Tuesday John pennecamp coral reef state park This park is at key largo and is mainly all water being the third largest reef in the world. We had booked a snorkelling tour for Jordan and myself that leaves the park at 12. This cost $29 each. It is a 2 and half hour tour with about an hour in the water. We rented fins, snorkel and mask and waited for the boat. Martin had booked for the glass bottom boat at the same time. Jordan and I had decided not to have wet suits as the temperature of the water is about 77degrees. Waiting for the boat met an English couple where the lady had lived in teignmouth for 10 years and had worked as a hairdresser in oldies. She now lives in Guildford but comes back to teignmouth. ...a small world. We sat at the back of the boat. The boat travelled through the mangrove waters and then headed for the open sea. I had not realised that the reef is in open sea about 6 miles out. The boat went fast and it was an exhilarating journey. It stopped and we could see clear blue water and in the distance white water which showed where the reef ended. The water was not too cold. We were told not to stand up or touch any of the reef. The reef was shallow in places. Jordan and I snorkelled to the reef area. Wow wow wow So many fish. We floated on the surface and lost count of the fish we saw. Brightly coloured parrot fish, yellow and gold fish and some barracuda shark. These were the largest fish we saw but are not harmful to people. We did not like the way they followed us. The reef and coral was alive and the hour passed too quickly and the boat blew its horn and we made our way back. What an experience. We both enjoyed it although Jordan had trouble staying on the surface and kept sinking. Going back i was allowed on the prow of the boat which stood out of the water and it was a great experience. I had taken sea sick pills so no problem there. Met up with Martin who had also a great experience. His boat had gone to deeper waters where he thinks they saw 40 different types of fish. Quite wow for him. There is a small beach near the visitor centre but no sand. It was a hard surface. The temp was the hottest we had so far 80 plus. We did some sunbathing and chilled out for a while. We had decided that we would eat at Key Largo at one of the man v food places called Key West conch house. This was just off the main road. Great food and the best Key Lime Pie.