriend live in New England and needed a break from the cold, and I wanted to teach them to scuba dive, so Florida was an obvious choice.
Miami
I started my trip with a few days in Miami since my sister wasn’t arriving till midway through the week. I spent the time revisiting some favorite childhood spots (I lived in Miami when I was 6 to 12 years old). The list included Matheson Hammock Beach Park, my family’s old house (at least the lot where it used to be – they tore down the house and build a mansion on the land instead!), and my old schools.
The view from Matheson Hammock.
Even better, I had the opportunity to visit with my age group swim coach, some former teammates, and my 6th grade math teacher. It was really nice to be able to tell them in person how grateful I am for the impact they’ve had on my life.
Key Largo
While I was staying in Miami, I also did two days of fun diving (4 dives total) in Key Largo. Accommodation is so expensive in Key Largo that that I decided to stay in Miami and make the 1.5-hour drive to Key Largo each day.
Unfortunately the reefs were in pretty bad shape. There were a decent amount of fish, but the coral was almost all gone or, if it was there, really sparse and tiny. I’m sure the hurricane last year didn’t help, but a friend who’s a marine biologist told me there was already severe deterioration prior to the storm. I’ve been diving in several places in the Caribbean (Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Grand Cayman), and while every place is suffering to some extent, Florida was definitely in the worst shape. I really hope we as humanity can get our act together and do something.
I did manage to get a few nice pics though:
Angel fish.
Balloonfish.
Barracuda.
School of blue striped grunts.
Trunkfish.
Christmas tree worm.
Lobsters.
Green moray eel.
The only nudibranch I saw on the trip.
A pair of nurse sharks.
A scorpionfish blending in.
Scrawled filefish.
Hollywood and Lauderdale by the Sea
My sister and her boyfriend arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We drove north to Hollywood to get them fitted for scuba gear at Sea Dreams Scuba. The staff there were very helpful and filled us in on the most appropriate shore diving sites in the area based on the weather conditions and their experience level.
We spent the next two days doing their PADI Open Water course. They were both really good students – they met playing water polo so both are super comfortable in the water. We didn’t have great conditions with some waves and current, but they managed to race through all the required skills regardless.
Even better, we saw some pretty interesting wildlife on the dives – lots of tangs, a sea turtle, two guitarfish, a few yellow stingrays, some trunkfish, and more. The visibility was way lower than in Key Largo (about 15-20 feet), but I actually enjoyed the diving in Hollywood and Lauderdale by the Sea more than the diving in Key Largo. Maybe it was just because I had better company though 🙂
Alex and I after her last certification dive!
Key West
After we finished the open water course, we drove to Key West for the last couple days of our trip. On Friday morning, we went to the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, one of the top attractions on Key West. While the history was interesting, my favorite part was the cats. Obviously. Hemingway had a thing for 6-toed cats, and there are now dozens of his cats’ descendants roaming the property.
Rules don’t apply to the cats!
Making a new friend.
After lunch, we got on a boat for two dives on the reef. This was great for Alex and Mike since we had only done shore diving for their certification. It was also nice for them to see dive a site with some more coral and better visibility. Still, like in Key Largo, I was disappointed by how unhealthy the reef was.
My sister on her first boat dive!
Amazingly, a British friend I met in Honduras was in Key West at the same time, so that evening we met up for dinner, drinks, and chocolate cake.
Saturday was our last day of fun, and we started the day at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. It was surprisingly awesome! There were way more butterflies flitting around than I expected.
A butterfly landed on me!
Pretty butterfly.
Afterwards, I wandered around downtown for a few hours while Alex and Mike hit the beach. I went to Mallory Square, and walked past a few other landmarks before meeting up with them for the drive back north.
Summary
All in all, it was a great trip, but mainly because I got to hang out with my sister and teach her to do something I love. It was also nice catching up with some old friends and mentors in Miami. The diving was not really impressive, and I probably won’t go back for a while unless I have some other reason to be in South Florida. But I have some excellent diving planned for this summer in Indonesia so don’t feel too bad for me!
Next up: Several longer trips this summer, starting with two weeks in Europe. Stay tuned!
Total dives this trip: 10
Total dives: 191
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