Florida's DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK - Dive Into History
Written: Feb 18 '06 (Updated Sep 02 '07)
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Pros: Great scenery... Quiet solitude... Rich history... Amazing architecture.
Cons: Four-hour round trip boat ride through choppy waters.
The Bottom Line: Pardon the hackneyed cliche, but this is an ideal place to "get away from it all".
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| radioroger's Full Review: Dry Tortugas National Park |
Amazing scenery... quiet solitude... and colorful history... Florida's Dry Tortugas National Park is loaded with all three... This isolated island park is loaded with wildlife, especially birds and marine life. The arches and architecture of Fort Jefferson are a photographer's dream. And the islands have been a prominent part of the past 500 years of U.S. history.
The Dry Tortugas are a cluster of seven tiny, subtropical coral islands about 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. Due to their remote location, they are accessible only by a 40-minute seaplane ride or a 2-hour boat ride. Ponce de Leon "discovered" the islands and dubbed them "Las Tortugas" (The Turtles) after the area's dense population of sea turtles. The qualifier "dry" was added shortly thereafter to indicate that the islands had no fresh water. The shallow waters, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, have given the Dry Tortugas one of North America's greatest concentration of shipwrecks.
"FAST CAT" CATAMARAN:
I chose the Fast Cat catamaran operated by Sunny Days and I would recommend it highly. The boat can accommodate about 50 passengers. The air-conditioned cabin shelters passengers from the elements and there is a small deck for those who wish to be outdoors. The boat departs at 8AM daily and arrives at the park around 10 AM. Donuts, bagels, juice and coffee are served as the boat departs the dock. Upon arrival at the park, the tour operator takes visitors on a very informative 45-minute tour of the fort. After the tour, there's a "build-your-own sandwich" picnic lunch with salads and chips. After lunch, visitors are free to go snorkeling, lay on the beach or explore the fort at their leisure. Snorkeling equipment is supplied by Sunny Days at no extra cost. We snorkeled for about a half-hour, but didn't really see much. I left the girls to sunbathe on the beach (I knew I wouldn't lose 'em.), while I checked out the fort on my own. Visitors have free time until about 2:30, when the boat begins its return trip to Key West.
FORT JEFFERSON:
The Tortugas strategic location in the Florida Straits, a major shipping channel at the time, inspired the United States began to construction of Fort Jefferson in 1829. Its purpose was to control navigation through this critical area. Construction of the fort continued for 30 years, but advancing technology rendered the fort obsolete before it was completed. The fort was never involved in battle. During the Civil War, the fort was used as a Union (that's right, Union) military prison. It's most famous prisoners were four men convicted of complicity in Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The most notorious, Dr. Samuel Mudd was convicted for setting the broken leg of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Mudd served less than four years of his sentence before he was pardoned by president Andrew Johnson. Mudd's second-floor cell is clearly marked at Fort Jefferson. Although the fort was never fully completed, it was nearly completed and the architecture is superb. The fort has over 2000 brick arches, inside and outside... and the fort's hexagonal shape required some precision work. The fort has two levels. Except for the staff quarters and a few unsafe areas, visitors are free to explore the nooks and crannies of the huge fort at their leisure as well as its spacious outdoor garden area within the fort's perimeter. Strangely (to me, anyway), the top of the fort is covered with soil, complete with grass and even a few cacti. I highly recommend the 1/3-mile hike around the top perimeter of the fort. You'll see the scenery below, great views of some of the other islands, the gigantic 1830-ish cannons and a few other interesting little cubbyholes. If you're as fortunate as I was, you may have a close encounter with a soaring frigatebird.
SNORKELING AND NATURE:
Although the snorkeling was lousy the day we visited (the water was murky),The Dry Tortugas are known for their superb snorkeling due to the area's protected, pristine living coral reefs. Some great spots are fairly easily accessible from Garden Key, even for inexperienced snorkelers. There is a small but beautiful beach. The beach is hard on the feet as it is comprised of crumbled, and often sharp, coral. Birds are not hard to spot. You'll see the magnificent frigatebird riding the thermals above the island. They never seem to flap their wings. Their seven foot wingspan and graceful flight is an amazing sight. We visited in early February, just about a week after the sooty terns returned to nest on the adjacent Bush Key. Although visitors are not permitted on Bush Key due to the bird habitat, the thousands of noisy terns are visible and quite audible from Garden Key. I even saw a solitary barred owl.
SEASICKNESS:
In recent years, I have discovered that I am very susceptible to motion sickness and seasickness. I've mentioned some of my motion sickness problems in some of my earlier reviews (EXAMPLE). Since the round-trip to the Dry Tortugas is over four hours, some advice is in order. My worst seasickness came a year ago on a snorkeling excursion in Florida. If the water has big waves, it IS possible to become seasick... while in the water. After spending about 15 or 20 minutes in the undulating water, I got a snootful of salt water, my snorkeling was cut short, and I desperately wished to avoid vomiting in the presence of other adults. I succeeded in doing so, but while lying on my back, my misery continued until my companions had finished snorkeling and the excursion was completed. The best thing about seasickness is that it usually subsides nearly immediately after setting foot on land, but this is no consolation to a seasick passenger who won't arrive in the Dry Tortugas for another hour and a half. On our way from Key West, one poor fellow hung over the back of the boat for about half of the trip. He emptied his stomach contents and continued to retch long afterwards. If you know , or even suspect that you may become seasick, I have these recommendations... #1. Take dramamine. It is effective against motion sickness, but I have found it to make me somewhat drowsy and more mellow than I would like to be... still better than puking for four hours. #2. Accupressure seasickness wristbands. I'm not especially sold on the effectiveness of these things... and the 7 or 8 dollar cost for 10 cents worth of materials is bothering. But many people swear by these things. I took dramamine AND wore the wristbands. I had some mild queasiness, but nothing like the problems I had in the past. My oldest daughter had a bit of nausea on the way out. I gave her a dramimine and she was fine on the way back. Which precaution is more effective? I don't know. But if you are susceptible to seasickness, you'll definitely want to take precautions before this excursion.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Brace yourself, the day trip to the Dry Tortugas is not cheap. The Sunny Days Fast Cat round trip to the Dry Tortugas and tour is $110 for adults, $80 for kids (16 and under), and $105 for seniors (65+) and active military (2006 prices). But all things considered, it's about the same as you'd spend for breakfast, lunch and a couple of attractions in Key West. Four hours on the island was perfect for us, and we arrived back in Key West just in time for the daily Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square.
I was concerned that my two teenagers would be bored, but they seemed to enjoy the trip as much as I did. We visited the Tortugas on the third day of a five-day trip to Key West... so it was something a little different in the middle of our trip... and allowed us a little solitude. I snapped over 200 photos during our Dry Tortugas excursion. I have posted a few on my travel website.
You can make your reservations for the Fast Cat at the Sunny Days kiosk at the corner of Greene and Margaret Streets near the docks. Sunny Days also offers shorter snorkeling tours, dolphin tours and a nightly sunset cruise. Their website is www.sunnydayskeywest.com. Their phone number is 1-800-236-7937.
TO SEE OUR FLORIDA PHOTOS, PLEASE VISIT MY TRAVEL WEBSITE:
www.mikebechtol.com
My other Florida reviews:
Everglades National Park
Motel 6 - Fort Lauderdale (BLEEECCHH!)
Pensacola Beach
Best Western Resort - Pensacola Beach
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: December-February
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Overview
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radioroger
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Location: Rural Ohio
Reviews written: 46
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