March 18, 2022 —
With Biscayne and Everglades under our belts, Maria and I were ready for Florida’s grand finale: Dry Tortugas National Park. Sitting 70 miles west of Key West and surrounded entirely by water, it is a difficult park to access. So, simply reaching the park is an adventure of its own. Visitors have to first drive or fly into Key West and then take a boat or plane deep into endless blue water. That long journey was part of what made the experience so memorable for me.
Plan your trip to Dry Tortugas National Park
Part 1: Savoring the Journey
On March 17th, Maria and I concluded an exciting three days in Everglades National Park. We spent the afternoon meandering our way to Mile 0 of U.S. Highway 1. While a massive thunderstorm engulfed the Everglades in our rear view mirror, we retreated to the sunny Key Largo. There, we got our first taste of the Florida Keys’ seafood at Key Largo Backyard Fisheries Café. After satisfying our stomachs, we began the drive down Highway 1, one of the most scenic routes in the country. The drive had been on my bucket list for years, so I was giddy to get started.
We saw plenty of beautiful scenery during the fabled drive. Blue-green water surrounded us as far as our eyes could see. Resort communities and fancy beach houses sped past our windows. Boats dotted the horizon. “Margaritaville” and other island jams played through the car stereo. The weather was perfect. I couldn’t believe my senses… it felt like we were in heaven.
After two hours on the road – much of which traversed open water – we finally arrived in Key West. Through a stroke of luck we found a free parking spot near the busy Duval Street and began our walking tour of the town. Key West’s quaint nature surprised me. I’d expected lavish hotels, sleezy resorts, and manufactured fun in the same vein as Orlando. Instead, Maria and I found historical buildings filled with local businesses and a very walkable city design. The sheer quantity of tourists, however, did meet my expectations. The fact that we visited on St. Patrick’s Day only exacerbated the crowds. Scores of drunkards made navigating the city streets a bit more difficult. But, while the busy streets and hot sun caused me some undue stress, I still managed to enjoy the afternoon.
During the hours spent in Key West, we did as much as we could. We bought a pina colada, visited the Southernmost point of mainland USA, walked to Fort Zachary Taylor Beach, strolled along a farmer’s market at Truman Waterfront Park, snagged a key lime pie from Mattheessen’s, popped into souvenir stores on Duval Street, and enjoyed a lavish seafood dinner – Maria’s belated birthday gift – at Ocean Grill & Bar. Following our jam-packed afternoon and evening, we arrived at Boyd’s Key West Campground. At $75/night, it is one of the cheapest places to stay in Key West – what do you think that says about the hotels? We set up camp and left the tent door open to welcome in a stiff breeze and mitigate the heat.
At 11 PM, we finally turned in. We hunkered down for a short night of sleep before our departure for Dry Tortugas early the next morning.
Part 2: The Ferry to Nowhere
On the morning of March 18th, Maria and I awoke – disgruntled and sleepy – to our 5:30 alarm. We packed our tent in the darkness, attempted to avoid accumulation of sand in our shoes, and hopped into Gloria. At 6:30, we pulled into a parking garage near Yankee Freedom III‘s departure point. We paid the sizeable parking fee and strolled into the ferry station. There, a cheery attendant greeted us. We provided our information and national park pass, then sat down in the waiting area.
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My excitement nearly reached a bursting point while we waited. The ferry station reminded me of an airport terminal, which created the same excitable feeling I get when I’m about to fly somewhere for the first time. After 30 minutes of waiting, an enthusiastic tour guide greeted the waiting passengers. He outlined our schedule for the day and reminded us of the many things included with our ferry tickets. Unlike Biscayne – where we were required to bring most of our own equipment and food – Yankee Freedom III provided breakfast, lunch, snacks, refreshments, snorkeling gear, and a complimentary tour of Fort Jefferson. When comparing the cost of our tickets to those of our day trip in Biscayne – which were almost exactly the same – it seemed Dry Tortugas offered way more bang for the buck. Food for thought…
We boarded the ferry at 7:30. As we searched for seats, Maria’s and my excitement continued to boil over.
Shortly after taking our seats, we struck up conversation with two couples sitting near us. One of them noticed my Big Bend shirt and started inquiring about my thoughts on the park. The other couple caught wind of the discussion and joined in. Before long, Maria and I were deep in conversation with Mark & Leann and Kris & Bob. For the majority of the 2.5-hour boat ride, we swapped stories about our lives and adventures, with emphasis on our national park visits. Impressively, Bob & Kris had visited almost every one of the 63 national parks, and were scheduled to visit the remaining 4 before the end of the year. I aspire to that same level of success! Our conversations made the ferry ride alone a memorable experience… the free food helped, too.
Eventually, the stray keys around us disappeared. Water was the only thing we could see around us. As far as we could tell, we were in the middle of nowhere. Shortly after 10:00, we heard murmurs that the park was on the horizon. Maria and I hurriedly made our way to the front of the boat with our binoculars. Sure enough, the park had appeared in the distance. While we were still many miles away, we could make out Fort Jefferson, Garden Key, and the lighthouse on Loggerhead Key. We’d made it!
Part 3: Paradise
Yankee Freedom III docked at Garden Key at 10:30 AM. The island and its surroundings immediately captivated us. Thousands of sooty terns and brown noddies flew overhead as a seaplane landed nearby. Boats dotted the stunning blue-green water, which glistened in the morning sunlight. Fort Jefferson stood impressively near the dock. Except for the small islands within the park, there wasn’t an ounce of land in view.
Once the boat was tied in, the ~200 passengers on board shuffled onto the dock and began to meander around the island. Maria and I took care of a few orders of business before beginning our adventure. We snapped an obligatory photo with the park sign, stamped our national park passports, and bought souvenirs. I know I always talk negatively about “tourists” in these posts, but for a few minutes I decided to embrace the tourist within me… no regrets.
Fort Jefferson: A Treasure Trove of History
Our day on Garden Key began with a tour of Fort Jefferson, led by the enthusiastic tour guide we met at the beginning of the day. During that tour, we learned about the park’s fascinating history. Fort Jefferson’s construction began in 1847 to guard American shipping routes in the Gulf of Mexico. While it was never finished, its design would have rendered it a nearly impenetrable fortress. With 8-feet-thick walls, hundreds of cannons, and automatically-closing cannon windows, the fort would have been terrifying. The design considered every possible element of naval warfare. The staircases were even built to rise counterclockwise to give invaders a disadvantage, since most soldiers at the time would have fired and aimed over their right shoulder.
Our guide shared dozens of interesting stories about the fort. The most memorable one for me concerned Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who was (questionably) imprisoned for conspiracy with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Back then, if you helped out a stranger with a broken leg – and that stranger just so happened to have recently murdered the president – you were eligible for a life sentence behind bars. The fort was used as a prison during and after the Civil War, so this was where Mudd ended up in 1865. However, after providing medical assistance during a yellow fever outbreak in 1867, he was pardoned by Andrew Johnson and released.
Following the tour, we ended up on top of one of the fort’s six bastions. From there, we enjoyed mind-boggling views of our surroundings. I had never seen water so clear, so colorful, or so filled with wildlife. Honestly, it was hard not to shed tears of happiness. We spent about thirty minutes atop Fort Jefferson before returning to the boat for lunch. During that time, we took plenty of pictures of the surrounding landscape and seascape. The ethereal glisten of the water around us was pristine, picturesque, and awe-inspiring. Pictures don’t do the views justice, but I’ll share my pictures nonetheless.
Time to Snorkel
At 1 PM, we finished lunch aboard the Yankee Freedom III and acquired snorkeling gear. We hurried our way to Garden Key’s north beach, where we suited up and jumped into the water. Initially, we didn’t see much except for an intimidating-looking barracuda. After about thirty minutes in the open water, we decided to return to the beach and reapply sunscreen. While we waited for the lotion to dry, we noticed that most of the other snorkelers were staying close to the walkway that surrounded Fort Jefferson. We also noticed an impressive school of fish, shown in the video below.
Maria and I excitedly jumped back in the water to follow the other snorkelers. We discovered that the manmade wall around Fort Jefferson had – throughout 150 years of existence – turned into a haven for the local sea life. Coral – some bleached and some healthy – was abundant along the wall, and we spotted hundreds of tropical fish thriving around the colorful structures.
When I was younger, swimming in the open ocean had terrified me. Even when we had visited Biscayne a few days earlier, I was nervous during our snorkeling stop. That fear completely disappeared during our swim through the waters of Dry Tortugas and subsequent encounters with marine wildlife. The short experience was transformative for me. And to gain that experience in the waters of a national park? That made it even better.
I can’t name the various species of fish that we saw during our snorkeling stop, nor can I share photos. So, the best I can do is refer you to this link to an infographic of the fish housed within Dry Tortugas. We crossed paths with many colorful and beautiful fish, and checked off many seen in that link. Thanks to those moments with wildlife, the seventy minutes we spent in the clear waters around Fort Jefferson were magical. Rather than describe it in great detail, I’ll just encourage those reading this to get out to Dry Tortugas and try it for themselves.
Farewell, Dry Tortugas
By the time we exited the water, it was already 2:15. The boat was scheduled to depart at 2:30, so we had to return as soon as possible. The day had ended as quickly as it began, and I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to camp on the island and watch the sunset, to gaze at the stars in the middle of the night, to wake up early and watch the sunrise. Sadly, planning the trip five months in advance hadn’t left enough time to secure a spot in the small campground, so the day trip had to suffice. The few hours spent on Garden Key were amazing, but I certainly wanted to come back. We both did.
We returned to the boat. Mark, Leann, Bob, and Kris had saved us two seats on the upper deck for the return journey. We spent the 2.5-hour ride sharing more stories with the two couples and talking about our travel plans for the rest of the year. We even ventured into political topics, discussing the need for societal change to help fight climate change and our disappointment with the United States’ polarized two-party system. It was refreshing to have those conversations with people much older than us, who had seen much more of the world than we had. It gave me confidence that my and Maria’s heads were – indeed – wired correctly.
As Fort Jefferson became smaller in the distance, the end-of-trip sadness that typically sets in on the tail end of a vacation arrived. I tried to stay optimistic, reminding myself and Maria that we still had a few fun stops to look forward to on our drive back to Indiana. Plus, we had just finished visiting three amazing national parks, so we were certainly not concluding our travel with disappointment. We were very, very blessed to have had such a good day.
In Conclusion…
My day with Maria in Dry Tortugas felt like something out of a dream. While I lamented not being able to camp on Garden Key and spend longer there, the day was still absolutely perfect. Gorgeous weather, wonderful new friends, beautiful scenery, captivating wildlife, fascinating history, warm water, and a positive vibe made the day one for the photo albums. Words and photos don’t do our experience justice, but those mediums are the best I can do to convey my love for the park.
Dry Tortugas, like the other two national parks in Florida, faces impending danger from climate change. Warming waters threaten – and have already damaged – coral within the park’s boundary and coral all over the globe. Rising sea levels – unsurprisingly – promise to submerge much of the park if predictions come to fruition. Like Biscayne and Everglades, Dry Tortugas served as a reminder to be conscious about my day-to-day decisions regarding sustainability. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: if you need tips for living a sustainable lifestyle, please shoot me an email or text. I’m happy to offer suggestions.
Dry Tortugas is often overlooked by national park enthusiasts due to its inaccessibility. However, I encourage all those who read this to try their darndest to make it out to the isolated park. It’s absolutely beautiful, worth the visit, and definitely worth the cost of the ferry ticket. It ranks among my favorite national parks, and is one of the most underrated ones I have been to so far. I will forever look back on my first visit to Dry Tortugas with fondness, and I hope the second visit comes sooner rather than later.
— Paul
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