Welcome to Key Largo, Fl! Honestly, Key Largo is nothing but absolutely beautiful. From the moment you drive in down Highway 1 until the moment you leave, there isn’t anything you wouldn’t want to see. The town is bustling all the time and is full of seafood shops, hotels, and several different attractions from diving to glass bottom boats to snorkeling and more.
Today, we ventured onto the Key Largo Princess Glass Bottom Boat. The Key Largo Princess is the only glass bottom boats in the Key Largo area. Even being the only liner in Key Largo, they were moderately full for a weekday in October. When you hop aboard this 75ft yacht, you are directed to ride up top and for good reason. Once you are out of the channel you are now out in open ocean. The ocean was very choppy the day we traveled. When riding up top, you are less likely to get sea sick while driving out to the reef. It takes about 45 minutes of ride time to travel from the dock to the reef. You then spend 30 minutes trolling around the reef and viewing from the lower salon. We do NOT recommend going downstairs to the salon until after the boat slows down into the reef. The motion will make almost any traveler sick, even those that aren’t prone to sea sickness.
After you reach the reef and the boat begins trolling around, the wonderful staff on board will guide you through the reef. One thing that stuck out for us more than anything was how shallow the reef actually is at that point. This means that the water temperatures are very critical here and the water was very green on our trip. This is important to note. The water temperature should be between approximately 75 degrees and 80 degrees. However, the reef was still well over 80 degrees the day we visited. This harms the reef. It’s very important to understand and learn about the ocean systems.
After the tour of the reef completes, you return back to the dock at the Holiday Inn Hotel in about 40 minutes. Along the ride in and out you will frequently see jellyfish, sea turtles and other sea life passing by the ship. As you travel closer to land, you will see the beauty of Key Largo. From the design and size of the homes, to the channel properties and even some of the boats. This is a trip you won’t want to miss
ITS Travel Services enjoyed this 2.5 hour boat ride. It was very enjoyable. Even after making the mistake of going downstairs too soon and feeling the sea sickness, the experience was still amazing. If you are prone to sea sickness, there is a stack area on the top deck of the boat where you can purchase food, drinks and sea sickness preventative medication.
