Florida Keys · United States · Reef · Cave & cavern
Snapper Ledge Reef
Two high ledges and a staghorn and elkhorn outplanting site
Area photo: NOAA (Maya Walton) · Public domain
A Key Largo reef site built around two high-profile coral ledges with a small swim-through between them, dived shallow enough to stay inside Open Water limits throughout. Part of the site is used as an outplanting station, where staghorn and elkhorn coral are transplanted onto the reef.
Where it is and how deep
25.0251° N, 80.3933° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive works the two ledges in sequence: drop onto the shallower one at about twenty-five feet (7.6 m), follow its edge along the reef, then cross the gap to the deeper ledge at about thirty-five feet (10.7 m) and work its face. That gives the whole dive a simple out-and-back shape off a single mooring, with a small swim-through in the coral to pick up along the way.
The outplanting is the thing to dive carefully around. Staghorn and elkhorn transplanted onto this reef are fixed in place and fragile, so keep fins clear of the substrate and stay off the tops of the ledges rather than settling on them for a photograph. Nothing on the site goes past about 11 m, so the profile is easy and the limiting factor is gas rather than no-stop time.
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 Snapper Ledge?+
The site has two high-profile ledges, one at about 25 feet (7.6 m) and the other at about 35 feet (10.7 m), which keeps the whole dive inside Open Water limits.
Sources
- Snapper Ledge Reef — Scubago
- Florida Reef — Wikipedia
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