Dry Tortugas National Park
Located ~70mi west of the famed Key West, Dry Tortugas is a remote national park that is roughly 99% underwater! That small 1% dry land area includes the massive Fort Jefferson as well as the Garden and Loggerhead Key Lighthouses, and several smaller islands inhabited by birds! Let’s dig into all things Dry Tortugas, including how we got there, highlights, and what type of national park enthusiast would enjoy their visit here the most.
Getting (Way Out) There
Assuming you do not have access your own private boat or the cash reserves to charter one, there are two ways to get to the Dry Tortugas
Yankee Freedom Ferry
Seaplane
The Yankee Freedom Ferry is an all day adventure that takes you to and from Garden Key, where Fort Jefferson is located. I’ve heard lots of great, and some not-so-great things about the ferry. It is the most accessible option for getting to the park, but it still will require advanced planning as they tend to sell out. As I hinted earlier, we did not take the ferry, so that is really all I can say about it. If you sail on the Yankee Freedom, may your seas be calm and the weather nice!
My husband and I were lucky to score two seats on one of the seaplanes. After comparing the seaplane and ferry options, schedules, prices, and of course, what the good people of Reddit’s opinions were, we decided if we were able to get tickets, the seaplane best fit what we were looking for, and we could not have been happier.
Our Seaplane Adventure
Taking off from the Key West International Airport, the plane ride is just under 40 minutes and includes a mixture of prerecorded narration, music, and commentary from your pilot. The plane is a De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, which is capable of taking off and landing from land and sea, which is pretty cool! It seats a total of 11 people, including the pilot, and everyone gets a window seat, perfect for spotting wildlife during the low-altitude flight. We saw tons of turtles, nurse and hammerhead sharks, dolphins, stingrays, and even a manatee! My husband ended up getting to sit shotgun with the pilot, which he said was awesome, especially since he is on the taller side and there was a good amount of legroom compared to the other seats. So if you do take the seaplane out there, be ready to call shotgun when your pilot is taking your group out to the plane!!
Along with transport to and from the island, they provide a small cooler and two drinks, snorkeling gear, and well-annotated maps of Garden Key. You are also able to bring along your own bag/cooler, ours included swimsuits, towels, sunscreen, and of course, my national parks passport! Once you land on the island, you are told a time to meet back at the plane and released to enjoy at your leisure. We were the last flight of the day and landed just as the ferry headed back to Key West, so we had the park all to ourselves for just under three hours, which is an experience I will never forget!
Some of the highlights beyond ample marine life sightings on our ride to and from the park included seeing two shipwrecks, the Marquesa Keys, and a spectacular view of Fort Jefferson itself. The pilot will have everyone sit on the same side on the trips to and from the park, so don’t worry if, on the way there, the cool view of Fort Jefferson is on the other side of the plane, I promise you will get your chance to see it and get a cool photo as you head back to Key West!
Exploring Fort Jefferson
We spent the majority of our time in the park exploring Fort Jefferson itself. I admit I am not a history/engineering/architecture buff in the slightest, but I ended up enjoying walking through the structure, exploring all three levels and the various nooks and crannies they contained, and enjoying the amazing views of the crystal clear water.
If you have been to any of the national parks that are more accessible than this (so, almost any of them!)you are probably used to the high priority guest safety tends to take when constructing trails or other visitor-friendly areas. Fort Jefferson differs from that usual vibe, maybe because of its remoteness/low visitation, or maybe due to the extensive repairs and restoration efforts taking funding priority. Anyway, be warned, there are no guardrails on any of the levels, not a huge deal to us — it actually made it feel a bit adventurous, but if you are a family with young kids, that may deter you from wanting to explore the second and third levels depending on your comfort levels.
We spent right around two hours exploring the fort, including the open areas of the moat and the book store. You can spend as much or as little time as you want in the fort, but we wanted to walk through all open/accessible areas on each level as well as explore the preserved buildings and ruins on the interior. The history is very interesting and the scale of the building is something you can only truly appreciate by walking around within its walls.
Snorkeling
There are lots of excellent snorkeling opportunities on the North and South swim beaches. We opted to snorkel along the south beach as it allowed us to snorkel past where the moat wall was closed for repairs and it was closer to our stuff (we spent most of our time in the Fort and only about a half hour in the water) Snorkeling along the moat wall gave us ample opportunities to see colorful fish, interesting coral and sponges, and enjoy the warm waters of the refreshing warm waters of the gulf. If we’d had more time, we would have also checked out the south coaling dock ruins, as some of our fellow seaplane passengers said they’d seen a ton of fish around there, but since we’d done some snorkeling back in Key West, it wasn’t a priority for us during this visit. Even the short half hour we spent in the water rewarded us with some fun fish sightings, and we are glad we were able to squeeze in a little time to snorkel.
3 Must-Dos & A Best for Who
Following all my park summaries, I’ll be including my three must-do activities for your visit as well as what type of person would most enjoy the park.
Must Do’s
Explore all three floors of Fort Jefferson
Walk along the moat wall surrounding the Fort
Take a seaplane to and from the fort and keep your eyes peeled for turtles, sharks, and stingrays you’ll be flying over
Best for Who
Due to its interesting history and impressive construction, military history lovers and engineering/architecture appreciators will love the chance to explore the fort. Aviation nerds will love the chance to take a low-altitude seaplane ride, and with ample bird and marine life watching opportunities, animal lovers will create many happy memories during their time at the Dry Tortugas.
