An Underwater Adventure

Saturday, March 19th – Key Largo to Little Manatee River State Park, Tampa, Florida – Day 40 

 Even though it was a travel day we decided to take our time and maximize the day at John Pennekamp State Park. We phoned in the morning about the snorkelling tours that ran out of the marina. We were told that if we showed up in person, we might have a chance for the 10am snorkelling tour so we ran out of the camper and to the beach area. Unfortunately, despite Gen and Mary’s best attempt at getting on the boat, we were denied. We did manage to get a booking for all six of us on the 3pm tour. We went back to the camper to eat and get packed up. 

Once finished, we headed out to the second beach at the park. It wasn’t as nice. The kids went for a swim. I helped Charlotte and Aisling finish their junior ranger activities. We proceeded to go back to the surf shop to pick up rentals and wait for the boat. 

 The tour was awesome. We took a boat 3 miles out into Florida Bay to the reef. John loves boats so he was a happy little guy. The tough part for John was he doesn’t like putting his face into the water so snorkelling is hard. I started snorkelling with John. He held onto my back while I swam around snorkelling. He had goggles but refused to put his face in the water despite my encouragement. Regardless, he said he was enjoying himself despite his blue lips. 

After a while, I traded Charlotte for John hoping that Gen would have a better chance to get John to do something. Eventually she had to bring John back to wait in the boat. We were told he was just sitting on the bench happy as a clam and eventually started to fall asleep sitting there. It was amazing that the tour operators were willing to watch him while we kept snorkelling. Charlotte was an amazing snorkeller. She was so keen on exploring the reef and seeing all the fish. She had no problem breathing and clearing her snorkel. We were constantly pointing out fish to each other. We saw parrot fish eating coral, barracudas with their mouths open while other fish cleaned their teeth, multicoloured fish galore, and a small manta ray. We kept moving farther from the boat but I worried that Gen was stuck on the boat with John, so we headed back. 

Along the way we found that Aisling had left Mary and teamed up with Gen. We switched kids and Aisling and I got to snorkel together. Aisling was as fantastic and keen as Charlotte. We are so lucky to have these wonderful girls (and John) that are so curious and take to new experiences so readily. Aisling and I explored more of the reef until we finally heard the three horn beeps to head back to the boat. We were the final two snorkellers in the water. The whole experience was amazing. Everyone had a good time and Mary even saw a four-foot shark. 

 When we returned to the marina, we headed to the beach. The kids still wanted to swim, amazingly. I went to the trailer to start making dinner. We have a propane stove that attaches to the side of the trailer, so I pulled it out, chopped up some ingredients and made bean wraps. It was a beautiful day, the beach was in view, I had music playing and people kept coming up to chat. Great day. 

 We finally needed to jump in the car and leave the Keys. Gen drove most of the way to Little Manatee River State Park. It was a four hour drive and the kids fell asleep quickly; exhausted after their busy day.