Photo courtesy of Fury Fan Elina Eskina.

By Shayne Benowitz

It was a few months ago that I came across these pictures on our Facebook wall posted by Fury Fan Elina Eskina. I’ve had them flagged waiting to share with you all because they are too cute to pass up! During her jet ski tour, Elina and her family were treated with a dolphin sighting of amazing proportions. I’m not sure which is more adorable, though, the dolphins or her little boy in the pictures!

Photo courtesy of Fury Fan Elina Eskina.

On any given Fury trip, whether you’re snorkeling, parasailing, or sunset sailing, there’s a possibility that we might spot some dolphins. It happens more often than you might think. Dolphins travel in pods, so if you spot one chances are you’re going to see more!

Sometimes you catch one glimpse and they’re gone without a sight, and other times they’re playful and will frolic alongside the boat or surf in its wake. On even more rare occasions, you’ll actually see a dolphin leap all the way out of the water! Elina captured an amazing picture of this!

Photo courtesy of Fury Fan Elina Eskina.

During the jet ski tour, we always take a time-out at a sandbar to relax in the water and take in the beautiful surroundings. There’s lots of interesting critters to be found there, not to mention possible dolphin sightings! We try to give you a little bit of everything on this tour: free time to rev it up, a tour of the island, and gorgeous Mother Nature.

If spotting a dolphin’s in the wild is a must on your list, then we’re happy to have added a Dolphin Watch & Snorkel Tour to our menu. Our expert captains cruise out to the “dolphin playground,” an area in the backcountry ideal for their habitat. Sightings are almost always guaranteed. Afterwards, cool off in the crystal clear water for a little snorkeling and swimming of your own. You never know what amazing things you might spot when you’re on the water in Key West!

Let's go kayaking!

By Shayne Benowitz

I adore our new Island Adventure trip. Yes, you’ve heard me say it before, and I’m going to keep saying it! Perhaps it’s the small power cat facilitating a more intimate experience, perhaps it’s that there’s so much to discover in the backcountry, perhaps it’s the laid back pace that makes you never want to return to shore… Whatever it happens to be, I’m absolutely loving it!

I embarked on the Island Adventure a few weeks ago with Captain Steve F. at the helm and Christy and Chad working crew. I was psyched to see Chad on the boat since he trained me when I first started at Fury back in the summer of 2005! We don’t get to work together much anymore, so it’s always fun to get on the water with him.

We made it out to Rock Key for the snorkeling portion of the trip. It’s January and the water temps have definitely dropped, not so much that it’s too cold to get in, but enough that it will give you a chill at first plunge. As crew, we’re definitely more sensitive to the water temperature since we’re out in it every day, but just in case you get chilly too, we offer wetsuit rentals during the winter months for only $10 per person. It’s a nice option to have this time of year!

Snorkeling was great. We spotted plenty of yellowtail snapper and my favorite, the rainbow parrotfish. We cruised to the backcountry for a full afternoon of kayaking. The tide was high, so the sandbar that we normally go to was completely submerged. This just meant that Chrissy was going to lead us on an amazing kayak tour through the mangroves.

I hopped in a kayak with Chad and we launched out towards Woman Key. We paddled atop seagrass meadows and the hardbottom, and before too long we spotted a conch shell in the shallow water. We picked it up to discover that the conch was in there. After showing it to a few other passengers, we put him safely back in the water. That was the first of many conch shell sightings that afternoon.

Chrissy also pointed out the abundance of sea cucumbers where we were paddling and showed us the trick where you pick up the sea cucumber and it squirts out water. Pretty entertaining! We paddled along the fringe of a large mangrove island and ducked into a small trail where we were canopied by the tree branches until we made it out to the other side. The setting was so peaceful in the calm, shallow waters with the sun slowly lowering into the western horizon.

During the paddle, we spotted a couple of juvenile sharks at two different points. You could actually see their dorsal fins on the surface of the water. They were small–only two to three feet long–and we were able to get close and catch a glimpse of them. I’ve seen larger nurse sharks at the reef plenty of times, but it was very cool to see these little guys in such shallow water. It was a totally different experience.

We paddled back to the boat and pulled the last kayak onto the catamaran right as the sun melted into the water, concluding another gorgeous day in paradise.

2012 Conch Drop at Sloppy Joe's.

By Shayne Benowitz

Is it too late to still be wishing people Happy New Year’s? I don’t think so! Although I did mean to get to this New Year’s blog sooner, I think we can take our sweet time looking forward to what the new year will bring. We had a great celebration in Key West, and it was actually the first New Year’s I’d spent here since 2006, the year I moved here. Some of my best friends and I have a longstanding tradition of traveling for New Year’s. They all came to Key West to ring in 2007, and since then we’ve been to Seattle, Las Vegas, and twice to Miami. For 2012, it was time to bring the party back to the island!

A couple of good friends from New York, Ted and Colin, came down to celebrate  with me and we got the weekend started right on the Commotion on the Ocean. Nicole’s mom was in town and so was longtime Fury Girl Becky for the holiday, so they joined us as Cory & the band rocked us into a spectacular Key West sunset.

For New Year’s Eve, we got a nice group together for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants Blackfin Bistro and then cruised down Duval Street for the festivities. At 801 Bourbon, we saw Sushi in her stiletto before it dropped to ring in 2012. The block was absolutely packed, so we continued to Fogarty’s for the countdown. Everyone was out and ready to celebrate! We bounced around after that from Rick’s to the Lazy Gecko and finally to the Porch. And, of course, we couldn’t end the night without spotting the conch that dropped at Sloppy Joe’s. It was a great night!

At first I couldn’t think of exactly what my New Year’s resolution would be. 2011 was a big year for Fury and for me. The company’s expansion was exciting and we now have more trips than ever to offer our customers, including jet skiing, dolphin watching, the Double Dip snorkel trip, and the Island Adventure. All I could think of as a resolution was just to keep on keeping on. But a few days after the New Year, a mantra started to repeat itself in my mind: be energetic, be fearless, be positive. I think those will be good words to guide me through a New Year.

It was a blast to ring in 2012 in Key West and I look forward to more good times to come. Happy New Year’s everyone! May yours be healthy, wealthy, and… filled with snorkeling and parasailing!

A gorgeous Key West sunset.

By Shayne Benowitz

Anyone who knows me knows that New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday. They would also know that I think a Key West sunset is one of the most beautiful sights a person can witness. Celebrating the final sunset of 2011 on New Year’s Eve is a fitting way to get your night of merriment started. At Fury, we now have more ways than ever to enjoy a sunset sail and we’ll be throwing a couple of great parties on the water.
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Stewart's winning photo!

By Shayne Benowitz

If you’ve been to our Facebook page this month, then you’ve definitely noticed our new profile picture of a lush green mangrove tree taken by Stewart Foster, our fan of the month! We especially loved his picture because our brand new trip, the Island Adventure, explores the backcountry of the Gulf of Mexico filled with mangrove tree islands.

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