Florida's annual two-day lobster mini-season began for me at 4:45 AM on Wednesday morning. I loaded up the truck hoping to get an early jump on the competition, and arrived at Matheson Marina by 5:30 AM. My dive buddies and I had a short wait at the gate while the park services employees unlocked and prepared for the barrage of boats and divers. Once inside, we quickly loaded the boat with ten tanks, a beer or two (or three, or four, or ...), and four divers, and we pushed off for the short trek to our secret lobster spot. I won?t disclose the exact location, but I will confirm that?s it?s between Ceaser Creek and Broad Creek on the ocean side of Totten Key (or is it?).

At this particular spot, you have to time your dives with the tides. Slack tide is about the only suitable time for diving here. If you miss it by too much, be prepared to fight pretty strong currents! We got there a little later than planned and thus had to fight an incoming current for pretty much the whole dive. Fortunately, our trusty spot was replete with lobster! There were lots of shorts, but plenty of legal bugs as well. We had our limit (which is 6 per person per day) by 9:00 AM.

After a short rest, we decided to head back north to visit a couple of the reefs off of Key Biscayne. We stopped at Emerald Reef, a small shallow-water patch reef one mile east of Key Biscayne. Emerald is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful reefs in Miami, rivaling those found further south in the Florida Keys. I was immediately awe-struck by the beautiful clear blue water, reminding me very much of the waters around Bimini. The waters are shallow -- approximately 20 to 30 feet -- and alive with all kinds of tropicals, corals, and a few snappers. The clean white sand surrounding the reef makes this spot very easy to find, and contributes to the crystal clear blue hues of the waters.

After our second dive, we headed back into the Biscayne National Park, passing the famous Cape Florida Lighthouse and anchoring at the sandbar on the bayside of Key Biscayne. While there, we were visited by a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphin making their way through the Bay. Twenty-four lobster, diving on Emerald Reef, and lunch with dolphin ? a fantastic day in South Florida!

Comments:

	Posted by WillyVolk, Jul-31-2006 @ 09:42 AM CDT Raf, it looks like you had an awesome time. I can't believe you had your limit by 9 in the morning and that you got to have lunch with dolphins. I am sooooo jealous!
	Posted by alexmart, Aug-1-2006 @ 09:55 PM CDT awesome pics
	Posted by ironhrse44, Aug-3-2006 @ 03:34 PM CDT Hope you left a few for the regular season. Leaving tonight for Marathon.
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