Amazing Coral Reef

If you are the kind of guy that enjoys visiting very special nature spots, then you may want to take the opportunity of staying in South Florida for submerging into a coral reef and to see at just one foot from your eyes the amazing tropic.

Of course it's a long trip, but a two-hours ride is not that much after all if the prize is good enough. We are talking about the Keys, those elongated islands that are like a chain extending Florida almost to Cuba.

There are quite a string of them until the last one, Key West, 215 miles from Roseaire, 90 miles away from Cuba and the favorite of bohemians. However, the good news is that you don't need to go that far. Key Largo, apart from lodging the actual Africa Queen boat used in the mythical Humphrey Bogart movie, is the best for touring diving and kayaking sports.

After 110 miles and two hours driving you'll be ready for the adventure in the seas. The place is called John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and offers plenty of options to choose from depending on how daring you are with the sea. You can just sign up for the glass-bottom boat tour if you are reluctant to go under water, or you can go snorkeling. Both tours are found at the Main Concession. Also you can try Reef-Roamer. You may like to rent kayaks instead, or stop by Tekesta on your way south and take the kayaks from there. They also offer scuba diving for the bolder ones.

Nobody who visits the Keys -says Bob Rountree, co-founder of FloridaRambler.com - or who has lived in Florida as long as I have, has any excuse for not visiting this state park that is the anchor of all known activities in this, the northernmost territory of the Conch Republic.

Pennekamp is the first undersea state park in the country, created to protect part of the only living coral reef in the continental United States. The park extends three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and ranges 21 miles in length, adjacent to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Practical Tips

Distance from Roseaire: 110 mi, two hours driving. Map. Be patient -first half you have highways but then you merge to US1 and after a while, the road has just one lane on each direction. Pray that you don't get behind a slow truck on your way.

As said, you may want to make a stop at Tekesta to grab some kayaks on the go.

Hours of Operation: The park is open from 8:00 a.m. until sundown, 365 days a year.

Lunch: You'll find several restaurants along the US1 from 2 mi North of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to 7 miles South, but most probably you'll rather skip the lunch to enjoy the sea the longest you can.

Combos: There is a church in Key Largo, St. Justin the Martyr, but the daily mass is at 8am, too early to fit into the schedule in a possible early rise.

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