The park is collection of small islands and corals reefs, located about 70 miles offshore from Key West. The remoteness makes it one of the least visited of the national parks.
arriving at fort jefferson
how to get there?
There are several ways to get there: private boat, ferry, or seaplane. The ferry is a long day! It’s 10 hours, with more than half of that time on the ferry. Click HERE to read about the ferry.
The seaplane flight is 45 minutes, which goes very quickly. The pilot spots turtles, sharks, and shipwrecks and gives a bit of history and commentary. What I wish I knew, and I will share here, is that the best views are on the right side going out. Try very hard to snag a seat on the right as you board the plane. The pilot encourages everyone to stay on the same side of the plane for the return trip, so that you see different things. I got to sit in the cockpit on the way back, which was awesome, but never got the good picture of the fort from the air.
There are two flights per day: 8 am and 2 pm. Click HERE for details about the seaplane. We are locals, and know that the afternoons in June are likely to include storms ~ it’s a pattern, so we obviously wanted the morning flight. They could not accommodate us, so we ended up on the afternoon flight. This is an example of things working out because it stormed all morning that day, and the afternoon was beautiful!
what was it like?
After we landed, the ferry left 10 minutes later, so there were only campers, people from private yachts, and the rangers left on the island. It was very easy to socially distance. We walked around the fort for an hour and found that our favorite place was the middle level, opposite the entrance – it had shade, a breeze, and a view of the lighthouse on Loggerhead Key.
Afterwards we had some time to go swimming and snorkeling, but not a lot. The snorkeling is great because the area is protected far from the Keys. Then it was time to gather our things because it was time to leave. We definitely would have liked to stay another hour, but another 3-4 hours? I’m not sure.
BRING: a sandwich and water, even though water is included with the ticket, I needed more; dry clothes and a towel; flip flops; optional – tennis shoes were good for walking around the fort, and I’m glad I had them; also, a bag for wet clothes.
when to go
We were there in June and it was very hot, so it made the water even more inviting, the later in the summer, the hotter, and more likely you will be dealing with storms. May might be a perfect compromise.
history
The dry tortugas were discovered very early on and were used as food stop for the explorers in the 1500s. There is a natural deep water harbor which makes it a safe place to ride out bad weather. ‘Dry Tortugas‘ on an antique seafaring map meant that there is no fresh water, but lots of turtles to eat.
The Fort was built to protect the port of New Orleans, but was only in commission for a few years before newly developed weapons could penetrate brick, making the fort obsolete. It was converted into a prison and its most infamous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. FDR made it a National monument in 1935, and it became a national park in 1992.
want to see more?
Just in case you haven’t seen enough… here is a link to the gallery of everything from the visit! The photos on this page are at a reduced resolution for ease of loading, the originals are much larger files, and are available for download.
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