This past weekend, my wife indulged me. Together with our yellow lab, we made the 4 hour drive to the Lower Keys to participate in the 22nd Annual Underwater Music Festival. Located in the Looe Key Marine Sanctuary, the Festival featured underwater-themed music ("Octopus's Garden," "Yellow Submarine," various Buffet tunes); coral conservation messages; an underwater Elvis impersonator; a mermaid and an underwater band; underwater art; and several hundred divers. All in all, it was a very cool experience. I'm glad I went.
Of course, I've never attended an underwater music festival before, so I was curious. We decided to spend the day with Looe Key Resort and Dive Center. When I signed us up, I was pleased to learn that we'd be going out on their 45-foot catamaran, the Kokomo Cat. Even after we got to the dive shop that morning, and I saw that the boat was hosting 45 divers and 3 crew, it turned out fine: the boat was adequate (although not spacious). Nobody dropped any tanks on anybody's toes, and we all got along well.
We left the dock around 10:30, enjoyed a leisurely 20 minute ride to the reef, tied to the mooring line, threw the waterproof speakers (donated by Lubell Labs) into the water, geared up, and jumped in. The diving was easy: the water was 85 degrees (although I saw people in wetsuits and one woman even wore a hood!); max depth was only 23 feet; and because you could hear music from the boats, it was virtually impossible to get lost. The reef is home to plenty of morays, turtles, and huge parrotfish. I heard there were Goliath grouper, a shark, and some rays in the area, but I never saw them.
On the down side, however, the current was moderate, and the water was so murky that I'd call it "chunky"; viz was 15-20 feet, so getting photos was difficult (I'll post them in a Part II). Moreover, I was amazed at how bleached the coral was: I'd estimate that 55% of the coral was bone-white.
Although the day was fun -- and I'd recommend the experience to any diver -- the Festival's organization was appalling. This was the 22nd year the Festival had been held, and I was disappointed with the coordination. When we reached the site, I asked our boat captain where the underwater art was; he didn't know. Later, I asked him where the underwater Elvis was; he didn't know that either. Fortunately, the boat hosting the art -- nice paintings on laminate supported between weighted PVC pipe frames -- had a sign that read "Sea Art Below." I swam to the boat, checked out the artwork, and asked them where Elvis was. They told me, and I battled the current to reach the boat that hosted Elvis, only to learn -- he'd quit for the day.
What?! It was only noon! The festival lasts until 4!
Needless to say, I was absolutely annoyed. After all, the primary reason we attended the Festival was so I could take a photo of a dude dressed as Elvis playing a pretend guitar in the water. I angrily returned to the boat and ate my sandwich. During the third dive of the day, I spent my time looking for the Goliath grouper. They must've quit early, too, since I couldn't find them, either.
Upon returning home, I managed to find a photo of Elvis. He looked like this:
And the mermaid looked like this:
(Thanks to Fla-Keys.com for the photos.)
As I said, it was a fun day, but I was disappointed with the organization. Should you go? If you're in the area, I'd certainly recommend it. It was fun to see so many people celebrating the reef system, diving among the marine life, happy to be diving. My wife asked me if I'd go again, and I said yes, except next time, I'd call around, learn which dive shop is hosting Elvis, and sign up for a trip with them. While the event was fun, the Elvis and the mermaid are the real draw, and missing them was quite a let-down.
