I will be in the Keys with my wife and 9 year old daughter in late Sept 2004 and would like to go on a snorkeling trip (we have limited snorkeling experience). We will be staying near Marathon and from my research it appears Looe Key has the best snorkeling in that area. I've read about 3 companies with trips to Looe Key ---Strike Zone Chaters, Bahia Honda State Park Concessions and Looe Key Dive center.Can anyone recommend the best of these companies or some other company? Are reservations needed? Thanks for any info.

You're absolutely correct that Looe Key is the best place to go. I have used both Strike Zone and Looe Key Dive Center for scuba diving and had a so-so experience with Strike Zone. I prefereed Looe Key Dive Shop. The Strike Zone boat is nicer, though.

in marathon theres also a good snorkeling boat,I believe its called keylypso,nice people run it and right next to it is a party fishing boat.We did both and had a great time.Check their website www.keylypso.com

Thanks for info. Most onfo I've seen seem to like Looe Key Dive Center. I'll also check out keylypso.

We stayed on Marathon a few years back and went snorkling with Looe Key Dive. Very good, 2 locations and the people were great to work with.

You and your 9 yr old may want to check out the Dolphin Research Center also. It's very educational and talks a lot about working to keep dolphins out of captivity. We enjoyed the lectures and the interaction with the dolphins and it is very close to Marathon.

We were in the Keys a few years ago, and really enjoyed Bahia Honda State Park. We bicycled around the park, and took a snorkeling trip from there. Don't know about the other companies, but our trip from the park was wonderful. The boat wasn't very crowded, and they were very instructive, we hadn't snorkeled much before.

Have a great trip!