Crocker Reef
Marked by red nun buoy No. 16, Crocker is not a sanctuary preservation area, so expect heavy fishing boat traffic, especially on the weekends. Two moorings are in place, one in about 55ft and one in 40ft. Starting a dive from the shallower buoy, you’ll find low-profile coral fingers topped with large star coral heads, as well as a few convoluted and smooth brain corals. Giant barrel, leathery barrel and brown tube sponges grow in large numbers on the fingers, along with many sea fans and sea plumes. The fingers are not continuous, but run toward deeper water in a broken pattern, gradually becoming more dense.
The sand channels are generally quite narrow, though in some places the reef fingers open up, creating spacious sand pockets. A sizeable population of yellowhead jawfish lives in the pockets, hovering vertically over their holes as they pluck bits of food from the water. Blue angelfish are also common on this section of Crocker Reef, as are rock beauties and honeycomb cowfish.
A long swim seaward will take you down a very gentle slope until you finally reach the shelf break at 60ft. The reef drops away steeply here, then levels out on a sandy plain at about 90ft. Currents often sweep the site, especially along the shelf break. This is an active zone, with big schools of bluestriped grunts, schoolmasters and Creole wrasses hugging the coral on top.
The hard-bottom reef crest at Crocker is about 17ft deep, supporting scattered plate-sized heads of hard coral and many soft corals. Blue Tangs, yellowtail snappers and a variety of damselfish are among the reef fish common in the shallow area.
Reproduced with permission from Diving & Snorkeling Florida Keys 2001 Lonely Plant Publications www.lonelyplanet.com