Ride Over Coral Reef in Key Largo

K E Y   L A R G O, Fla., March 5 -- For those who haven't been there, thename Key Largo probably brings to mind Humphrey Bogart, LaurenBacall, Edward G. Robinson and a hotel full of gangsters waitingout a hurricane with booze and gunplay.

But once you get to Key Largo, those black-and-white movieimages are wiped out by the rainbow of reality: The turquoise sea,the green mangroves, and the brilliant colors of tropical fish andother marine life found in the only contiguous coral barrier reefin North America.

The reef is located in the Florida Keys National MarineSanctuary, just 3 miles from the shores of John Pennekamp CoralReef State Park. You can reach the reef via a glass-bottom boatcalled the "Spirit of Pennekamp" that departs from the park threetimes a day.

Most of us have, at some point in our travels, been let down bythe promise of a natural wonder that did not fulfill expectations —a whale-watching cruise where a black dot amid distant waves wasthe sole whale sighting, or a wildlife trail where you were luckyto see a squirrel.

Coral Reef Doesn't Disappoint

But Key Largo's coral reef does not disappoint. Although thereef is 20 feet below the surface of the water, the coral and fishappear magnified, as if they are right beneath the glass, whichjuts down into the water in a V shape. My two young children andeveryone else on board were spellbound for the hour the boathovered above the reef for what appeared to be close-ups of themarine life. We saw yellow-and-black striped Sargent Major fish,blue hamlets, angelfish, barracudas, and the occasional green morayor turtle swimming by. The coral and seagrass in various shapes andcolors swayed dreamily with the waves. It was like looking at themost beautiful tropical aquarium we'd ever seen, only it was real.