Key Largo Snorkeling

Discover unparalleled Key Largo snorkeling with Island Ventures, your guide to top-notch locations. The extensive Key Largo Snorkeling area spans from the shoreline to the vibrant main reef, 6 miles offshore

Our modern Snorkel boats leave from the Key Largo Pilot House marina at 8am and 1pm and we include all the gear in the price of your charter and include Ocean Noodles for your safety if required.

Unrivaled for quality, cost and customer service try our Key Largo Snorkeling and you won’t be disappointed

Use our online Booking Service for up to the minute availability and instant confirmation of your tour!

Where to go Key Largo Snorkeling

There are many places to snorkel on the Key Largo reef. With over 100 mooring balls to choose from where you go will be a big factor to your enjoyment.

Along with the location you visit, the tide level, current and of course the weather will dramatically affect your enjoyment.

For Key Largo Snorkeling there are 3 areas where charter boats depart from. Port Largo area, South Creek and North Creek. Depending on where you start will largely depend where on the reef you will end up snorkeling. The quickest route out the main reef is from the Pilot House as there are less slow canals and creeks to navigate before you get to the open ocean. Once out on the open ocean the main reefs are 30 mins travel on most snorkel boats.

The most popular parts of the reef for key largo snorkeling are Grecian rocks reef and Key Largo Dry Rocks (Christ of the Abyss). Both are great snorkel sites but during poorer weather Grecian Rocks offers more protection. These sites are in the middle of the Key Largo reef line with Elbow reef and Molasses reef at either end offering great options for both SCUBA diving and Snorkeling. All of these areas are locally referred to as the John Pennekamp State Park Some snorkel tours will visit inshore reefs when the weather is good. These reefs are Mosquito banks, White banks and Cannon patch. These are smaller patch reefs and are closer inshore than the main reef so its quicker to get to if you are on a 2 hour snorkel tour. There are also no cannons at cannon patch!

At Island Ventures we usually go to Grecian reef as its great for mixed family snorkel groups especially with younger children as its not too deep and the water is normally very clear. Being at Grecian also leaves us opportunity to go to the Christ statue if the weather permits.

Molasses reef is the premier reef in Key Largo but should be viewed as an advanced snorkel site as it often has current. Molasses is also deeper and tends to have a lot of dive boats moving around it picking up divers. Majority of the boats that take snorkelers and divers on the same boat tend to go to Molasses as Grecian is too shallow for divers.

Key Largo Snorkeling Charter boats

Most charter boat operators will take around 30 – 50 minutes to get from the dock to their chosen part of the reef and this why it is important to know where they leave from as it affects ride time on the boat.

Our private boats leave from the Pilot House Marina and take around 35 mins to the reef. We have a 5 min run down the 1/2 mile canal past all the homes on the water and then around 30 mins on the open water. During our boat ride down the canal we will give you a full brief on the snorkel equipment and how we will snorkel once we get to the reef. We also have fish ID cards on our boats so you will be able to see what amazing wildlife you will see when you get to the reef.

Snorkeling at the reef

When you get to the reef all boats are only permitted to tie up to a fixed mooring ball within the marine sanctuary protected areas. This is a rule set by the sanctuary to stop boats from anchoring on the reef and destroying the coral formations. Mooring balls are anchored to specific places on the reef. There are many mooring balls to choose from, some are good and some are amazing, luckily we know exactly which ones will be amazing given the weather conditions on the day!

Key Largo Snorkeling Safety

When you get to site and the boats engines are turned off the crew will give you a full safety briefing. It is very important that you listen to this, even if you have heard it previously, as it will contain site specific information and will show you where the safest and best spots to snorkel are.

If you do not understand anything please ask the crew for advice. We also carry safety information cards in other languages if you require them.

All charter boats will display a dive flag whilst you are in the water that tells other boaters to keep 300 feet away so as long as you stay in that radius you should be safe. Overall the crew will give you a radius of where you must stay.

All ways stay close to you snorkel buddy and remember to look out for each other

Depending on the charter company you choose you will get between 30 mins and 2 hrs of snorkel time plus the transit time to and from the reef. To make the most of your snorkel time ensure that you prepare on the boat ride on the way out.

Make sure that your gear fits you by trying it on first and making any necessary adjustments. If you are using the boats rental gear ask for help if you are having problems adjusting the equipment the crews will know exactly how the equipment should fit and how to adjust it properly.

Get sunscreen on gear ready get camera ready for those amazing wildlife shots!

When you first get into the water swim to the safety line that will be hanging off the boat. The safety line will be near to the ladder that you will use to get back on. Hang there whilst you wait for your buddy and get used to the water. Have a look at the boat you are on so you know what it looks like, often snorkelers swim off to the reef and then turn around and are not sure which boat they are on. There may be many boats on the reef and some may arrive whilst you are snorkeling and look very similar to the one you got off.

Before you leave the line check if there is any current running. You will find this out by letting go of the line and if you float away you will be in current. If you do detect current always swim into the current to do your snorkeling then if you get tired you can just ride the current back to the boat. Most snorkel charter boats will let you know if they believe there is current and which way it is running.

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