9 Foot Stake is a reef about 15 minutes by boat south of Key West, next to Marker 32 Reef, in 15 to 30 ft (5 to 9 m) of water. It sits inside the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary but fishing and spearfishing are allowed here, which makes it a working reef rather than a reserve. Divers find turtles, rays, goliath grouper and sharks alongside yellowtail snapper, grunts, queen conch and spiny lobster.
Also known as 9-Foot Stake Reef.
Where it is and how deep
24.5218° N, 81.7957° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Fifteen minutes out of Key West the boat stops over a reef whose depth ranges from 15 to 30 ft (5 to 9 m), with Marker 32 Reef next door. There is no descent to plan; you drop onto the coral and spend the dive moving along it at whatever depth the reef gives you. Bottom time is long at these depths, so the pace can be slow, and the shallow end is bright enough to work without lights. The position shown is approximate, placed from the operator's description.
The reef is home to turtles, rays, goliath grouper and sharks, and the smaller life is what you will see most of: yellowtail snapper and grunts over the coral, queen conch on the sand and spiny-tail lobster in the holes. This part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary still allows fishing and spearfishing, so do not expect the fish to be as approachable as in the no-take zones. The dive ends with a short, shallow ascent to the boat.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Key West: November-April is the dry season, but winter cold fronts bring the coolest water (23 C) and the lowest sourced visibility; the wet season runs May-October and storm risk peaks in September.
Photos from 9 Foot Stake
Jstuby · CC0
Questions divers ask
How deep is 9 Foot Stake reef?+
The reef ranges from 15 to 30 ft (5 to 9 m), so it is a shallow dive about 15 minutes by boat south of Key West.
Sources
- 9 Foot Stake — Scubago
Photo credits
- A large brain coral head on the reef at 9 Foot Stake, Florida Keys by Jstuby, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A southern stingray resting on sand among coral at 9 Foot Stake reef by Jstuby, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Key West
Reef
Fields of coral drifted to 18 m with goliath grouper and sharks
Goliath grouper inside a 56 m hull that sank under tow in 1985, upright at 27 m
Coral fingers and sand canyons on an SPA reef a mile east of Sand Key light
Swim through needle-shaped coral heads on a spur-and-groove outer reef
Unusually deep, wide reef crevices that hide grouper and morays
An eroded island's sand patch ringed by shallow reef under Sand Key Light
The world's second-largest artificial reef, sunk in 2009
Hundreds of sea fans and unhunted grouper in a fully no-take reserve
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A shallow patch reef where turtles, sharks and rays pass
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Winding channels and swim-throughs inside a protected reef