Category Archives: beach vacation

Glass Bottom Boat or Snorkel?

Posted on by

Glass Bottom Boat or Snorkel?

Glass Bottom Boat or Snorkel trip, decisions,  decisions,  decisions! The gift shop was between the Visitor Center and the beach. They had signs out for the afternoon trips. The seas must have calmed down. Time to check out my options. 

Snorkel the Reef?Glass Bottom Boat or Snorkel

When I entered the shop a couple were talking to the Snorkel sales person. She was really pushing the Dramamine. The seas were still running 2-3 ft and it was quite rough. She didn’t think they’d get to the Christ Statue today but that it would be up to the captain to decide when he got out there. She did assure them that they could bring children. I don’t think I’d take kids snorkeling on 2-3 foot swells but maybe that’s just me. I prefer my snorkeling in calm sheltered waters. If it’s rough give me a regulator and scuba any day. Much easier. Having overheard that I moved on to the Glass Bottom Boat desk.

The Glass Bottom Boat

The sales rep at the Glass Bottom Boat desk was also encouraging the use of Dramamine. The reefs are located between 3 and 8 miles offshore off the coast of the Florida Keys so exploring them on your own is out of the question unless you have a boat. The “Christ of the Deep” statue is located at Key Largo Dry Rocks reef. No glass bottom boat tours go to see the statue; the area is too shallow. After some personal soul searching I decided on the glass bottom boat. I really wasn’t up for hard snorkeling and swimming yet and my scuba certification is still in limbo. The Glass Bottom Boat would give me a chance to check out the conditions. How rough was it really? How clear is the water? 

Glass Bottom Boat3 pm Boarding time

It was almost 2:30 so with a 3 pm boarding time I opted to turn in my gear and wait at the marina. I didn’t want to take a chance on losing track of time and  literally  “missing the boat”. The Glass Bottom Boat is the “Journey”. I settled on a bench in the Gazebo to wait for it’s return.Glass Bottom Boat or Snorkel?

Back to John Pennekamp Coral Reef Park

Posted on by

Back to John Pennekamp Coral Reef Park

Back to the Park

The whole purpose of my trip to Key Largo was to see the reef at John Pennekamp Park so it was only reasonable to go back to the park after lunch. My receipt got me right in. I still had all my snorkel gear. When you rent it you rent it for the day so I thought about an afternoon snorkel. My feet were still hurting from the morning adventure on the coral so I decided I’d check out the visitor center first.Back to the Park

Environmental Education and Visitor Center

The Visitor center was refreshingly cool. As I walked in I saw a theater that was running a continuous loop of film. One of the other visitors was just leaving and he told me I had perfect timing. The loop was just starting again. That was good enough for me. I popped into the theater and made myself comfortable.The underwater photography was beautiful but the message was a serious one. The movie was about an hour long and it was about the conservation of the seas. It followed the life cycles of the tiniest creatures  ending with the mammals. It was very worthwhile. Throughout the movie people came and went. Too bad they didn’t sit through to the end.

Back to John Pennekamp Coral Reef Park30,000 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium

The main feature of the visitor center was the 30,000 gal aquarium.  The aquarium was filled with native fish. Kind of a sneak preview of what you could see on the reef.  Smaller aquariums featured different reef animals including my lunch, the Florida (spiny) lobster.

Back to the Park

 

If you go

The park is open daily from 8:00 a.m. until sunset but parking can fill up early. All park buildings including the Concession Building and Visitor Center are open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

All visitors are required to pay an entrance fee:
$8.00* per vehicle. Limit 2-8 people per vehicle.
$2.00* Pedestrians, bicyclists, extra passengers, passengers in vehicle with holder of Annual Individual Entrance Pass.
$4.00* Single-occupant vehicle or motorcycle.
*Plus $.50 per person Monroe County Surcharge.

 

Snorkeling with My New Hip

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Snorkeling with my new hipJohn Pennekamp State Park

Now that I have my doctor’s approval I am about to try snorkeling with my new hip. I’m a little nervous. The last time I’d tried snorkeling I was swimming lopsided because I couldn’t really kick with my left leg. I’m pretty buoyant and when I’d get tipped over it was hard to get back on track. I arrived at John Pennekamp State Park first thing in the morning. If I messed up I didn’t want witnesses laughing at me. The dive shop was open and quickly outfitted me with rental fins, mask and snorkel. The dive master warned me that there wouldn’t be a lot to see but I assured him it was just a test for me to try out my new hip.

Snorkeling with my new hip Cannon Beach at John Pennekamp.

Cannon Beach is not very big. There are some picnic tables but mostly you stake out a section of sand. I went down to the far corner of the beach where I saw another snorkeler enter. It was pretty rocky. Most of the shoreline was covered with chunks of coral. With the waves about to knock me off my feet I gingerly worked my way into the water. Once I was in deep enough I sat down and pulled on my fins. Then the mask and snorkel and I was off. Lots of little fish in the shallow water. As I went deeper those became more scarce. After what I thought was about 10 minutes I turned around to head back to shore. My test was a success!

Getting out of the WaterSnorkeling with my new hip

I was feeling pretty good about the way my first snorkel went. It felt good, my kicks were strong and balanced. But I hadn’t thought the whole thing through. Although I managed to get in the water without injury getting out was turning out to be a whole different matter. I explored along the shoreline but it was all sharp coral. Finally I just went for it, for about 2 steps. A nice lady with flip flops on came down the beach. She took my fins from my hand and took my arm to help me over the sharp coral rocks. Oh Man it hurt! But with her help I was able to limp back to my things.

Snorkeling with my new hipNot 10 Minutes

Back at my beach towel I dried my feet and stuffed them into my shoes. My watch lay on the sand with the time staring up at me. I thought I’d been in the water about 10 minutes, just a short swim but it was closer to two hours. It was actually lunch time! Except for my feet my muscles felt better than they had in years. I think I can handle the snorkel trip to the reef once they give the go ahead. 

 

When It’s Hot, Hot Hot Out

Posted on by

It’s Hot Enough for a Heat WaveKilauea

What better way to survive hot weather than to find nice , cool air conditioning and settle in for some travel stories? I never told you about my last night on the Big Island from my March trip. I confess I’ve been distracted following Kilauea‘s antics, my work load and life in general but with temps approaching 80 and it isn’t even 10 am , time for a writing break.

Captain Cook’s Historical Dinner Cruise

Dinner cruise

Time flies when you are on a Hawaiian Island. Whether relaxing or playing it really is a paradise. Too soon I was looking at my return trip. I needed to do one more thing before I climbed aboard the airplane in the morning. The Concierge recommended a dinner cruise.  Dinner cruises are not one of my favorite pastimes but I hadn’t done much to see the coastline so I decided to say yes.I booked the Captain Cook Historical Dinner Cruise. It’s about 3 hours long and leaves from Kailua Pier.

Hawaiian HutKailua Pier

It’s not a bad stroll from the resort to the Pier if you are young and ambitious. You can also take a trolley/bus or a taxi. Being on vacation and basically lazy I took a cab. Upon arrival I realized there wasn’t any place to sit unless you wanted to spend the afternoon in a pub or restaurant. After wandering around the pier I found a stone wall to park myself while I waited for the afternoon to pass. Right next to the pier is a lovely little beach. Some outrigger canoes were beached in the sand. There were people snorkeling and even some scuba divers. I began to wish I’d worn a bathing suit. 

outrigger canoes

 

Time to Board

The afternoon passed quickly. Soon I noticed the line beginning to form for the cruise. A tent was set up with rows of chairs. That was much more comfortable than my stone wall so I wandered over to wait there. I didn’t have long to wait.