My husband, and teenage son and I had a wonderful peaceful private tour with Garl. It was about $75.00 a person which was well worth it. We were well cared for and expertly equipped with kayaks and snorkel equipment. Garl even shared some Gatorade and fresh fruit on our adventure. We paddled to a mangrove island and observed the quiet serenity of being under the trees and just listening and watching the creatures. Then we snorkeled in and around the mangroves and even saw a sunken boat teaming with fish. We felt very safe and had plenty of time to enjoy. Our guide has a wonderful friendly black lab dog that comes along on the trip. The sweet dog only adds to the enjoyment. We stopped after about 3 or 4 hours because thunder and lightening was moving in. I enjoyed this adventure more than the trip to pennecamp reef the day before!
If you are a novice snorkeler, this trip to the mangrove is so much easier to learn to snorkel. Garl shows you how to snorkel and changes out equipment if you need it. Also if you panic you are permitted to stand up and adjust your mask. You are snorkeling in calm shallow water and can see such beautiful colorful fish swimming in the mangroves.
When you do the ocean snorkel you cannot stand up! If you have trouble with your breathing you must keep your feet from touching the reef. The ocean at John Pennecamp can be much more intimidating! So do Garls Kayak, snorkel in key largo first. Then once you feel confident of snorkeling then try pennecamp ocean snorkel. Love Garls, can't wait to go back!