Duck Key: The Best-Kept Diving Secret in the Continental U.S.

Duck Key: The Best-Kept Diving Secret in the Continental U.S.
However, divers of all levels hailing from the Western Hemisphere, including families who would like to dive together, don't have to break the bank, travel halfway around the world, or even go very deep beneath the surface to find a tropical underwater adventure. Thanks to the Florida Reef, the only living coral reef system in the continental U.S. and third largest in the world, there is a midpoint in the Florida Keys that is generating considerable excitement among diving enthusiasts in the know. Isolated from the bustle of Key Largo and Key West, the pristine Duck Key, home to the iconic Hawks Cay Resort are coming of age as a “much closer to home” diver's delight.

“People have no idea we have such a beautiful living reef in the continental U.S.,” said Jessica Pritt, manager of Dive Duck Key, a full-service diving retail shop based out of Hawks Cay Resort's marina. “We have fabulous coral reef diving that novice as well as highly experienced divers will appreciate, and it's right here in our backyard.”

Whether SCUBA, SNUBA (where the tanks float above and divers are connected via hose), snorkeling or even spearfishing (taught the environmentally sensitive, smart and safe way) are a guest's fancy, Hawks Cay offers the perfect reef-driven destination. The resort offers easy access to the Florida Reef, which runs parallel down the Florida Keys only three to five miles offshore from Key Largo to Key West, providing a real advantage for divers who would like to escape the crowds and enjoy an unparalleled and uncluttered reef-diving experience. Both deep and shallow dives are easily accessible from the resort, so friends and families of all ages and skill levels can take a trip together.

“The best part about diving the Florida Reef from Hawks Cay is you really feel like an explorer,” continued Pritt. “Hawks Cay is the only resort on Duck Key, so our divers are literally the only people out on the reef. It's a very peaceful and magical experience that introduces guests to the wonderful, untouched underwater world.”

For the more advanced divers who seek a “deeper” diving experience, the Florida Reef is perhaps its most exquisite in the 60-80 foot depth range. In addition, the Thunderbolt shipwreck – a WWII cable layer ship purchased and used for years by Florida Keys Power and Electric to test the effects of lightning strikes in the ocean – was cleaned up and intentionally sunk to approximately 120 feet in the 1980s to become the reef diver's highly desired exploration that it is today.

With expert guides and a wide range of diving tours to meet every need, a magnificent reef home to more than 1,200 species of tropical fish and such other sea creatures as eels, stingrays, lobsters and sea turtles and a non-commercial destination that offers proximity and ease without the hustle and bustle, Hawks Cay Resort may soon be a destination that even the Aussies want to check out.

For more information on Hawks Cay Resort as well as diving excursions, please visit https://www.hawkscay.com/experience/dive-duck-key/ or call (877) FUN – DIVE. For information about the Florida Keys, please visit www.fla-keys.com.