While in Florida Ashley and I heard about a snorkeling trip, so we decided to check it out. We both had never been snorkeling before so we thought it would be a lot of fun. On the snorkeling trip they take you out to Egmont Key, which was about a 45 minute boat ride from St. Pete beach. Egmont Key was actually used as a military base from 1858 – 1923. We were actually going to be snorkeling the ruins of the fort that has been sunken by years of erosion and violent storms. This was great because I love history, especially military history.

Once we got to the snorkeling spot, which basically looked like some concrete sticking up out of the water we were given our snorkeling gear and life jackets. The life jackets were the ones that allowed you to deflate them so you could dive down very deep. After jumping into the water Ashley and I got used to using the snorkeling gear and we started to look around. There were a ton of baby fish closer to the top of the water, but as you went down deeper you could see larger fish, we even saw a crab hiding under some rocks. You really could not make out that much of the old fort. It is covered with years of coral growth. I was able to sit up on the part of the fort that was sticking out of the water, as you can see pictured above. It was a really cool experience and if you haven’t done it you should. It is crazy because you are swimming right there with the fish.

We were unable to actually go onto the Island of Egmont key but the captain of the boat took us around the island so we could take a look at the lighthouse. The lighthouse is still working and is over 150 years old! On the island you can see old buildings, brick roads, and gun batteries that were built to defend Tampa Bay in 1898. There is also a lot of really cool wildlife on the island as it is a wildlife refuge. It would have been really cool to go on the island but we did this the day before we had to leave so we could not. If we are ever down by Tampa again I would love to be able to check out the island. On the boat ride back we saw a sea turtle and quite a few dolphins, which made the trip!