Diving Rocky Top Reef – Florida Keys

A beautiful patch reef in the midst of sand, sea grass beds, and crystal blue water. Could Rocky Top be the most vibrant coral reef in the Florida Keys? We’ll let you decide.

Diving Rocky Top in the Florida Keys

Rocky Top Diving Overview:

Rocky Top is a vibrant patch reef just off the shore of Islamorada in the Florida Keys. The site serves as home for thousands of fish, coral, and larger marine life such as sea turtles, sharks, and rays.

The top of the reef is about 15 feet below the surface while the sand is between 20 and 25 feet. Meaning, in addition to fantastic diving, Rocky Top also serves as an excellent snorkel site.

A mooring ball is pinned directly in the middle of the main reef patch. If your boat is attached to the mooring ball, navigation is easy: if you see reef, you’re there. If you’re in the sand or sea grass, you’re lost.

Our advice: circle around the reef peering under ledges, cracks, and crevices. After that, start making passes over top of the reef to view the wonder from above.

Additionally, smaller patch reefs are scattered around the area that are worth looking at as well.

What you may see:

The possibilities are endless! Overall, the Florida Keys offer a wide array of marine life. Head over to our “Guide to Common Reef Fish in South Florida” or check out a similar post:

• The 11 Coolest Ocean Animals in Florida
• Common Sharks Seen While Diving in Florida
• Sea Turtles of Florida
• 5+ Marine Life ID Resources in Florida

What We’ve Seen Diving in the Florida Keys:

Most notably, a resident green sea turtle I named “Bertle” in honor of a late mentor of mine, Captain Albert Hubby (Captain Bert). During the summer of 2019, Bertle and I had dozens of interactions as he could always be found in the same spot.

Additionally, we’ve come across nurse sharks, reef sharks, a manta ray, spotted eagle ray, and even close interactions with dolphins.

What dive shops go to Rocky Top in the Florida Keys?

The three most prominent dive shops in the area that use Rocky Top regularly are:

• Florida Keys Dive Center is my go-to shop in Islamorada. My dear friend, Captain Bert, used to run some of their boats and teach their SCUBA classes. Highly recommend going here to any one visiting the area.
• Islamorada Dive Center is another go-to shop that incorporates a lot of spear fishing into their dives. I’ve personally worked with one of their captains and spearfish guides and I can highly recommend their shop.
• Key Dives in Islamorada is connected to Bud and Mary’s Marina. A small operation, Rocky Top is just a swim away from their dock.

For more: Dive Operations in Islamorada and Dive Shops in Key Largo

Resources for this Dive:

We’re huge advocates of learning fish ID! On any dive, it’s handy to have and use ID cards so you can learn what you’re looking at! Our favorite are from Fish Cards. For more, click on the images below!

Waterproof Pocket Guide:

Photos and Media:

Help Protect the Coral Reef During Your Dive

Sunscreen! Shocking, I know! In fact, many popular sunscreen brands contain extremely harmful chemicals to our coral! Specifically, oxybenzone and octinoxate.

Because of this, we’ve partnered with our favorite brand of reef safe sunscreen, Stream2Sea! We want to get YOU discounts so you can help save our coral reefs with reef safe sunscreen!