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| Vol. 1, No. 5 | March 2005 |
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| Photo by Andy Newman |
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Catch 22 mate K.J. Zeher helps Ron Modra of Nashville, Tenn., display a big bull dolphin (mahi-mahi) caught off Islamorada. |
Learn How to Fish, Dive
A visit to the Florida Keys offers a chance for families and friends to learn new skills while enjoying and maximizing their leisure time.
Visitors, whether a beginning angler or an experienced marlin fisherman, a first-time snorkeler or an avid scuba diver, will find Florida Keys captains and instructors eager to share their knowledge and provide tips on developing new skills or honing existing ones.
The Florida Keys island chain is home to North America's only living coral barrier reef as well as a unique shallow-water marine estuary located on the Florida Bay/Gulf of Mexico side of the island chain.
Outdoor enthusiasts from throughout the world come to test their angling skills in the Keys. Because catch-and-release fishing is widely practiced, many species are set free to be caught again another day. Other types, with excellent food value, may find their way to local restaurants where "cooking your catch" is a way to enjoy the fruits of your endeavors.
Offshore and backcountry guide services can be found on the Florida Keys Web site, fla-keys.com, and through Keys chambers of commerce. And all charter and backcountry boats have necessary state of Florida saltwater angling licenses that cover on-board anglers.
Anglers desiring a real challenge can participate in one of more than 50 fishing tournaments staged annually in the Florida Keys. Several venues teach the art of saltwater flyfishing, considered by many to be the pinnacle of angling experiences.
Learning to snorkel or scuba dive is an option for those interested in pursuing close-up views of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Instruction is offered at dive shops and resorts throughout the Keys.
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Most offshore dive sites are a short boat ride from the islands and feature convenient mooring buoys to protect the coral reef from anchors and make it easy for boaters to tie off.
Options for learning to dive range from a quick 10-minute snorkeling lesson to resort courses allowing scuba diving for a day with an instructor to advanced certification. Scuba possibilities include:
Resort Course: A participant learns to scuba dive in one day. He or she can experience firsthand what certified divers are enjoying underwater. This full-day course consists of classroom and pool instruction and a two-tank reef dive with an instructor.
Open-Water Certification: This course enables a diving enthusiast to dive anywhere. It is an intensive three- to four-day course consisting of classroom work, pool sessions and open-water dives. The course typically includes equipment, two half-day boat trips, educational materials and the awarding of a dive certification card with photo.
Open-Water Checkout: This two-day course is for those with classroom work already completed. The course typically includes two air tanks, weights and two half-day boat trips.
Advanced Open-Water Certification: Divers increase diving knowledge, skills and scope of experience, and gain confidence with specific open-water dives, which include navigation, deep dive and three other specialty dives.
Specialty Courses: Adding a new dimension to the diving experience, these courses include rescue dives, deep-water diving, navigation, photography, underwater naturalist, wreck diver and more.
No matter a visitor's skill level in fishing or diving, abundant opportunities to enhance an interest and perfect abilities can be found throughout the Florida Keys.
Showcases Sea Serenades
By Carol Shaughnessy
Blowing a conch shell might not rank high as a symphonic accomplishment, but aficionados of the quirky form of musical expression are honing their "pucker power" for an annual test of skill in Key West. As many as 60 people are expected to compete Saturday, March 19, in the 43rd annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest overlooking the island city's historic harbor.
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Scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on the Sunset Pier at Ocean Key Resort, Zero Duval St., the competition is a highlight of the annual Old Island Days festival celebrating Key West's cultural heritage.
Blowing into the fluted pink-lined shells has been a Key West tradition since the island's earliest settlement, when 19th-century shipwreck salvagers blew blasts to signal that a sinking ship had been spotted.
The conch, a sturdy sea mollusk, is deeply entwined in Key West's heritage. Visitors and residents savor conch meat in fritters and chowder, and native-born islanders proudly call themselves Conchs. The Florida Keys have been known as the Conch Republic for more than two decades.
Each year, entrants from toddlers to octogenarians compete in the contest, testing the strength of their lungs and lips in front of standing-room-only audiences. Trophies are awarded in five categories.
Winners are chosen for the quality, duration, loudness and novelty of the sounds they make.
The 2005 competition, according to tradition, is free to enter and watch. Contestants are encouraged to bring their own instruments, but shells are to be available for those who can't do so.
For more information about the Conch Shell Blowing Contest and a complete schedule of Old Island Days events, call the Old Island Restoration Foundation at 305-294-9501 or visit www.oirf.org.
Whet Appetites March 19-20
In the early years of the Florida Keys' settlement, many residents earned their living as wreckers, farmers and fishermen. The wreckers and farmers are long gone, but commercial fishermen still bring in fresh catches of stone crab claws, lobster and fish.
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The 23rd annual Marathon Seafood Festival, set for Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20, celebrates the fishermen, their catch and their history.
Headquartered at Florida Keys Marathon Airport, mile marker 51 bayside, the festival draws approximately 10,000 visitors each year. The Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce co-sponsors the salute to Keys seafood with the Marathon chapter of the Organized Fishermen of Florida.
Live music, a nautical flea market, marine equipment and boat show are among scheduled attractions — but, as always, the festival's main attraction is to be booth after booth serving gourmet delicacies made from the fresh local catch.
The festival is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is set at $4 per person for adults. Children under 12 are admitted free. Parking is to be available for $2 per vehicle.
For information, call the Marathon chamber at 305-743-5417 or 1-800-262-7284.
For more travel information on the Florida Keys:
www.fla-keys.com
