Seaplane to Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson

The Dry Tortugas are a group of small islands 70 miles west from Key West and visiting them by seaplane is the best thing I've ever done from Key West and one of my highlights of the year. The flight is only at 500 feet so the ocean views are stunning but that's only a warm up for the island itself which is dominated by the huge Fort Jefferson, the largest brick made structure in the Americas. Then there's the beach and snorkeling. I visited Key West for years without visiting the Tortugas and that was a mistake - make sure you include the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson in your itinerary.

View of Fort Jefferson and the snorkeling area in front from the seaplane at the Dry Tortugas

Here are 11 things that are cool about a seaplane trip to the Dry Tortugas:

• You get to fly in a small, 12 seat seaplane! That's cool!
• You get amazing aerial views of Key West on take off and landing
• For most of the flight you're at only 500 feet so you see loads of turtles, dolphins and other marine life in the water
• You get to see all the lonely keys and sandbars between Key West and the islands - along with informative commentary from pilot
• You're immersed in the Caribbean colors of the ocean - beautiful blues and greens
• When you land on water at the Dry Tortugas experience how soft a water landing is
• If you go on the morning trip you arrive 90 minutes before the ferry so you have the fort and island to yourself, which is awesome and makes a real difference
• Fort Jefferson, with its 16 million red bricks, is very photogenic
• As is the vista out to open ocean which includes the Dry Tortugas lighthouse, 157 feet high, a few miles away on Loggerhead Key
• The snorkelling, very close (like 10 metres) off the island, is easy to do and good. Much better than any snorkelling in Key West
• The colors, clarity and contrasts are stunning and you end up with some amazing photographs. The photos you see below are the set I'm most proud of across all my tens of thousands of photos of the Florida Keys - see below

FAQs - visiting the Dry Tortugas

Getting out of Key West for a day

If you have the time it's great to get away from the small island which is Key West and take a day on the Lower Keys where there's lots of interesting stuff to do - and that's exactly what we did today. The requirements were: getting away from Highway 1, not too much time in the car, "getting close to" nature, and getting salty wet.

We've also done a fair number of things up and down the Keys already. So we didn't want to do the Turtle Hospital again, or Theatre of the Sea - even though both are excellent.

Here's what we did today. First stop Publix in Key West for picnic provisions. Then out on Highway 1 to Sugarloaf Key, coming off the main road onto Sugarloaf Blvd. and drove for a few miles amongst the mangroves. I wanted to take Old State Road 4a north to do the loop and rejoin Highway 1 but it was closed. So we took the Old State Road 4a south for a little while, to where it crosses Sugarloaf Creek, turned back and came back the same way we came.

Florida Keys

There'a a lot more to the Florida Keys than Key West.   The Keys archipeligo is 200 miles long, no more than wafer thin in parts, and has 823 islands to explore.

Driving the Florida Keys 
Driving the Florida Keys is a bizarre, fantastic and beautiful experience.  For 50% of the drive you are stuck by the awesome beauty of the landscape and seascape.  Its extreme beauty with endless vistas of sea, mangrove and dramatic clouds.

You're on a narrow strip of land and on either side of the road or bridge is ocean - the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.

Just a few miles out of Key West on Highway 1.  

Further up the Keys - a typical view.

On much of the drive you get a magnificent view of mangroves and ocean.

Small islands and big ocean.  This the view from the beach at Bahia Honda.

(But this not the story for the whole of the 126 mile drive.  For the other 50% you can't see the ocean because the land/island is wider and you just see trees, or houses.  There is also a fair share of run down houses, apartments and hotels and dreadful, ugly commercialism.  Even in paradise, you need to take the rough with the smooth!)

Here's my account of the drive down to Key West and when the good bits start!

Faded but comforting
I love the rather faded aspect of the Florida Keys.  Some of the buildings and signs are tacky and commercial, some are classics.  Take these as examples of the gems available to make the miles go by on your drive:

Rainbow Bend Resort sign in Marathon at MM 57.  Of all the many fantastic signs on Highway 1 down the Florida Keys this is maybe my favorite.  Not sure if that's because of the face of the guy in the boat, the crazy and slightly comical name or the rainbow in the sign.  Both cool and hilarious at the same time. 

Islamorada welcomes you.

BEST PLACES TO VISIT ON THE DRIVE DOWN THE FLORIDA KEYS

The 2 Best beaches

There's lots of places to stop, but my top two recommendations are:

Bahia Honda State Park - MM36
This is quite a large beach (ok, not that big really, this is the Keys after all).  I suppose the beach at the larger end is a mile long.  It regularly appears in the Top 10 beaches in the USA list.  As a result, it can get busy in peak season.

Curry Hammock State Park - MM56
This is relatively quiet place so it's a hidden gem.  I shouldn't really be telling you about it because I love it and I want it all to myself!    It's a tiny, tiny state park and a small beach and there is nothing to do.  But it's beautiful.

See here for my full article on Curry Hammock, lots more pictures and a video of me in the clear blue water here in the park.

Best non-beach places to stop and break your drive

Theater of the Sea - MM 84
It's got several shows - dolphins, sea lions, plus loads of fish and turtles and a great exotic bird show (for example, do you know which bird is the most intelligent?).  It's a very understated and tiny version of Sea World.  But much older: it's been going since 1946.  The lagoons the animals live and perform in were created when they quarried stone for Flagler's railroad.  Be a part of Key's history and visit!

To make the most of this, and see all the shows, you do need a few hours, and it's not cheap. But I love this place.  If you've got a few hours, then please go and support them.

The other place I would recommend stopping is the Turtle Hospital in Marathon (MM48.5).  It's a charity and the turtles are really cute (it's a rescue facility so all the turtles are ill or have had accidents leaving them disabled).  Beware: you can only visit as part of an organised tour, and especially at peak season they get booked out, so a degree of forward planning is required.  The tours last 2 hours, so this is not a quick visit.  Actually, if you can I recommend doing this as part of a half day trip out of Key West.

Here are some gratuitous pictures of very cute turtles:

For a full review of the Turtle Hospital, my visit, lots more pictures and some video - click here.

WHETHER TO DRIVE OR FLY DOWN THE FLORIDA KEYS
If you are coming from Miami then it's very little difference in time between driving and flying.  I've flown 10% of the time and driven 90%.  That's because the drive is so amazing.

That said, if you have no option but to drive at a peak time in a peak month on a Saturday then driving will take you MUCH longer as the traffic down to the Keys is really bad.

Here's what you'd see from the car:

Here's what you'd see from the plane:

FLYING INTO KEY WEST
Key West International Airport is really small, and 2 miles from Duval Street and the center of town.  There are always taxis outside.  It's a really easy airport to use.  There is a small convenience store, some of rental companies (not all of them, though, some are on the drive into town), and a bar.  Don't plan on spending any time there, there's nothing to do!

OTHER RELEVANT ARTICLES ON MY BLOG:

Driving from Miami to Key West - an awesome drive - lots of pics and description

Click here for more on Key West weather and a month by month view on when to visit Key West.

To see my view on Key West hotels - see here.

Click here for my Key West vacation directory - everything you need to know for a perfect Key West visit.

Curry Hammock State Park

Curry Hammock State Park is one of my recommendations if you have time to stop off on your drive up (or down) the Florida Keys.  The park is at MM56 oceanside (right turn as you are heading north back to Miami).

It is a very small park, with a small beach but even in peak season is does not seem to get busy - as you can see from my pictures  (taken March 2012 on a Saturday).

There is very little to do here.  You can hire a kayak, but that's about it.  There are no shops or a beach cafe.  So, why bother?

One: It's quiet and peaceful.

Two: It's beautiful.  There a fabulous view of open ocean, the sand is great and it's relaxing.  Check out my video which proves these points (oh, and really makes me want to be back there with my feet in the ocean!).....

Here are some more pictures:

There is only a narrow strip of sand, but it's nice sand.

There are 2 sections to the beach - this one, below, by the parking lot.  There is a good covered picnic area.  This section of beach is only a few hundred meters long.

Curry Hammock beach and picnic area which you can just see to the right.

You can hire these kayaks from the ranger station at the entrance.  There are lots of mangroves and islands to explore and I think it would be good fun.  We did not have time this trip.

Mangroves are colonising at the far eastern point of the park, near the picnic tables.

Curry Hammock beach looking south west.

Just round the bend, here's the second section of the beach, slightly larger, but not by much.

Curry Hammock beach and table at the far western end of the beach.

Curry Hammock - table with a view. Not a person to be seen, just lots of birds.

It's a great place to take a break.  We stropped off for a mid-trip picnic and were only there for an hour.  If you are staying longer, remember to bring all your food and water with you.

Here are some other relevant links on my site:

Key West drive - about driving to Key West from Miami and Fort Lauderdale

Turtle Hospital

The Turtle hospital in Marathon is a great place to visit.  It's an hour's drive from Key West.  It's a non profit, so all the $15 entrance fee goes to running the hospital.  It's very worthy cause: they have been here for over 25 years, they have released 1200 turtles back into the wild over the years and there are currently over 20 turtle 'residents'.

It's soon after (going north) the 7 Mile Bridge at MM 48.5 bayside.  The first tour was 10am.  We hadn't booked and the 10am was full (about 15 or 20 people per tour).  We got the last 2 places on the 11am.

Important: also note that they only allow guided tours and there are a limited number of tours available. So on busy days (including rainy days) it can often get booked up. I REALLY don't want you driving over an hour out to Marathon only to get there and find out all the tours are booked up for the entire day. And it happens (i.e. it's happened to me once). If you're not on a guided tour there is nothing to see at the Hospital.

The tour is always guided.  Our guide was fantastic.  For 30 mins there is a presentation inside about turtles - very interesting.

Then we go outside and to the tanks to see the residents. There were 20 turtles to see.

A great place to visit - very recommended.