OK. Lets start here. I dont know Jack about the keys. I live in the tamp area. Here's what I know. I have dove in Marathon...really fun but it was my checkout dive...so immagine the newness of it all. I didn't pick up a lot on the area.

My wife and I want to visit the keys and trailer our boat down there. We will be planning on spending about a week there. I DONT need a place ON THE WATER. I dont mind trailering my boat every day...no biggie. BUT is it worth it? To have a place with a dock?

My biggest questions are

WHERE- Where should I go? if I go down to Key west it's like 8 or 9 hours. But I can hit key largo in about half that time. Is Key west really worth that extra few hours?

WHEN- When is the best time to go? She likes just photography and diving. I like free diving and spear fishing. Our boat is a 22ft panga so i'd love to do some good offshore fishing or what not. I honestly dont mind all that much if i dont get to spear fish but i'd prefer to stick a few fish while down I do know that I dont want to freeze lol.

Good area for beginners? maybe some clear chanel markers? I dont want to feel like cattle with a billion boaters out there but i'd like to feel a little safe knowing where I am at.

Also....any advice for a first timer? Any and all advice is appreciated.

~Dave

P.S. We are planning on going with a few friends and renting a place that can sleep at least 4 people.

When are you going? Did I miss it? I'm going to Cudjoe Key 9/6 for 2 weeks. To me once west of the 7 mile bridge, it's much more like the Keys of the late 50's early 60's. We stay at Venture Out. They have rental units and RV lots for rent. Into camping, KOA on Sugarloaf.

I took my 25 Grady down a few years ago to Key Largo. There are some great reefs and wrecks in that area for photo shooting, snorkleing, and fufu diving.IMO there were to many protected areas there to spearfish and once out of the protected areas your pretty deep 130ft. We had a blast we did dive the reefs and went out about 25 miles to the weed lines to fish dolphin.

We stayed on the bay side at a place called Hungry Pelican, nice laid back place with ramp and docking but it is on the bay side... a long ride and kinda tricky the 1st time to get out on the other side to the reefs. I like the little mom and pop place we stayed but it is more convenient to stay on the ocean side to get out quick to the reefs. Hope that helps.

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What? where is the 7 mile bridge?

Yeh, you want to get down to middle/lower keys. Lots of spots within range of your boat. Backcountry tidal creeks and mangroves for snapper/grouper, patch reefs back there too. Plenty of public spots on the charts. Leave yourself a day to do some exploring. If your wife can tow you behind the boat it'd help. get to some of the markers on atlantic side, then start looking around for reefs/structure holding fish.

We stay in cudjoe. Big pine, cudjoe, sugarloaf is the area we hunt and usually have our spots to ourselves. Theres some traffic on weekends, but during the week you should be able to kill plenty without being bothered.

It's the biggest bridge in the keys. Runs between Marathon and Big Pine Key. I would recommend Marathon or somewhere further down, but not all the way to Key West. It is probably the most expensive and is more for night life and things to see (museum, etc.), too crowded.

I lived in Islamorada for 13 years and if I were you I would look into Hawks Cay. They have cheaper "rooms" and a nice boat ramp. Their dockage rates are too high in my opinion, but if you go under the little bridge to Duck Key Marina and talk to them they charge about 1/2 of Hawks Cay and you can keep it in the water for the week. South of Long Key you can also spearfish close to shore. North of there you have to be 3 miles out, or even further if in the Sanctuary. The backcountry is also a short boat ride away and ther are plenty of patch reefs and shallow reefs for the wife to shoot some pics. Pretty soon Hawks Cay is offering a $99 rate for military, police and fire.

I've been to the keys a few times but one of the best trips was with my buddy and his boat. We stayed here: Edgewater Lodge -Home

The rooms are right next to the ramp and boat docks. It's just a quick ride from there to either the back country or the Atlantic.

Key largo is the closest. It just does not feel like the keys though. I would suggest at least islamorada. That would get you south of most of the heavy regulations and protected reefs. Get a chart for wherever you go so you know whats off limits to spearing. The further down you go the better things get. Having the boat in the water is real nice, I would highly reccomend it.