Your Own Boat to the Reef That Sank HMS Looe
Looe Key sits roughly six miles south of Ramrod Key, and Keys Boat Tours puts the ride out at twenty to thirty minutes. The boat runs as a private charter, so the people in the water are the people you arrived with.
Looe Key is not an island. It is a reef, and it took its name from a ship that did not survive it. NOAA records that HMS Looe ran aground here and sank in 1744. The hull is long gone. The name stayed on the coral.
What you swim over is a spur and groove system: parallel ridges of coral with sand channels running between them. Keys Boat Tours describes the same ground as a groove and spur underwater sanctuary, and tells you to wend back and forth across the coral heads and sandy crevices. Swimming a straight line across it misses the point.
The ridges do the sorting. NOAA's own description of this reef puts parrotfish and surgeonfish on the north side, barracudas and jacks on top of the reef, and grunts, butterflyfish and angelfish on the reef crest. Drift a few yards and the cast changes.
The sanctuary here is small. Looe Key covers 5.8 square miles, sitting about 6.3 miles south of Ramrod Key and a little more than nine miles southwest of Bahia Honda State Park. The sanctuary keeps a network of mooring buoys so boats can stop over the reef without dropping anchor on it.
Private Looe Key Snorkel from Big Pine KeyKeys Boat Tours · three hours, departing 10am · private boat, snorkel gear and bottled water includedwww.viator.comBarracuda Over the Top, Angelfish on the Crest
The operator's own list for this trip runs barracuda, rays, parrotfish, angelfish and blue tang. It also claims something larger. Keys Boat Tours says Looe Key has several resident goliath grouper, which it puts at 200 to 600 pounds and describes as "as passive as they are impressive". That is the operator's account, and no wild animal is on a schedule. Treat a grouper as the day's bonus.
Blue tang move in loose clouds over the shallow rubble. Parrotfish work the coral audibly, scraping algae off it. A queen angelfish will usually let you hang above it for a while before it slides into the next groove.
Three Hours Leaves Room for a Second Swim
The schedule is one departure a day, seven days a week, at 10am. Keys Boat Tours puts the run out at twenty to thirty minutes each way and the whole trip back at the dock by one.
That leaves the middle of the morning for water time. The operator's own wording is that there is plenty of time for a long snorkel session, or time to take a break and get back in at another area. So the three hours can be one long swim or two shorter ones with a rest on the boat between them. Bottled water and the use of snorkeling equipment come with the booking. The operator adds Gatorade, swimming noodles and life jackets to that list.
You Need to Swim, and to Climb a Four-Step Ladder
This is the part worth reading before you book. Keys Boat Tours is direct about it: you must know how to swim in order to snorkel, and if you snorkel or swim, you must be able to climb up a four-step ladder to get back into the boat. The listing carries the same requirement. The operator also says snorkelers must wear fins, because the tide currents here change.
Flotation is available for people who want it. The operator provides snorkel vests and swimming noodles, and its charter policies require children under six to wear a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device while the vessel is under way. Anyone under eighteen needs a waiver signed by a parent or guardian. Infants ride on an adult's lap. The listing rates the trip at a moderate level of physical fitness and advises against it for travelers with spinal injuries or poor cardiovascular health. If you are prone to seasickness, the operator suggests taking something for it beforehand.
Group size is worth checking against your own party. The flat boat rate on the listing covers up to four travelers; the operator's own page says it can take up to six people on one boat, or up to ten across two. Larger groups are told to call.
They Only Go When the Water Is Flat
Keys Boat Tours is unusually plain about weather. Its about page says the company operates on the side of caution, checking tides, wind and weather first, and that it wants fair weather only. It also warns that the winter months are generally a little windy and not the flat pristine water of summertime. If you are choosing a month for this, that is the sentence to plan around.
The captain holds the call. Charter policies put weather cancellations at the captain's sole discretion and make the captain's decisions on navigation and safety final. The listing refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure, while the operator's own policy page states a 48-hour cancellation policy and says cancellations must comply with the booking terms you agreed to. Give yourself the longer window and you are covered either way. Bookings also close 24 hours ahead and are confirmed manually.
Check in at the store at Big Pine Key RV, 33000 Overseas Highway, where they hand out a parking pass and point you to a space. The boat is tied up next to the boat ramp and the filet station.
You are back on the dock by one with salt in your hair and the whole Lower Keys afternoon still in front of you.