When Jeff Bowman was 10 years old, his dad returned from Vietnam and surprised the family with a camping trip to the Florida Keys. "I was afraid to get in the water at first, certain there were sharks," Bowman recalled.
"Once I got in the water, though, my fear just went away. I was immersed in this golden forest of staghorn coral that was 10 times the size of me. Anytime you are immersed in that much beauty, it changes you."
Bowman recounts this seminal moment that would set the course of his life. He returned to the Keys, Key West to be specific, in 2008 to launch his charter business, Namaste Eco-Excursions, which is now located in Stock Island Marina Village. The village is just five miles from Old Town and steps from the new Perry Hotel Key West on Stock Island, which paid for my eco-excursion.
Bowman's company is a model of sustainable tourism, taking small groups (no more than six people) to experience the Florida Keys Wildlife Preserve and Florida Reef. "I want my guests to experience what I did when I was 10 years old," said Bowman, hoping to ignite a shared passion to preserve the coral and the ecosystem in which it thrives.
A retired teacher, Bowman does the talking while Capt. Justin Pasca navigates their ship, the Reef Geek, out of Safe Harbor on Stock Island (the vessel's name comes from the slang for the professionals whose mission is to save the coral).
Namaste Eco-Excursions trips venture out to Florida Reef, the only barrier coral reef in North America. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Namaste Eco-Excursions
Bowman opens a photo book to introduce the marine sanctuary to me and one other journalist. We learn about the plight of coral reefs and the effect warming waters and, more importantly, pollution is having on them.
Bowman is hopeful for the coral's healthy return. "This is the epicenter of coral restoration on the planet," he said, describing the work of two scientists and their labs in the Florida Keys; 4% of each Namaste excursion fare supports their work. "The world comes to us, because the reef is so accessible. You can reach it in 15 minutes."
Soon we'll see some ourselves, but first, our two-stop eco-excursion is headed for the red mangrove forest located about 7 miles up the eastern side of the Keys to the Great White Heron Wildlife Refuge, one of the oldest refuges in the country.
The boat ride itself is along the clearly delineated bands of turquoise and aquamarine waters that make you feel as though you are far from it all. Soon, we are tied off in protected waters; fishermen in kayaks dot the horizon.
Bowman and Pasca unload the kayaks, and all four of us leave the boat for some paddling deep into the red mangrove forest where Bowman informs us of their many roles, from juvenile fish nursery to protector against storm surge. It's so quiet inside the forest that I can hear the sound of my paddle slipping into the water and the drip as I pull the blade out. The feeling of peace within those mangrove tunnels is something that stays with me long after we depart.
Our second stop required a 7-mile ride out to a reef. Since there were still some larger swells as a result of the storm from the day before, Pasca selected a secret location (judging by the fact that we were the only boat there) that was slightly more protected than the one he often takes guests to snorkel.
I'd sort of forgotten the Zen quality of being immersed in the ocean, a usually hidden world revealed to me on the other side of my mask. We swam into a school of yellow-and-white striped French grunts. I was heartened to see clusters of thriving orange-colored coral, each polyp its own organism. The colorful specimens were on display too: a parrotfish, French and queen angelfish, electric-blue damsels and swishing purple fans.
Yellow-and-white-striped French grunts. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Namaste Eco-Excursions
Then we saw what Bowman had been most excited about: plantings of elkhorn coral (in the same family as staghorn) that had been pruned from a coral nursery and glued to rocks here in conditions where they are expected to flourish. This is the work of Ken Nedimyer's Coral Restoration Foundation, a nonprofit out of Key Largo whose success Bowman is counting on.
I'm pretty sure that when I return with my family one day soon, Bowman has a good shot at making a reef geek out of my daughter.
Namaste Eco-Excursions operates out of Stock Island Marina Village, about five miles from Old Town, Key West. A fully immersive, hands-on learning experience starts at $119 per person and includes ice-cold drinks, snacks and a Facebook album packed with pictures to share.
Their website is http://namastesailing.com/ but their Facebook page Namaste Eco Excursions is updated often.