John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

01/18/09 - 01/25/09

John Pennekamp is in Key Largo, Florida and I spent a week here. This park was the first underwater park created in the United States. Unfortunately, much of the park was closed for maintenance repairs, so I didn't get to hike as much in the park as I wanted to.

While at the park, I took a glass-bottomed boat tour of the coral reef. I found it to be a little disappointing. They advertise it as a 2 1/2 hour tour and their website says that you spend 1 1/2 hours on the reef. But it turned out to be a one hour trip to the reef, followed by a 1/2 hour on the reef, and then a one hour trip back. Also, they put more people on the boat than could comfortably see through the bottom. We were jammed together standing at a metal rail and you had to lean over the rail and look down about 8 feet to see through the bottom. The bottom consisted of a grid of glass panels about 3 foot by 4 foot. So you don't get a very wide uninterupted view of the reef.

Steve Winker