RVoutoftheRatRace

We are camped in a quiet Park Service campground in the middle of Big Cypress Preserve. If you look at a map of Florida, we are in the big empty area between Miami and Naples. After being in a busy metro area for the last few weeks, we decided to cancel our reservations at Collier-Seminole State Park and enjoy the solitude of the swamp. This is one of the few places we have found in South Florida where you can really get away from crowds of people. Being forty miles from the closest grocery store has made us feel like we are in the west. We are continuing to love winter Florida weather. We had a few cold days, low 60’s. Otherwise, it’s been 70’s and 80’s for the last several weeks.

Our campsite is located between a lake full of alligators and an expanse of sawgrass prairie dotted with cypress domes. The sunsets are outrageous, the birding spectacular, but the silence is the selling point. There are no hookups here, that tends to keep the RV’ers away. Our solar is coming in handy. There are a few camphosts and one other trailer scattered around the lake. None of them within a quarter mile of our site. Not quite the same as being miles from anyone like we can be out west, but for Florida….it’s fabulous. I think we will spend two weeks here before heading south into the Everglades.

We don’t have any special plans for Christmas. We have been out birding early the last two days. There are several kayak routes nearby and some biking choices. There is way more to do than we will be able to get to in two weeks. Just the way we like it.

We spent the last few weeks in a private RV park in Pompano Beach, FL. My first clue that something was different was when I was called “Madame” while checking in… as in the french Monsieur et Madame. As soon as we were set up, the RV’er behind us asked if we spoke French. What? Why would someone think we spoke French in Florida? We soon realized that we were in a resort that catered mainly to French-Canadian Snowbirds. We could hear French being spoken everywhere around us. Unexpected, and somewhat delightful. Such a soft and musical language. Sadly, my many years of French study in high school did not pay off with actually understanding most of the conversations. Our younger ages usually ensures we are bombarded with curious neighbors in a snowbird park. Not possible with a language barrier, a friendly smile sufficed.

Key Largo calls itself the “Dive Capital of the World”. I haven’t been able to find out why. To me, the phrase “Dive Capital of the World” would mean outstanding diving, but I don’t think that is how the tourism industry means it. When you look at the top ten reasons the tourism boards list to dive the keys, they mostly have to do with ease and convenience of diving there. You can drive there, you don’t need to enter another country, hear a foreign language, or have a passport. It is certainly easy, but is that enough to qualify it as the dive capital of the world? Not in my book. Besides, we think all the “hassle” of foreign countries is part of the fun.

There are a lot of reasons to visit the keys. The state parks are terrific, the water and weather were warm, the snorkeling was fantastic, and the lifestyle is laid-back. However, the diving is just OK. I talked to several other divers that thought it was awesome. Whenever I heard that, I would ask where they had dove before. Invariably, the answer was New Jersey, Seattle, a quarry, this is my first trip, etc. The people that thought it was awesome had never dove outside the USA. We did meet some divers that have dove in Fiji, and they thought it was just ok, too. I think it really depends on your previous diving experience. If you are a new diver, you will love it. If you have dove around the world, it will probably rank at the bottom of your list. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dive there, it just means you will probably find other locations better.

We weren’t going to the keys just to dive. We were going to the keys and going to do some diving while we were there. There’s a difference. It wasn’t a dive trip. It was a trip with some diving. We weren’t disappointed because we had low expectations. We couldn’t imagine it comparing to Bonaire or Curacao, and we were right, it didn’t. I did a lot of research and and kept coming across the same info. Many sites said you shouldn’t miss Looe Key in the lower keys, and you have to dive Pennekamp. I wouldn’t agree about Looe Key. I think you could easily miss it and devote most of your dives to Pennekamp. The coral in both places was damaged and dying. There is a lot more rock than coral. There are some nice patches of reef, but no awe-inspiring formations. The marine life was better than the coral. Plenty of healthy fish. However, our best dive in the keys was not as good as our worst dive in Bonaire.

I am writing this in case anyone else goes looking for diver’s reviews of the keys. The dive operators will all tell you it’s terrific. The websites will say the same. It’s not. It’s easy and convenient and in the US. I would call it the Dive Capital of the US, but not the world.

After saying all that……There are very few places in the world that you can dive on coral reefs. Global warming is projected to destroy coral reefs as soon as 2050. This would be a horrible tragedy. We are grateful to have the opportunity to see them while they are still here, in any form.

If time and money are a consideration, head to the keys. If you can manage a week and a slightly larger budget, dust off your passport.

We are now camped in John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo. Pennekamp is known for it’s coral reefs. So far, we We have done two dives and the diving is much better than the lower keys. There is more coral and fish. We plan on diving more later in the week. We have also snorkeled several times and were lucky enough to see a spotted eagle ray on two different days. We got to swim around with it for several minutes. Yesterday, we went for a kayak, and today went birding and saw our first ever White-Crowned Pigeon. For bird nerds like us, it was exciting.

Holidays on the road are always a little strange. We went birding and snorkeling on Thankgiving Day and had pasta for dinner. I did buy a pumpkin pie, but that was going to be the extent of our traditions. We were surprised when our friend’s Ian and Kristen called us up and invited us over to Ian’ sisters house in Miami Beach on Friday. Not only did they let us crash their (day-late) Thanksgiving Dinner, Ian’s dad gave us great seats to see the Florida Panthers play the Toronto Maple Leafs. Candied Yams and hockey, it turned out to be a great time. It was fun to see friends in the middle of the winter, even for just a quick visit. The keys are being good to us.