[Ron Reefman]

Hi 'water is wet' and thanks for helping keep this thread alive! And I don't care how bad your pics are, tell us a little about what you did. If you guys had a 'blast' let us know how to do it. I'm always looking for new sources of fun! Pleeeeeease???

Elaine and I typically get to the Keys 3 to 5 time between May and October, but our primary reason for going to the Keys is to snorkel... in fact, it's our secondary reason for going as well! Even though there are lots other fun things to do in the Keys.

OK, these are just opinions of mine (with some input from Elaine), so take it all with a grain of salt. Let us put your mind at ease, late November in the Keys has close to zero chance of a hurricane. The official hurricane season runs through the end of November. Google Florida hurricane data and you'll see there are very, very few that late in the season. And even the rainy season has ended by then so the chances of the typical afternoon thunder boomers is greatly reduced.

That said, weather can still be a bit iffy. My best guess is 80% or better chance of good weather, but northern cold fronts which NEVER get down to the Keys in April through October, can make it down during some of the dry season, November through April. A cold front could mean 1 to 3 days of windy, overcast and much cooler temperatures than are normal for November. And because the dry season cooler temps with highs only in the low 80's or even upper 70's, the water has started to cool down by then. We snorkeled the shallows (usually warmer water due to the sun heating it better than deep water) in very early December about 5 years ago. It was a nice sunny day with temps in the low 80's. We had on heavier wet suits than normal and I was OK after an hour (my wet suit was really heavy) but Elaine, who doesn't have any body fat and only had a good cold water wet suit, was cold enough after an hour that she needed to get out of the water and warm up in the sun. The other issue is that like the trees in fall and winter up north, some of the stuff in the water doesn't like the cooler temp either. We find less wildlife and things like zoa and paly polyps closed up and pulled in to avoid the cooler water.

The Tortugas will be a fun trip if weather is good. A giant PITA if the weather is bad as there is no place to hide from the weather. Elaine has been there 3 times and I've been once. We are going with 3 other couples in mid October. Two couples for 2 nights and two couples just for 1 night. We plan to do a night snorkel around the Fort Jefferson moat one night and to do some serious sky watching the other night. I think in late November the Milky Way will be about 45 degrees up from setting in the west just after it gets dark. Trust me, I'll have lots of pictures of that entire trip to post here. I got a new camera with a 83X zoom lens and we are shopping for a second tough camera for me to use snorkeling. I normally don't shot much underwater as I'm always lugging around stuff related to collecting. But I can't do that in the Tortugas, so I want a camera.

Just one suggestion, have alternative plans for things to do. If you need suggestions, this thread has some, or search on Google or ask here. I'd say my top 3 alternatives have been the History of Diving Museum, the Turtle Hospital and the Aquarium Encounters facility. But art galleries, deep sea fishing, the artist group called The Rain Barrel & Village, or almost anything in Key West. Also consider tracking down The No Name Pub for a lunch or informal dinner and then drive over to No Name Key and watch for the miniature Key Deer.

Whatever you do, just relax, live life on island time and enjoy your stay!

Oh, and tell us all about it, and I mean everything!!!