I don't know about open water swimming but how about this?

http://www.miami.com/...d/sports/7839869.htm

I also highly recommend the Duval crawl down in Key West :)

Go to the beautiful 50m pool in Islamorada. John the manager is an Olympic gold medalist. Way too many sharks to swim distance in the ocean-not w/o a dingy nearby.

Sharks ??!! Oh, that's one way of keeping those damn turistas home, I get it.

Not sure why you'd swim in a pool if you have the ocean right there. I've swum all along the Keys, see lots of predatory fish, never felt threatened by any sharks altho' you do see a few. I'm almost more careful not to step on a ray while walking in the shallows, altho' they do seem to scoot away before you get to them. Barracudas can be attracted to shiny stuff (that's why I wear a swim cap over my bald pate :-)), but really, I wouldn't worry too much. A companion is always a good idea, mind. And you'll likely need to wait for high tide, it gets pretty shallow in most places.

Enjoy the place.

Cheers

Barry

"Way too many sharks to swim distance in the ocean-not w/o a dingy nearby. "


Y'know. I would never surface swim on the ocean. Shark attacks are quite rare but I've been a scuba diver for a quarter of a century and have seen lots of big things in the ocean, including 10-12 ft. man eating bull sharks about 200 ft off a public beach.

While living in N.C. they used to say if you were in the ocean you were never more then 50 feet away from a shark. As a surfer (a bad one) I saw a few and a small one took a hunk out of my room mates board one afternoon. I only saw some big ones once or twice and it was enough for me.

The things that used to really scare the s**t out of me were the dolphins that would pop up right next to you unannounced, practically crapped my drawers.

John Pennycamp is my favorite swim in Largo and I haven't been eaten by a shark yet.

As long as we are telling fish stories I will include one of my own. When I was a teen I briefly lived on a houseboat in Key Largo and tagged along\worked at a dive shop. There was a 16 foot hammerhead that was regularly seen at a popular 100 foot wreck dive. I had seen that shark a few times but always at a blurry distance. Until on one dive I turned around and one of its eyes was inches from my mask. I was fluttering my fingers to move back - it was so close I was doing my best to stay vertical and not float into the damn thing. Any animal that is 16 feet long is impressive, but a hammerhead especially was just breathtaking.

The guys at the shop even named that shark, but I can't remember what we called it now. Geez memory is funny! I can recall every cabin in that boring, nondescript sunken Coast Guard clipper, but I have absolutly no clue what we named that fish.

I just spent a week's vacation in Key Largo, and enjoyed some of the best open water swimming outside of Penticton or Mirror Lake. If you can, go to the Bayside, not the ocean side. Very calm, very innocuous wildlife (though I got a few minor jellyfish stings - small rash went away within the day). Problem with all the Keys, though, is that there are hardly any public beach access points. Everything is privately held. We swam in front of our hotel, which was just perfect.

I've also heard there is a great aquatic facility in the central part of Key Largo, on the Ocean side of the highway, just east of where the highway divides as it heads towards Islamorada.



ccy

I've been a scuba diver for a quarter of a century and have seen lots of big things in the ocean, including 10-12 ft. man eating bull sharks about 200 ft off a public beach.


Holy crap! A 12 foot man!?!? And eating bull sharks? Definitely a clydesdale.

BTW Thanks to evreyone for all the shark concerns - although a shark attack would make for an exciting ST post. Been swimming in the ocean (and diving) for years - even been followed by sharks and BIG 'cudas. Scary as hell but (knock on wood) no problems yet. I'll get the local feel for these things when I am down there.

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"Race day is a celebration of your training"

Have fun and enjoy your swims!

The only thing thats ever freaked me out in the ocean was 'cudas at night. I never minded them durring daytime dives and I've seen thousands of them of all sizes. But at night, when you see their reflection in your dive light it is just spooky.

The beaches in Key Largo aren't very nice, but the water sure is fine.

Oh - and if you get the chance try to spend a night at Jules Undersea Lodge. As it's name implies, it is an underwater hotel and is a really cool thing to do in Key Largo. I used to live at the marina next to it at MM 103.5.

http://web.tiscalinet.it/...gnai/os/vacation.mpe

Could this be you?

I was in the Keys 2 weeks ago for the 7-Mile Bridge Run (awesome) and decided to do some open-water swimming with one of my training buddies. We pulled off the road somewhere in Islamorada and were intending to swim to an off-shore uninhabited key. However, the water is so shallow that it was impossible to swim more than a few hundred yards in any direction without grabbing sand/muck/seagrass. The only places deep enough for a long swim were in the boat channels, which is (obviously) too dangerous. You may have more luck if you go to a park area where boat traffic is restricted. We did get a little stung by something, which itched for a day and then went away. No shark sitings that particular day, but we did see lots of rays, some lobster, sea urchins, many fish, and even a manatee.

Dude,

Ive scuba dive'd off south florida all my life and Ill go on record to say that sharks are more scared of humans then most people think. i cant even get close to a shark if I wanted to, unless im spearfishing then all bets are off, but normally they flee when sighting a human with bubbles, including hammerhead sharks. Bull sharks will check you out but wont attack you, I know, I usually dive with them in the winter when they are plentiful.

Other than that, I ocean swim all the time and have never seen a shark on my swims. Just dont swim early in the morning or late in the afternoon, thats when the baitfish are closer to shore thus bringing the other species to feed.

.

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I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard

Thanks for the input. Ended up staying sound side (MM 98). The water was about 10 feet from our door. The sound was calm, clear, and about 6' deep the whole way - perfect. No manatees though...

The picture below is the view prior to my morning swim. The island in the distance was about a mile away. Too bad I can only live like this 5 days out of the year.

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"Race day is a celebration of your training"

Thats Florida Bay or so called the Bay Side, just so you know there are more BIG sharks and Barracudas roaming the shallows on that side than there are on the ocean side, I guess you made it out alive, most people dont swim on that side except for the tourists, hehehehheehheehe

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I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard