DIVE TIME | By Tim Grollimund

Home waters and wildlife

Diving overseas, traveling reminds us: there’s no place like Keys’ reefs

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Posted - Friday, May 13, 2011 10:09 AM EDT

I recently got back from a diving and photography trip to the Philippines, which I wrote about in my last column (April 29). Each time I leave the Keys, I get a greater appreciation for what we have here, and am quite happy to return to paradise. I am rapidly approaching the frame of mind where you will literally have to pay me to leave the Keys for another dive destination.

While it is wonderful to see ocean life we don’t have here, like mandarin fish, ribbon eels, sea snakes, various nudibranchs and different species of reef fish, coming home from an exotic destination is just as special as leaving. When I lived in Virginia, I never felt that way on the way home. But then again, I was a “suit” — a department manager in a big bank — with a fair amount of responsibilities. I like coming home to world-class diving. And I like watching visiting divers get as excited as I do when we encounter a turtle, nurse shark, eagle ray or big barracuda. Half the fun of living here is sharing that passion with the folks that come a long way to see what we see every day. I’d say that’s a great place to live.

Don’t get me wrong — there are many, many places I’d love to see. But coming home to the Keys is an exotic destination in itself. Just look at our statistics. Millions of visitors a year come here to see the third largest barrier reef system in the world. Not too shabby. So when I got home from the Philippines, it was like coming home to a vacation that was interrupted by another vacation. There are not many places in America that hold that distinction. I’m glad I’m here to experience that.

Close encounters

On the way home from the trip — specifically about seven hours into the 11-hour flight from Korea to Los Angeles — and the on-demand movies didn’t work! — I thought a lot about what I would see and do when I got home. It’s deep into a seemingly endless flight, or during a long layover in an airport, that makes me wonder why I leave the Keys in the first place. Traveling has its excitement, its unique experiences and exotic locales, but sometimes it’s a real pain getting there and back. And a real pleasure getting home.

Since I got home, I have been able to do and see some things I can’t see other places. For example, I photographed students and volunteers for the Coral Restoration Foundation as they planted over 150 staghorn coral fragments on Molasses Reef. And the bonus on one of those dives was an encounter with two very large tarpon right under the boat — the closest I have been able to get to tarpon — ever. And on Earth Day we took volunteers to the Wellwood site to see firsthand the effectiveness of the CRF effort. Astounding, truly. CRF is making a difference.

When I couple that with the goliath groupers at Fire Coral cave, the dozens of eagle rays we saw last week on Deep Molasses, the wrecks like the Duane and Spiegel Grove, and the usual suspects — southern stingrays, turtles, schools of jacks and all the varieties of angel fish — why leave?

On our trip we did not come close to seeing a vast array of fish like we see routinely on Snapper Ledge or the south end of Molasses at the pillar coral. Last weekend, on one dive on Permit Ledge, we saw several large groupers, a massive school of chubs, a school of horse- eye jacks, an eagle ray that swam in circles around us, a group of permit in the cave with the copper sweepers, a stingray and more grunts, creole wrasse and blue chromis than you can count. Yes, the Philippines had more robust and abundant coral, but we’ve got the fish. And we’re working on the coral.

So when I become complacent with everyday mundane activities, I can go jump off a boat and be at home in a place millions of people come to see. I have developed a simple attitude — you never know what you’re going to see in the water today, so let’s go! Not many folks in this world can say that. Glad we can. And yes, it’s good to be home.

Since I moved to the Keys and simplified my life, island time has become a very good thing.

If you have information on unusual marine life sightings or great diving conditions, please write to me. I welcome your feedback.

Tim Grollimund is a freelance photographer based in Key Largo. He can be reached at tim@timgimages.com.