Key West Activities?
 

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.

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.)

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

these guys do a great job....

http://www.yankeecapts.com/

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.
-

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.

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

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.

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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.

bookmarking.

Once you hit Key Largo on your trip from Miami, the views are wonderful! We stopped at Bahia Honda on the way down to Key West; http://bahiahondapark.com/ They give snorkeling tours. You can also rent kayaks and paddle to the mangrove trees. Did not do that, it just looked like fun.

Thanks, Cindy, I looked at that one, and it looked like they didn't start operating until later in the season. We're trying to decide between Sebago, Danger, and Echo for the sunset sail. Looking for a smaller group with good food and drink, more romance than party. Are any of these close to the Mallory Square area? Any advantages of one over the others?

cd, Bahia Honda looks gorgeous!

volcanogirl, we took the Appledore for an afternoon sail and it was wonderful! All the beer and wine we wanted! They do offer a sunset sail, you can read the reviews here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...s_Florida.html

Thanks, cd. It looked to me like Appledore is in Maine right now and returning to Key West for the winter? Their tours look great though. I think we've decided to go with Danger for the sunset sail, and maybe Sebago for the snorkel tour? I like the idea of a less crowded boat that still goes out to the reef.

We took the seaplane from Key West airport to the Dry Tortugas in February 2012. It was above temperatures that week and the flight was smooth (I was in my 2nd trimester of pregnancy). It was the most amazing half day trip.

We saw HUGE (6 feet+) barracudas feeding on a school of fish right next to the fort. The snorkeling was beautiful. There were a few people camping over night. On the flight in, we saw deserted boats, sea turtles, and sharks. The flight was smooth & relaxing. I've been in more bumpy cab rides here in Chicago!

If you can afford it ($250? per person), I would definitely take the trip. My husband and I still talk about the trip.

sara, thanks for the details - we've decided to do it. I'm excited! It just looks like something that would be so memorable. We did a helicopter tour in Kauai that we still talk about, and I imagine this is something special like that. You guys are all really helping to point us in the right direction.


I checked out the Sebago site, and they have so many tour options. Not sure if we want to do the one that has the jet ski and all that, or the one that has kayaking, or just do a morning snorkel trip. Also thought parasailing might be fun.

Have a great trip and report back!

Rent bicycles while in Key West to get around the island. So much fun to ditch the car and explore!!

Also we love to stop at Island Grill in Islamorada for lunch. Amazing Hogfish snapper sandwiches and a little beach front area to get your feet wet while you wait for your food.

Not sure if I'm too late on this, but we too did Floridays sunset cruise and it was terrific. The group was small, drinks were served, and they actually did get their sails up...infinitely better than listening to a diesel motor throbbing!

OO, if you get a chance the Appledore is wonderful also! It is a tall ship, when we went there were only about 15-20 aboard, she put her sails up for most of the time we were out, of course that depends on wind, but for a sailor it was great, the captain even let DH take the wheel. We'll look into Floridays next time!

Don't forget Frank the Magician performing at the Magic Bar (where else?). In the back of the Schooner Wharf Bar nightly at 9:00.

Pjk

Miami, I've never heard of hogfish, but now that I'm researching the Keys it keeps coming up. We'll definitely have to try it.

I'm with you guys, definitely prefer sails to motors.

Cd, I know he was in heaven! Sails up at sunset doesn't always happen, as that is the time of day winds are usually calmer, but there's nothing better than turning off the engine and listening to the sound of....nothing!

Has anyone done parasailing in Key West or know of any good companies you could recommend?

Thanks for all of your continued great advice.

I've been toldd that Sebago givers you a few more minutes in the air. They have departures on the hour beginning at 9:00 a.m. The lease expensive is a morning parasail with Sunset Watersports, $29.00 pp for the 9:00 a.m. flight. Even if you don't use them it's a hoot to watch their video...

http://sunsetwatersportskeywest.com/...#SmathersBeach

Pjk

Thanks, Peter!

We're back - we had a great trip! We fed the tarpon at Robbie's, did a Sebago reef snorkel, went to the Hemingway House, did the trip to the Dry Tortugas, the Danger Wine and Wine sunset sail, Mallory Square for sunset, and ate at a bunch of great restaurants. We had some rain so didn't get to parasail, but it's on our to do list for our next trip, and we'll definitely go back. Thanks again for all your great help and advice.

does anyone have recommendations on a jet ski tour?