janjanjan

I agree with zeealwave about the plane trip. This wasn't something that really appealed to me, but DH thought it looked great.

Once up in the air, I had to agree. Seeing the extremely shallow water from Key West to Fort Jefferson gave me a complete appreciation of our ability to control access to the Gulf of Mexico with this tiny outpost. Not that we ever needed to, but understanding the defensive military thought process which helped to form our country has been a fascinating pursuit for us. And, this trip was extremely critical to that pursuit.

kathyva

Thanks zeealwave and janjanjan. Did you take a morning or afternoon flight? We're considering the 2pm.

volcanogirl

Bookmarking.

doug_stallings

Why are we bookmarking an outdated thread that is 6 years old? You should start a new discussion as the scene and what's offered has changed a lot in the intervening years.

volcanogirl

I have started a new thread, and no one responded to it, so I'm taking the information I can get. The information here is still very helpful to me. Feel free to close it though if you don't want us to bookmark it.

volcanogirl

If anyone has any companies they could recommend for taking the sea plane, I'd really appreciate it. The plane ride sounds fantastic.

Peter_krynicki

---> http://keywestseaplanecharters.com/?...FSnxOgodjGsAXg

The beauty of the fort is that you can explore the interior and soak up some of the history, then walk around along the top of the walls for the views, then once more on the moat or sea-wall that surrounds the fort. Then you can snorkel and swim. All of this takes time and IMO it's not worth going out there unless you do the all-day trip. It's expensive by plane and you will also, probably, have to get a taxi to and from the airport which adds to the cost. And the all-day trip boaards at 7:30 so you have to take this into consideration when planning a trip.

hth
Pjk

Peter_krynicki

But it is a heck of a trip

http://pjk.smugmug.com/Travel/Key-We...-jefferson.jpg

This is Bush Key - the bird sanctuary.
http://pjk.smugmug.com/Travel/Key-We...M/023_20-M.jpg

You used to be able to walk over there as long as it wasn't mating season, but no more...

http://pjk.smugmug.com/Travel/Key-We...M/027_24-M.jpg

Pjk

volcanogirl

Peter, thank you so much. This is exactly the information I was looking for. You've given me lots of great tips. Why is it that you can no longer walk over to Bush Key?

I've heard mixed reviews on the snorkeling. If you've done it, did you see much?

Peter_krynicki

If you go back to the first photo above, the good snorkeling is around and through the pilings you an see in the bottom center under the wing, but I think a good day at the reef out of Key West is better, especially at Sand Key. I did quite a bit of swimming when I was there especially at the areas on the lower left.

The drift of sand actually was washed away during hurrican Wilma in 2005 and I never thought it would come back. I think that since you couldn't walk over to Bush Key then they made to decision to make it off-limits permanantly.

Pjk

volcanogirl

Thanks for the tips about the snorkeling, Peter - it's nice to have the inside scoop. We're planning on doing a trip out to the reef too, so it will be interesting to compare the two.

Peter_krynicki

Just to whet your whistle, these were at Sand Key this past May...

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/ (yup, a shark)

Look at doing Sebago's Island T'Ing, and all-day snorkel and kayak, breakfast and lunch, and aboard the Pelican, a nice sailing catamaran that only take 20 people, sometimes less.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/

Captain Lanier and mate Casey, usually

Pjk

volcanogirl

Wow, fantastic pictures. If we arrange a snorkeling tour, do all of them usually go to Sand Key or just certain providers? It looks great. We have an underwater camera, so I'd love to be able to use it.

Peter_krynicki

There are two areas to snorkel out of Key West - the reef, seven miles due south, and the Sanctuary, about five mile west. The bigger boats - Fury, Sebago, Floridats - go out to the reef, but the smaller boats - Danger Charters, the Javacat, Echo, go into the Sanctuary. A few, Sebago's Pelican for the Island t'ing, can go to either because of her range and draft.

For the boats that go out to the reef, they will try for Sand Key first, then, based on conditions, either Rock Key or Eastern Dry Rocks. Rock Key can be almost as good as Sand Key. But where a boat will go on any single day will depend on the conditions, and the captain may not even make a decision until they are on the way out.

The Floridays would be a good choice for either a morning or afternoon snorkel trip. They go to a place at the reef and they have all new snorkeling equipment, including those more panoramic masks.

Pjk

volcanogirl

Great explanation, very helpful. I appreciate all your help. It's great to have so many good options. Fury looks like they really pack people in, so I think we're leaning towards Sebago or Floridays for snorkeling, and then maybe one of the smaller providers like Danger or Echo for a sunset sail.

cgenster

Volcanogirl, what did you end up doing?

We have rented a house on Cudjoe key for a month with another couple. We have been to the keys many times, starting in the late 70s. We love Bahia Honda, Looe Key, the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor and the easy laid back feeling of the Keys.

One thing we have not done is a trip to the Dry Tortugas. We had one booked, but it was canceled because of the rough weather. We have looked into taking the seaplane, but are really annoyed at the price. $295. per person for 1/2 day, but $515.00 per person for a whole day. I don't understand the difference in price. It should be the same amount in fuel for a round trip whether you stay 2 1/2 hours or 6 hours.

Since there are four maybe five adults going, I think we could rent a boat for $1000.00 for a day and go there ourselves. Does anyone know if that is possible, or does the park service not allow private boats to dock there.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

volcanogirl

Hi, c - we ended up doing the half day trip and using the sea plane through Key West Seaplane Adventures. We really enjoyed it. The weather wasn't so great, and they weren't sure we would be able to take off, but things cleared up enough for us to go. We had about 10 people on the plane, and one person even got to sit up front with the pilot. The pilot narrated the entire flight and pointed out things along the way like shipwrecks, turtles, etc. They provided us with snorkel masks and fins and gave each one of us a cooler with cold drinks in it. We hiked around the top of the fort and read some of the history; the views are really beautiful. Then we spent some time snorkeling; we saw big tarpon and some small colorful fish like fairy basslets and some sergeant majors. There were some big moon jellyfish too, but we avoided them. We loved going out there. I'd definitely recommend it. We were able to do everything we wanted to do, but we didn't have a ton of time to snorkel, but it was about right for us. I don't know about private boats docking; there weren't any when we were there, but there were people camping on the island. We also saw the ferry while we were there, and it looked nice. There's no food or drink for sale on the island, but there are porta potty type restrooms. I don't understand the price difference either.

volcanogirl

We also did Danger's Wind and Wine Sail - very nice and snorkeling with Sebago which was great too. We loved everything we did and got some good recommendations from this board.

cgenster

Thanks v, I appreciate your input. I just don't understand the price difference.

Peter_krynicki

They older plane they used too 8 people. Assuming this is tru and they fill up each trip they will take 8 people on the first half-day flight then 8 people on the second half day flight, making the cost X 16.

There is only one all day flight so the cost is 8 X, so they charge approx. twice the cost of a half day trip.

Pjk