Florida Keys Snorkeling: 12 Best Places & Tours

The Florida Keys is a vacation destination in and of itself. There are many fun things to do to keep you busy, and Florida Keys snorkeling is the primary bucket item for anyone visiting the Keys!

It is home to world-renowned reefs, submerged Christ and Budhha statues, and a shipwreck teeming with colorful tropical fishes.

When you go Florida keys snorkeling, you’ll explore the beautiful maze of vibrant corals and learn about the rich and unique marine life.

Here are 12 of the top Florida Keys snorkeling tours for novice and advanced snorkelers alike:

  1. Sombrero Reef
  2. Dry Tortugas National Park
  3. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
  4. Alligator Reef
  5. Crocker Reef and Wall
  6. Davis Reef
  7. Hen and Chickens Reef
  8. Molasses Reef
  9. Looe Key
  10. Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
  11. Coffins Patch, Key Colony Beach
  12. Elliott Key, Biscayne National Park

Florida Keys Snorkeling: 12 Best Places & Tours

Key Largo, Florida, Snorkeling

1. Sombrero Reef

Make Sombrero Reef snorkeling the highlight of your next vacation! At only 2 to 30 feet of water depth, this 30 acres of spur-and-groove coral reef is amid the best places to snorkel in Florida keys.

Sombrero Reef is located in the Sombrero Key Sanctuary Preservation Area, resting comfortably seaward of Vaca Key.

The site can get busy with tour boats anchored to the buoys surrounding the reef and snorkelers exploring the sea life underneath.

You can bring your own gear, or the tour agencies could provide it for you as part of the package tours.

Dolphins jumping out of the water will entertain your ride out to the reef. Sombrero Reef is teeming with neon-colored tropical fish like yellowtail snapper, trumpet fish, parrotfish, and more!

2. Dry Tortugas National Park

If you want to enjoy Florida keys snorkeling from shore, visit Fort Jefferson. It’s located in the Dry Tortugas National Park, the third-largest barrier reef system known to exist outside of Australia. The park collects a fee of $15 per person and is valid for 7 days. Admittance for 16-year-olds and below are free.

Dry Tortugas snorkeling is a fun-filled adventure that everyone in your family can enjoy. With waters as shallow as 5 feet and as deep as 15 feet, there’s no need for any fancy scuba diving equipment to explore the reef. All you need are fins, masks, and snorkels that usually come with the packaged tour.

Among the marine wildlife that hooks snorkelers to this site are sea turtles, stingrays, amberjacks, and coral reef fishes like angelfish and butterflyfish.

3. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

Corals and Tropical Fish

The most popular Key Largo snorkeling is in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Snorkelers will get the chance to explore the rich and fish-filled marine life.

In one of the best snorkeling beaches in Florida, you’ll find yourself swimming with yellowtail snapper, barracuda, sergeant major, jack crevalle, pompano, leopard rays, and yellow grunts, or even with friendly nurse sharks.

Coming face to face with the submerged statue of Christ of the Abyss is probably one of the unique parts of snorkeling Florida keys.

The park is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily, with tour boats making several trips throughout the day. Caring and professional tour guides are available for hire.

4. Alligator Reef

One of the best snorkeling in Florida keys is in Islamorada. It has beautiful snorkeling spots home to vibrant corals, sea sponges, fish of different varieties, and marine animals that won’t mind sharing the ocean with you.

One of those sites is the Alligator Lighthouse and Reef, which got its name from the USS Alligator, a ship that sank in 1822. The lighthouse is located 3 miles east of Islamorada.

The reef is abundant in sea creatures, and with a water depth that ranges from 8 to 40 feet, it is perfect for beginner and advanced snorkelers alike.

5. Crocker Reef and Wall

Crocker Reef is another Florida keys snorkeling tour vacation destination. It is made up of formations of staghorn corals and gorgonians swaying gently with the ocean’s currents.

The system is located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It has a depth of 30 to 60 feet. On the southern end of the reef sits a 400-foot long wall. It makes for a good sea slope dive and is home to other marine wildlife.

Divers and snorkelers reported seeing spot turtles, barrel sponges, sea fans, green morays, eagle rays, blue-striped grunts, wrasses, nurse sharks, and groupers.

There are no buoys to tie up the boats. They are anchored to the white sandy bottom of the ocean.

6. Davis Reef

If snorkeling in Florida keys is part of your vacation plans, make sure to include Davis Reef in your tour. It lies near the Crocker reef and is located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The southern end of the reef is a 5 to 10-foot high ledge called “Davis Ledge.”

Several mooring buoys serve as markers as well. With a depth of 5 to 80 feet, newbie, intermediate, and pro snorkelers can all enjoy exploring the aquatic creatures thriving under the sea.

The area is home to schools of grunts and schoolmaster snappers. Full-grown soft corals house sea rods, sea whips, sea feathers, and sea fans. Among the other ocean life living in the area are stingrays, nurse grunts, nurse sharks, green moray eels, spiny lobsters, and tropical fish.

Consider yourself lucky if you encounter these beautiful sea creatures! The sight is simply breathtaking!

Davis Reef has its own submerged statue — a large smiling Buddha that sits comfortably on the seabed. Divers rub the head and belly for luck.

7. Hen and Chickens Reef

The Hen and Chickens Reef is a shallow coral reef located 2 miles southeast of Plantation Key. It’s a short boat ride from the shore to the reef. The 35-foot lighthouse with 4 buoys bordering the area marks the spot.

Beginner to intermediate snorkelers will enjoy exploring the sea creatures under 10 to 20 feet of water. The visibility can get poor, but with its rich and diverse aquatic life, you’re sure to spot some.

Among the most common finds are sea fans, tons of sponges, grunts, parrotfish, grouper, angelfish, spiny lobsters, barracuda, reef crabs, brain corals, butterflyfish, blue Tangs, snappers, and sergeant major.

And in case you’re curious how it got its name, look at the site from an aerial point of view. You will notice that it looks like a mother hen with her chicks around her.

8. Molasses Reef

Molasses Reef

Where is the best snorkeling in the Florida keys? It’s a long list, but Molasses Reef’s accessibility makes it the most visited in the keys.

Located in the National Marine Sanctuary, it’s famous for its large spur and groove coral reef with varying depths, perfect for snorkelers.

To get there, you can get on a snorkeler tour and take the 6.5-mile boat trip to get to the reef.

The reef comes alive with the frequent sightings of colorful snappers, angelfish, spadefish, parrotfish, reef sharks, and hawksbill.

Elkhorn, brain and soft corals, and multicolored sponges also call the reef their home. In the coral heads, nurse sharks, crabs, lobsters, and shrimps are commonly seen. While southern stingrays and skates prefer to thrive in the sandy bottom.

9. Looe Key

Looe Key Reef is located 12 miles offshore within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. With water depths between 5 to 15 feet, this is a must-bucket list item for novice snorkelers.

Offering daily snorkel Florida keys tours, Looe Key has become a popular vacation destination for snorkelers. Each tour is 1.5 hours long, enough time to explore its diverse aquatic life like parrots, surgeonfish, barracudas, grunts, butterflyfish, and angelfish.

Looe Key is also great for those with advanced snorkeling skills. You not only get to explore the deeper snorkeling spots, but you also need to fight the current and ride against 1 to 2 feet of ocean swells. You’ll get to be up, close, and personal with sharks, colossal grouper, tarpon, and rays.

10. Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Fort Zachary Taylor is well-known for its lush wildlife and diverse and multicolored marine life. It’s also one of the favorite Florida Keys snorkeling spots.

About 30 yards offshore, rock barriers serve as artificial reefs to protect the beach. Flourishing in those rock formations are tropical fish and corals that novice snorkelers would enjoy exploring.

Come with your own snorkeling gear or rent the equipment at the concession. Among the many sea creatures, you’ll see there are parrotfish, large man-o-war jellyfish, schools of yellowtail snapper, lobster, and diverse hard and soft corals.

11. Coffins Patch, Key Colony Beach

Located just 4 nautical miles off Key Colony Beach is Coffins Patch, a shallow and lively coral reef. It’s home to soft, boulder, and pillar corals. It attracts plenty of fish like jacks, tangs, stingrays, nurse sharks, barracuda, grouper, lobster, and butterflyfish.

The depth is no more than 30 feet, and with waters clear on most days, the visibility is good for an enjoyable experience.

12. Elliott Key, Biscayne National Park

Within the Biscayne National Park, you not only get to snorkel around the offshore reefs, but you’ll also get to explore the Mandalay shipwreck in aquarium-clear water.

The Mandalay shipwreck has captivated common reef fish and has been a constant source of entertainment for snorkelers.

Among the sea creatures you’ll find here are dolphins, rays, sea turtles, invertebrates, trumpetfish, blue tangs, surgeonfish, sponges, purple sea fans, parrotfish, smooth trunkfish, and sergeant majors.

Conclusion – Florida Keys Snorkeling

Person Snorkeling With Tropical Fish and Coral Reefs

There you have it, the 12 top Florida keys snorkeling sites for a memorable and pleasurable experience. To recap:

  1. Sombrero Reef
  2. Dry Tortugas National Park
  3. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
  4. Alligator Reef
  5. Crocker Reef and Wall
  6. Davis Reef
  7. Hen and Chickens Reef
  8. Molasses Reef
  9. Looe Key
  10. Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
  11. Coffins Patch, Key Colony Beach
  12. Elliott Key, Biscayne National Park

Kris Peter

A positive individual enjoying the journey, and always searching for adventure. I created Sunlight Living to help my parents (and eventually myself) prepare for retirement. About Kris

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