Islamorada Scuba Diving some of the Best Dive Sites in Florida

El Infante

If you go to Islamorada scuba diving then one of the scuba diving trips you will enjoy is a dive tour of the Spanish Galleons.

On July 15th 1733, the Silver Plate Fleet was struck by a hurricane whilst on its way back to Spain from Havana, Cuba. Some 20 ships and their treasures were lost to the ravages of the storm.

One of the ships in this Spanish fleet was the 60 gun El Infante. Located just 75m southeast of Little Conch Reef nothing much is left of the galleon other than some ballast stones and wooden beams.

Islamorada scuba diving centers encourage scuba divers at this site to hunt for treasure. The wreck is well known for the silver coins found amongst the wreck called pillar dollars.

Hundreds of these special edged coins have been found over the years and even now after hurricanes have disturbed the seas, coins can be found in the outer regions away from the wreck.

If you plan to dive for treasure bring a solid item such as a plastic board as you will need to fan the sand to uncover hidden treasures.

Little Conch Reef and the surrounding area is stunning so whilst hunting for treasure you can discover the reefs own treasures such as fire coral and brain coral, tube sponges, rope sponges and seafans.

Terence's Notes

El Infante
Depth: 6-9m (20-30ft)
Visibility: 9-39m (30-130ft)
Novice
Wreck Dive
Snorkeling: No

Scuba Diving Videos

Scuba diving videos often capture the beauty of sharks as they swim through the water in their unique style.

Here is the opportunity to watch one of my favorite clips taken at Little Conch Reef of a beautiful shark -a nurse shark - this is some excellent video showing you what to expect at this dive site (press the button second right on the bottom of the video player to see it in full screen)...

terence the turtle Terence's Log

I travelled here on a tour with one of the Islamorada scuba diving centers.

Whilst there wasn't much to see at the wreck there was still a sense of adventure after we had been given the history of the Silver Fleet Wrecks, the discoveries over the years and it was fun to search for treasure in the surrounding area even though I didn't find anything.