The Adolphus Busch is another intentionally sunk ship that now forms a great artificial reef for marine life and divers. It lies just six miles offshore from Big Pine Key in 110 feet of water. This 210 ton freighter is named after a member of the Busch family, as in the beer.

The sinking of The Adolphus Busch is interesting: becuase it was sunk inside a sanctuary, no explosives were used. They just cut holes, then pumped water into her until she sunk. These holes are today good swim-through spots- there are 12 of them. The ship is in very good shape, so exploring is ok.

This is an advanced level scuba dive. There are mooring buoys at this site.

Bahia Honda State Park is one of the most famous parks in the Florida Keys. Prized for its campsites with gorgeous sunset views, it’s been written up in dozens of travel magazines. Ten miles out to sea on the ocean side, likes Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. This is one of the most beautiful dive spots in the Florida Keys. There are 70 mooring buoys at this spot, to accommodate the divers and snorkelers who visit.

Depths at Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary range from five to 70 feet. Diving here is at the novice level. There is lots of different types of structure here, including sandy bottom, large overhangs, tall coral colonies, and remains of a wreck that include only a chain and some ballast.

Part of the reef at Looe Key is a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA). That means, among other things, no anchoring. Use the mooring buoys. The deepest areas are buoys 50-70. The current will be strongest here, too.

Sombrero Key is marked by a red lighthouse from the 1850s There is a string of these lighthouses down the Florida Keys, and this is the biggest one at 150 feet tall. You can always find Sombrero Key, as the lighthouse is anchored to it. The Army Corps of Engineers built all of the Florida Keys lighthouses this way.

Sombrero Key is popular with everyone because of The Arch, an underwater coral formation through which you can swim and take awesome photos. It’s located eight miles off from Key Colony beach and easy to find, of course. Depths range to about 30 feet, so good for snorkelers, too. It’s a novice level scuba dive. There are mooring buoys and lots and lots of coral. No fishing, as Sombrero Key is a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA) and it’s heavily enforced.

There’s a lot to like about Delta Shoals. There are coral canyons, several wrecks, and numerous types of coral heads. All this in 25 feet of water near Sombrero Light and it’s one heck of a popular dive spot in Marathon. Delta Shoals are less than a mile from Sombrery Key, so combine dives if ou can.

There’s a wreck here called Ivory wreck, named after ivory tusks that sunk with the ship. Leg irons were also found at the Ivory, making hisotrians believe it had been a slave ship.

Delta Shoals run for half a mile over what used to be very treacherous waters, as there are many old remnants of wrecks out there.

Thunderbolt was sunk to be an artificial reef and dive spot in 1986 and ranks as the number one dive spot in Marathon. Thunderbolt sits in 115 feet of water with 45 feet of relief. She counts as an intermediate level dive spot. She was a cable-laying 188 foot military ship later used by Florida Power and Light to study lightening. That’s how she got her name. She sank at the docks in Miami and was purchased by divers in the Florida Keys.

Features that Marathon scuba divers flock to on the Thunderbolt are the twin propellers and the engine room. From her lightening studying days, there’s a huge reel of cable on her bow. Divers can descend 110 feet into the hull for further exploration.

Thunderbolt sits just five miles off the shores of Marathon making the proximity just one more thing that makes this site the top dive spot in Marathon.

Coffins Patch Reef is near the Thunderbolt, so is often paired with that wreck for a day of diving. The depths of Coffins Patch are 14 to 30 feet, and it’s a novice level dive. Snorkelers can enjoy the patch reef at these depths, too. Good variety of coral here, in addition to Pillar Coral. Arguably the best Pillar Coral spot in the Florida Keys. Look for brain coral and staghorn coral, too.

Coffins Patch reef also has a shipwreck, The Ignacio, which sank here in 1793. The remnants are small and hard to find. It was a Spanish Galleon carrying coins, much like the famous Atocha off Key West.

Coffins Patch is very close to Marathon, just four nautical miles off shore. The patches stretch for one and a half miles across the ocean floor, and visibility is usually very good. Currents are not ususally very strong here.

Continuing west from Key Largo, Marathon is the halfway point of the Florida Keys chain of islands. Marathon diving offers lots of shallow reefs too, much like the Upper Keys area of Key Largo and Islamorada diving. In Marathon you have Delta Shoal, the Turtle Shoals and Sombrero Reef. On windy days Marathon divers can head to the Gulf side for some snorkeling. There’s only one wreck in Marathon, The Thunderbolt. The Adolphus Busch near Looe Key is near Marathon, but really considered to be an Upper Keys dive spot.

Marathon diving also takes you to the Duck Key wreck, which has remnants of a wreck that went down in the late 1800s. You can also get to the Looe Key dive spots on boats out of Marathon. There’s also Herman’s Hole, which is especially picturesque and beautiful. The before-mentioned Delta Shoals are home to lots of wrecks, and in fact there’s something for everyone at these spots…wrecks, coral reef, a network of coral canyons, and more unusual coral.

A lot of the dive charter boats in Marathon will offer spearfishing trips for divers, since spearfishing is not allowed in the Upper Keys closer than three miles from shore. Lots of spearfishing takes place in Marathon- there are lots of grouper and snapper as well as other eating fish. You’ll notice that if you dive both Key Largo and Marathon, the fish behave differently because of the sanctuary and spearfishing activities.

In Pennekamp Park, for instance, the fish are used to people and don’t really see them as a threat. There are even some large grouper known to allow divers to touch them, although this may just be more legend than fact. In any case, the fish are far less spooky in Key Largo than in Marathon, where they have learned (or will soon learn) that divers can also be predators.