Florida Keys · United States · Reef · Drift
Permit Ledges
The south end of Molasses and the start of the reef drift
Area photo: NOAA (Maya Walton) · Public domain
The southernmost mooring ball on Molasses Reef off Key Largo, and the usual starting point for a drift dive that runs the length of the reef from the south end to the north. Average depth under the buoy is about twenty-five feet, so the dive is limited by gas rather than by no-stop time.
Where it is and how deep
25.0106° N, 80.3796° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
This mooring works less as a destination in itself than as a place to start. The ledges under the buoy give a group somewhere to gather and settle before moving off, and at an average of about twenty-five feet (7.6 m) there is no depth pressure on the first minutes of the dive while everyone sorts out buoyancy and weighting. Nothing here forces a fast start.
The plan this mooring exists for is a drift: leave the buoy and let the current carry you north, covering the length of Molasses Reef from the south end to the north rather than circling one buoy for the whole dive. That means a moving boat pickup at the end, so carry a surface marker and agree the signal before you get in. From this end of the reef it is also a short navigation to Fire Coral Cave, the long narrow swim-through near the southern edge of the reef.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Florida Keys: Winter cold fronts (December-February) bring choppier seas and cooler water; April-August offers the calmest conditions, though hurricane season runs June-November.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Permit Ledges?+
The average depth is about 25 feet (7.6 m), which puts it well inside Open Water limits and makes it a long, shallow dive off the southernmost mooring on Molasses Reef.
Sources
- Permit Ledges — Scubago
- Molasses Reef — Wikipedia
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