54. Shell Key Anchorage and Mooring Field
Statute Mile:1161
Lat/Lon: near 24 55.548 North/080 40.264 West
Location: the state of Florida maintains a series of 5 five mooring buoys off the Shell Key’s northwesterly shoreline
Minimum depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: good, but open to northern and northwestern winds
Rating: 
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55. Lignumvitae Key Mooring Field
Statute Mile:1162.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 54.410 North/080 42.246 West
Location: state of Florida maintained mooring field lies off the the northwestern side of Lignumvitae Key
Minimum depth: 6- to 7-foot depths
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair to poor, sheltered ONLY from southeastern, southern and eastern winds
Rating:
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We spent a night on the western side of Lignumvitae Key due to east winds of 18-20 knots. We were well protected in the lee of this island with good holding in sand with our Delta plow anchor. There was again, only one mooring ball at the northern tip of the key and since it was very exposed to the east wind we decided not to use it.
Victor
Lignumvitae House and Tour continue to be only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One can visit and walk around the house area only on Mondays and Thursdays. The outside of the dock is available to tie up but watch the depth – I think it was under five feet. We tied to a mooring ball on 3-11-2010 – there are only two left.
56. Matecumbe Bight Anchorage
Statute Mile:1166
Lat/Lon: near 24 52.255 North/080 42.856 West
Location: on the large bubble of deep water known as Matecumbe Bight, south-southeast of the ICW’s unlighted daybeacon #97
Minimum depth: 6 ½ feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to northern, northwestern and western winds
Rating:
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Matecumbe Bight. Anchored here May 5, 2012. Things were good until shortly before dark. Fishing boats started buzzing us. One came so close to our bow that I thought he was going to hit us. One boat stopped by and told us we were in the fishing boats “runway.” So, even though it was dark, we pulled up anchor and moved farther NE behind the mangroves. There apparently is a creek that you can see on the chart, but not the naked eye, the fishing boats use.
This is one of our favorite Keys anchorages. For some reason, the water is always clear, even on the turn of the tides, and the holding is superb. We frequently check our bottom here with the excellent visibility and is a nice place to take a dip. We have rarely seen other boats here. Even if the wind switched from the West, we wouldn’t worry as the most you’d get is a bumpy 2-3 foot chop. There is nothing available here to the cruiser.
June 2009, found good holding and depths as shown on chart.
57. Matecumbe Harbor Anchorage
Statute Mile:1168
Lat/Lon: near 24 51.057 North/080 44.520 West
Location: marked entryway into Matecumbe Harbor lies well south-southwest of the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #98 and unlighted daybeacon #97
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Special Comment: this is a powercraft ONLY anchorage, due to the nearby presence of low-level, high tension power lines
Swing Room: sufficient room for a 39 foot vessel
Foul Weather Shelter: very good, in all but unusually strong northern winds
Rating: (powercraft ONLY!)
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58. Long Key Bight Anchorage
Statute Mile:1169
Lat/Lon: 24 49.697 North/080 47.962 West
Location: on the central waters of Long Key Bight, which lies west of Channel Five’s flashing daybeacon #2
Minimum depth: 4 to 4 ½ feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair
Rating:
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59. Rock Harbor Anchorage
Lat/Lon: near 25 04.048 North/080 27.454 West.
Location: found on the waters of “Rock Hbr,” southeast of Port Largo Canal and Lake Largo
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to southern, eastern and southeastern winds
Rating:
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60. Rodriguez Key Anchorage
Lat/Lon: near 25 03.373 North/080 27.285 West
Location: lies to the north of Rodriguez Key, northwest of Hawk Channel’s unlighted daybeacon #37
Minimum depth: 6 feet in the anchorage, but it’s easy to wander into only 2 to 4 feet of water
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: poor – fair weather ONLY anchorage
Rating:
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New BRIS 11' Inflatable Dinghy (grey, w/oars, aluminum floor) floated away 3/25-3/26 from anchored 38' Beneteau sloop 'Winds or Knot' (white w/blue sail-cover and blue bimini), at Rodriguez Key, FL.
REWARD for Return. 620-767-2736
i have anchored at rodriguexz at least ten times in my trips to from keys and molllasses reef. \best holding anchorage is in back on nw side but any side in a blow can be done. Hawk side in nw ti n winds// west bay side in all s windss. Its an easy run tgo Marathon or dinner key its minutes from fuel in key largo great spot R Tony Pozun c400 catalina Mystical Paradise 6 ft draft
61. Snake Creek Anchorage
Lat/Lon: near 24 57.684 North/080 35.721 West
Location: on the northwesterly arm of the Y-shaped split in Snake Creek south of unlighted daybeacon #10
Minimum depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 36 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: very good
Rating:
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62. Long Key Bight Anchorage
Lat/Lon: 24 49.697 North/080 47.962 West
Location: on the central waters of Long Key Bight, which lies west of Channel Five’s flashing daybeacon #2
Minimum depth: 4 to 4 ½ feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair
Rating:
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Sheltered here from strong northerly winds (20s kts. sustained, gusts into 30s). Found poor holding with very sticky clay/mud. The mud glued together a debris ball that fouled my anchor forcing me to clean and reset at the height of the blow. Long key is an uncomfortably close lee shore in strong N – NE winds.
63. Jewfish Bush Banks Anchorage
Statute Mile:1169.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 50.918 North/080 46.952 West
Location: west of the correctly charted 1-foot shelf of shallows associated with Jewfish Bush Banks, west and north of the Channel Five Bridge
Minimum depth: 7-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to the northern, northeastern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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The “desired” anchorage according to the guides is Jewfish Hole. Heavy grass/weed bottom. Only a heavy plow has a chance to dig in. Danforth type anchors just skid along the bottom for a good chunk of “salad fixins.” I would not anchor here in any sort of blow as your holding will always be tentative. The only positive is that there is a campground there with ice, fuel and a quik mart.
64. Grassy Key Bank Anchorage
Statute Mile:1181
Lat/Lon: near 24 46.483 North/080 56.506 West
Location: east of Grassy Key Bank, and off the shores of Grassy Key to the south
Minimum depth: 6 ½ feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to northern, northeastern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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65. Grassy Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1183.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 45.832 North/080 57.913 West
Location: on the waters northeast of the “Obstn” notation, off the northwesterly shores of Grassy Key
Minimum depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to northern, northeastern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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66. Long Point Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1185
Lat/Lon: near 24 45.182 North/080 59.481 West
Location: lies northwest of Long Point Key and southwest of charted Burnt Point
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Protection: Good, but open to northern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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67. Bamboo Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1185.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 45.335 North/081 00.412 West
Location: off the northwestern shores of Bamboo Key, which is found north of Fat Deer Key
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Protection: poor, sheltered ONLY from easterly winds
Rating:
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We once tried to drop the hook at Bamboo Key for over a half hour because of the beautiful water clarity and serenity. After numerous attempts in calm conditions, the hook would not set. We discovered it is a thin layer of sand over hard coral. We would not consider anchoring here even to snorkel without someone aboard and that would only be in very light conditions. Otherwise, very pretty.
68. Fat Deer Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1187.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 44.547 North/081 00.657 West
Location: lies east-northeast of Vaca Cut’s unlighted daybeacon #1
Minimum depth: 5-feet, but soundings drop off much sooner, moving east, than chart 11451 would lead you to believe
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Protection: fair, wide open to northern, northeastern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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69. Russel Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1187.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 44.435 North/081 01.990 West
Location: off the waters east of Russel Key, south of the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #13
Minimum depth: 6+ feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 42 feet
Foul Weather Protection: Good, but open to northeastern, eastern and northern winds
Rating:
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70. Marathon Shores Anchorage
Statute Mile:1189
Lat/Lon: near 24 43.937 North/081 03.608 West
Location: south of the Waterway’s unlighted daybeacon #14, and 100 yards north of the Marathon Shores banks
Minimum depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to northern, northeastern or northwestern winds
Rating:
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71. Rachel Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1189.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 43.693 North/081 04.549 West
Location: Rachel Key lies south of unlighted daybeacon #15; anchorage is found north of Rachel Key
Minimum depth: 6 ½ feet
Swing Room: Unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: poor, sheltered only from southern winds
Rating:
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Comments from Cruisers (2)
Steamboat Channel and Shell Key
From Plantation Key we headed towards Steamboat Channel. Prior to the Steamboat Channel, there was some sailor angst about shallow water at low tide even on the ICW Magenta line, but we never touched bottom. Steamboat Channel had adequate depth and we went through without any problems. Spent overnight on the northwest side of Shell Key. Good holding with a Delta plow anchor. There was only one mooring ball visualized and of course taken by late afternoon.
We had good holding here in 5-15 knots from ESE through SW. Nice quiet anchorage that was almost bug-free too.