Dry Tortugas National Park

This adventure was something that had been on my bucket list since I started planning this trip. Located 70 miles west of Key West the Dry Tortugas National Park is part of a small group of islands and on the largest is the historic Fort Jefferson which is one of the largest remaining 19th century forts. Originally built to control the shipping lane through the Gulf of Mexico, It is also famous for holding political and high profile prisoners, sort of the 19th century version of Guantanamo Bay.

The fort is well preserved due to its brick construction and sheer isolation, it’s not easy to visit and it is in fact one of the least visited national parks. With no roads available, you really only have 3 options to visit; arrive on your private yacht/seaplane. A 2+ hour ferry boat ride or a flight on a seaplane from Key West.

I love to fly and chose the seaplane option as much for the flight experience as anything else! The trip is about a 4-5 hour adventure and includes the flight, snorkel gear and a mini cooler with cold beverages. Once you arrive you get 2 hours on your own to explore the fort and do some snorkeling.

You meet the plane at the Key West “International” airport and since it has both wheels and floats you take off from the regular runway. The plane only holds 10 passengers and the trips book very far in advance, I was lucky to secure a spot on the 10am flight by booking about a month in advance and I’m sure being a solo traveller helped too.

The trip out to the park takes about 25 minutes of actual flight time. Once you arrive at the airport you check in and get your gear/cooler assigned and go thru all safety briefing before boarding the plane. I was happy to see the pilot was wearing a hawaiian shirt and flip flops, gotta love the Keys! 😎

Once we all got loaded on board, you put on the headsets and the pilot points out all the interesting sites as you head out directly over Key West.

Since you are only flying at about 500ft you get some great views of the reefs in the clear water below. We were told to keep our eyes peeled as sharks and turtles are often spotted.

We also saw several shipwrecks even one at the site of the Atocha salvage was right on the way. Made me want to hop out and see if I could find any dubloons!

Once we landed at the park I stashed my cooler and snorkel gear and then headed off and to do the self guided tour around the fort. I also visited the gift shop and added another hat to my National Park collection 😎

I really liked the tour and the fact that you could pretty much go anywhere and check out all the artifacts. I thought this was a great shot of the lighthouse and old glory.

After touring the fort I headed back and did some snorkelling at the North pilings area, it was very warm and clear water filled with tropical fish just as you would imagine. All too soon it was time to head back. I really enjoyed the take off from the water and staring out the window all the way back trying to spot sharks was pretty cool too.

Naturally, I took a bazillion pictures and videos of the entire flight and visit, you can check them out by clicking on the pic below. Enjoy!