Key West · United States · Reef · Drift
Cannonball Cut
Fields of coral drifted to 18 m with goliath grouper and sharks
Area photo: Juliancolton · Public domain
Cannonball Cut is a reef 9.7 km (6 miles) south of Key West made up of continuing fields of coral to a maximum depth of 18 m (60 ft). It has no mooring ball, so boats run it as a drift dive, and operators also use it for lionfish hunting. Goliath grouper, eels, turtles, sharks and angelfish are the listed residents, which makes it one of the fishier Key West reefs for divers comfortable in a drift.
Where it is and how deep
24.4680° N, 81.7800° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
There is no mooring ball at Cannonball Cut, so the boat drops the group in and follows. You descend as a group onto continuing fields of coral and let the water carry you across them; maximum depth is 18 m (60 ft). Stay together and keep a surface marker ready, because the boat is your exit and it can only follow what it can see, so the drift is planned around the pickup rather than around any one feature of the reef.
The coral fields hold goliath grouper, eels, turtles, sharks and angelfish, and because you are moving rather than circling a buoy you cover a lot of reef and pass a lot of fish. Lionfish are present and the site is used for lionfish hunting, so do not be surprised to see a guide carrying a spear. When gas or time runs down, send up the marker, ascend as a group with a safety stop, and wait for the boat to come to you.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Sea turtles
| 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.
Know before you go
- No mooring: it is a live-boat drift, so stay with the group and carry a surface marker for the pickup.
Questions divers ask
Is Cannonball Cut a drift dive?+
Yes. The site has no mooring ball, which makes it a good place for drift diving; the boat drops divers in and follows the group to a maximum depth of 18 m (60 ft).
Sources
- Cannonball Cut — Scubago
More dive sites in Key West
Goliath grouper and turtles on a 5-9 m reef fifteen minutes from town
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
Similar dives elsewhere
Thirty-two mooring buoys along one spur-and-groove reef
A King Neptune statue set down in the late 1970s marks the north end
Schooling gamefish and goliath grouper over a sharply cut ledge
Giant manta rays over an offshore bank, 16 m at its deepest