We visited Dry Tortugas National Park, one of the most difficult national parks to get to, requiring a ferry, seaplane, or private boat to reach it.
An interactive map:
We opted for the seaplane, since it was much faster than the ferry, and we’d never been in one before. It was a great experience.
The seaplane is offered by Key West Seaplane Charters, flying out of Key West International Airport (a rather small airport).
An info sheet:
Our seaplane:
Jenn got to ride up front, since she said it was her birthday when they asked if anyone was celebrating (we did go on her birthday in February):
Just 10 passengers:
Flying fairly low over the keys:
Sunken ship:
Approaching Dry Tortugas:
A close pass by a nice catamaran when preparing to land; sailing here on your own boat would be amazing:
Our pilot, who flies in Alaska in summer, and the Keys in winter:
Landing on water:
Handing gear to shore:
Us in front of the plane:
The other seaplane and the fort:
Fort Jefferson, the largest brick structure in the Americas, started in 1846, but never finished:
Old dock and the beach where we left our stuff:
Moat:
Cannonball furnace, where they heated cannonballs to slice through wooden ships like butter, and set them on fire:
Mariners Beware! I was wearing a Seattle Mariners shirt, so found that sign amusing:
Birds; Dry Tortugas is an important habitat for some seabirds. the adjacent Bush Key was closed for nesting season:
Pelicans:
The ferry arriving. Another nice thing about the full-day seaplane option was that we got to enjoy exploring the island for a couple of hours before most people arrived; just the 20 people from the two seaplanes, and a few overnight campers:
Once the ferry arrived, we headed back to the beach where we had left our stuff:
A hermit crab:
Bricks on the beach:
We went for a swim. Here’s the fort from the water:
We brought our snorkel gear, but the water was too murky to see much at the time.
Another pelican watching us:
We went back into the fort to kill some time:
Then back to the seaplane for the return journey:
Departing Dry Tortugas:
A private island:
Key West and Fort Zachary Taylor:
The “Southernmost” Point:
Marina:
Disembarking our seaplane:
A fun bucket-list experience.
