volcanogirl

Hi, all - thanks so much for all the help on KW hotels. Now I'm taking a look at Key West activities. We've already done the Mel Fisher museum, sunset at Mallory Square, the trolley tour, the aquarium, and Hemingway House.

This trip I'd like to do a boat snorkeling trip and a definitely a sunset sail. Can you recommend good companies for those? We don't want a party scene, maybe a smaller group? Do any of them serve drinks and lunch/dinner? Would love any recommendations that you have.

Also maybe parasailing or jet skiing? What about a trip to the Dry Tortugas? Or a glass bottom boat tour? Any companies to recommend for those?

Also is there any other key that you would recommend we see for the day? We would fly into Key West so not driving through, but could go for the day if there's any favorites out there.

Thanks for any guidance you can give me! I'd love to hear all your suggestions.

longhorn55

Take a look at Bahia Honda State Park--well worth a day trip. The 1/2 day snorkel trip we did there was very good. (I understand the snorkeling there is much better than around Key West.)

volcanogirl

I think we may be driving down from Miami now that we're looking at flight times. Any fun places to stop along the way?

volcanogirl

Thanks, longhorn. I'll take a look. We've gone snorkeling in Key West and thought it was pretty good, but it's been a few years. What kinds of things did you see at Bahia? Do you know how long it would take to get there from KW?

volcanogirl

Looks like Sebago and Fury are popular. If anyone has any experience with either of those I'd love to hear about it, and Echo and Danger look like they have nice sunset cruises.

SusanCS

If you want something smaller for snorkeling, I can highly recommend Floridays, though I haven't been aboard it for years. It has a limited number of passengers (maybe less than 20?), and it docks at the Hyatt Resort and Marina on Front Street.

volcanogirl

Thanks, Susan. I appreciate the recommendation. I looked up some details on Fury, and they look like they really like to pack a lot of people onto a boat.

SusanCS

The catamarans are huge, and normally pack people in like cattle cars. I'd advoid them if I were you.

Katzgar

these guys do a great job....

http://www.yankeecapts.com/

stumpworks73

My favorite stops are:

In Islamorada:
- Lorelei waterfront tiki bar and casual restaurant
- World Wide Sportsman for the aquarium of Key's fish, excellent array of water sports wear, and great rockers facing the marina and bay.
- Lazy Days is one of the best restaurants in the Keys with an oceanfront deck
- You can stop at Bud n Mary's marina. If you visit when the charter boats are coming in, you can see the day's catch.
- Across Indian Channel is Robbie's famous for feed the tarpon and a tent village of Key's Kitsch
- In Marathon I like Keys Fishery for picnic table fresh catch or Seven Mile Grill.
- Park the car at the East end of Seven Mile bridge and you can walk out to Pigeon Key on the pedestrian bridge. The last half mile you are over the shallow flats and will see rays, shark, tarpon, bonefish, and barracuda.
- Mangrove Mamas at MM22 is a better dining spot with beautiful table setting in the trees.
-

volcanogirl

Yes, smaller definitely looks better in this case.

Thanks, Katzgar, I'll check it out. I love all these first hand recommendations.

Do you all have any favorite places to stop for lunch when you drive down from Miami? Sparky's Landing and Alabama Jacks seem to be popular. We're just looking for a casual place on the water.

Peter_krynicki

The Floridays is a nice sailing ship and is rated for 36 people, but except for for big weekends generally takes about a dozen. The nice thing is that they have all new snorkeling equipment including those new, panoramic masks which noone else seems to use. Captain Alexis does a nice afternoon snorkel trip out to the reef and if there is a down side, the trip seems to end very quickly. I generally either do Danger's half-day trip which includes a snorkel stop and a kayak eco tour around a mangrove island. The full day is even better with a nice lunch and chips & dips on the way in.

Another nice all-day trip is Sebago's Island T'Ing which is similar to Danger's all-day trip but it even includes breakfast (quiche!) and is a little less expensive. Danger uses small sailboats and Sebago uses a small Pelican, both of which are limited to 20 people.

If you are tempted to do a single snorkel trip with either Sebago or Fury, do a morning one. There are day tours by bus to Key West and they include an afternoon snorkel, so those trips get crowded.

This sunset sail is in my opinion the best currently on the island ---> http://www.keywestsebago.com/tour/ca...a-sunset-sail/ It, too, uses the Pelican and is limited to 20 people, and serves peel-and-eats, chicken, etc, and includes beer, wine champagne. You have to get over to the Casa Marina pier for boarding (walkable over, a drag to walk back) but you sail more since they go half way around the island to see the sunset.

An alternative with no food is the Fury's Commotion on the Ocean, the only sunset sail with a live band. This is very popular and is one of the things in Key West where the more is the merrier.

hth
Pjk

volcanogirl

stump, thanks for all those great recommendations. Now I wish we were spending more time before hitting Key West.

I had heard about feeding the tarpon and think that looks like fun. Does Robbie's serve food and drinks?

Walking out on the bridge sounds very cool. I'd love to do that.

volcanogirl

Peter, thanks for all those great tips. We definitely want to do a sunset sail too, so I am really grateful for the recommendations. Now I have no idea how I'll decide - all the options sound good!

Peter_krynicki

Danger's Wind & Wine sunset sail isn't bad either (if you go with them on a snorkeling / kayak trip there's a big yellow plastic tub with the "left-overs" from the previous night's wine-tasting. These are up for grabs to the people on the day trip)

Pjk

stumpworks73

Robbie does have a bar with food service.
I would prefer my other recommendations for lunch.

volcanogirl

Gotcha, feed the tarpon, but enjoy lunch elsewhere. That sounds good to me.

volcanogirl

We're also taking a look at doing the trip out to the Dry Tortugas. Has anyone done that? Did you think the fort was interesting and worth seeing? How was the snorkeling out there? Any providers you can recommend? Do most people boat or fly?

Thanks again for all the great help!

volcanogirl

http://keywestseaplanecharters.com/ is the link for the seaplane to the Dry Tortugas. Thanks, Peter!

CindyA

I would highly recommend Classic Harbor Line's America 2.0 sunset cruise. It is the fastest boat (a schooner),goes the farthest and is a beautiful vessel. It includes beer, wine, Champagne, shrimp, cheese & crackers. It is not a party boat...we had about 20 people on our sail. Get tickets at the pier and ask for a discount...I think we got 11% off.
http://www.sail-keywest.com/

Btw, we stopped at Robbie's to feed the tarpon and thought it was a waste of time.