The keys to happiness
Jacqui Thake discovers that the fish really are biting in glorious Florida
Maybe it’s karma for all the fish I’ve eaten over a lifetime. But I really didn’t expect to be gobbled by marine life in return. Tarpon feeding is a big tourist attraction here in the Florida Keys, so while at Robbie’s Marina in Islamorada I eagerly picked up my bucket of small fry, leant over the key and dangled a tasty morsel above the water.
The reaction was immediate. Dozens of ‘monster’ fish leapt at me and the biggest snatched my offering – and my hand; its sandpaper mouth drawing blood in several places around my wrist.
I obviously wasn’t the first victim as I was efficiently taken off to be washed and disinfected alongside two other past fish abusers.
Maybe they need a sign saying: “Beware of the fish”.
Happily, not all the tourist attractions here are as dangerous. Although the overexcited map reader in our group of kayakers did take us on a questionable route through the mangrove creeks at Key Largo’s John Pennekamp Park (pennekamppark.com).
And it was only because the kindly captain of a larger craft warned us we were headed for the open sea did we avoid becoming fodder for yet more ocean creatures.
Riding the waves on a jet ski, however, is a whole different kettle of