Boulder jetty walls that act as an accidental reef in the middle of a city, spiny lobster, octopus, moray eels, huge snapper…Boulder jetty walls that act as an accidental reef in the middle of a city, spiny lobster, octopus, moray eels, huge snapper, spotted eagle rays and juvenile tropicals that ride in on the Gulf Stream, all a hundred metres from South Beach. Meanwhile cruise ships pass close enough to read the name. Government Cut was dredged in 1905, severing the southern tip of Miami Beach and creating Fisher Island. Repeated deepening for post-Panamax ships has been blamed for smothering nearby reef in sediment. The jetty rock has become one of the most species-rich hard structures in Miami-Dade, an artificial reef nobody planned. Anchorage: No anchoring in the Cut. Snorkel from the beach or drop a swimmer from a tender well outside the channel. Hazards: This is a working shipping inlet with constant cruise-ship, cargo and pilot-boat traffic and a fierce tidal current. Snorkel the outside of the rocks only, on slack water, and never enter the channel. More