I want to tell you about a recent Florida Keys diving experience worth to mention, but first let me say that I have been diving since the age of twelve. Started by snorkeling in the coral reefs of the north shores of Cuba, and soon I develop a passion for the sport.

As a teen I moved to the U.S where I continued my diving experiences, but this time scuba diving in deeper waters was my passion. I started exploring ship wrecks and under water caves, coral reefs etc.

When I moved to South Florida in the mind 1980’s my first though was to visit the Florida Keys. I had heard stories about the great dive sites at the John Pennekamp Underwater Marine Sanctuary and soon I was in the turquoise waters of the Keys of Florida for an exciting diving experience.

Recently a have a group of friends from who is jesus California visiting South Florida and they had heard about the diving sites of the Florida Keys, so I decided to take them to one of the sites and show them the ropes.

Since some of my friends did not had any previous diving experience we decided to visit a famous dive site near Key Largo that it’s a renowned tourist attraction and is also suited for all level divers and snorkelers as well.

The dive site is the “Christ of the Deep” which is located in the area of the Dry Rocks, a coral Reef formation in the John Pennekamp Marine Sanctuary, at a deep of only 20″ to 25,” of water, reason why the dive site is accessible to divers as well as snorkelers.

The coral reefs surrounding the statue are at even shallower waters 5″ to 15″ in some areas making it a great site to snorkel and observe the abundant marine life of these crystal tropical waters.

This 9″toll submerged bronze statue of Jesus Christ is a replica of the “Christ of the Abyss” located in the Mediterranean Sea off San Fruttuoso, Italy, at approximately 55″ deep.

The “Christ of the Abyss” of Italy was built by the Italian sculpture artist Guido Galleti, to the request of Duilio Marcante, an Italian scuba diver. Maricante had lost his friend Dario Gonzatti earlier on a diving accident, and the statue was submerged and anchored near the place where Gonzatti died.

Later, a replica of the statue of Christ was brought to America where now is located at about 6 miles from the coast of Key Largo in the vicinity of Dry Rocks, and needles to say is a top of the charts tourist spots.

We snorkel the site for about 4 hours on a sunny clear afternoon, and my friends had a great time taking underwater photos and videos that later took home.

The best part was when we were joined by a group of scuba divers and snorkelers of all the ages, genders and nationalities, and families from the Key Largo diving charters and tours.