islamarada

[Floridaze]

Agree - There is so much more to the Keys than KW. Don’t get me wrong, I love KW and all its "activities", but l would settle for the Middle Keys any day. Best thing about the Keys are there are so many of them it takes a lifetime to figure them all out. Looking forward to the exploring. I got some pics somewhere I will post of DRC next week.

We got a kick out of the “Flipper” statue (who was really Mitzi”), The Original Flipper!

[chalksoperations]

What I end up doing alot on a day off is head into the keys and see what I feel like doing when I get there. Got the kids a family pass to Theater of the Seas in Islamorada. For locals, an annual pass costs $5 more than daily admission. So we pop in there whenever to see the animals.
DRC does good things as well, a great place to check out, like so many others that people buzz right by with Key West in mind only. It's a shame, really.

I often tell people if they come down here and go to KW only, they should have seen the Florida Keys while they were here.

[phwtb]

I always use to tell 'em to watch out for the idiots that check their brains along with their coats in Miami...I remember one guy, wanted to swim with the dolphins.. he decided it was too expensive and elected to rent a sail boat for the day instead... lmao...

Yep!! Dolphins were leading them out of the bay, jumpin' and playin' in the wake. He discussed his "brilliant" idea with his fellow checked ticket companions and decided dolphins were dolphins... WELLLLLLL.... nobody seemed to notice the dolphins had stopped playin' as the guy was diving head first into the water to join them.... all they noticed was a school of fins starboard...

Did ya'll know the LARGEST hammerhead ever caught was in the keys??????? 700 and sumpin pounds!! Didn't kill him... but I bet he LOOKS at those fins next time...

I'm thinkin' that should be a start to a new Buffett song...
(sung to the tune of Margaritaville of course!!)

Tourist who can't walk ...
The ones that ain't got...
A brain to gooooo with their coaaaaatssss...

What cha' think?

[KeyLimin]

I have swam with the wild dolphins off the coast of Bimini many times and have never seen a shark while doing so. Always seemed to be big Cudas around though. Only time we saw a shark (other than nurse shark) was not with the dolphins but while taking a swim in the deep blue gulf stream. The shark (black tip) did about a half circle look-see and kept going. Wasn't really interested in us at all.

My first-ever dolphin swim was at Theater of the Sea on Islamorada. It's a great memory and introduction to dolphins. Although, after seeing them eye-to-eye in the wild I don't think I could go back and do the 'captive' thing again. I will admit that Theater of the Sea has a 'better than most' environment for their dolphins with their rock quarry lagoons and have a pretty good track record for dolphin longevity. They even have quite a few babies born there. Most of the captive swim places (especially Mexico) are REALLY bad for the dolphins. Many/most of the dolphins don't survive much beyond 6 months. When they do, it is an exception rather than the norm. Very sad.

I have not been to the Dolphin Research Center...don't know why. Will have to make a point to stop and take a look on my next trip.

[phwtb]

Yeah thats the way its suppose to be. When the sharks came in, the dolphins were already gone...

While l lived on my sailboat in Newfound Harbor at Big Pine, we had lots of fins come in there. Never jumped in with 'em tho....