Who wouldn’t want to spend the day on an uninhabited island, snorkeling among hundreds-years old ruins and abundant tropical fish, exploring a Civil War era fort, or relaxing on a pristine sandy beach with incredible views of that vast ocean. Knowing that it took over two and a half hours by boat (or a forty minute seaplane ride) to reach the remote island is part of the allure. Only a small number of people are allowed on the island daily, probably no more than 200 or so.
The price tag for the experience to visit this National Park treasure may be prohibitively high, for sure. More than $250.00 per person! But for us, the experience was certainly worth it. Like when we visited Sydney, Australia in 2017, and splurged on the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb, over $300 per person! Sometimes, a once-in-a-lifetime experience has no price cap.
Part of the explorer’s lifestyle is learning how to strike a balance between roughing it and splurging. Eating crappy Mac and cheese or putting together a cheese and crackers platter for dinner allows you to spend money on creating memories that last forever. I would much rather forgo buying art, jewelry, or cheap souvenirs and instead spend our money on a prime RV spot or exhilarating excursions. Gary, luckily, feels the same way, and it works for us.
The boat ride over to the Dry Tortugas was long and beautiful. We were served a simple breakfast and later a grab and go lunch. Our narrator was a colorful, overly tanned fellow with long, sandy-colored hair, and a distinctive, raspy voice, which reminded us both of the actor Charlie Day. We didn’t mention that observation to him directly – once we commented to a lovely waitress how much she looked like Taylor Swift, and as if she hadn’t heard that comment before, she simply rolled her eyes and politely smiled at us as she walked away.
The snorkeling in the warm, aqua water was invigorating and interesting, however, the water was churning some due to the 5 foot waves, so our observation of marine life and shipwreck artifacts was not very colorful or clear. We did see some Barracuda, shells, coral, clams, sunken anchors, and so many fish!
The self-guided tour of the Fort Jefferson remains was very interesting. It is the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas, covering 16 acres. It took over 16 million bricks to build the fort. It was actively used as a military coastline fortress located 68 miles west of Ket West and lies on Garden Key. It was also used as a Civil War prison camp run by the Union army.
By the time we arrived back on shore on Key West, we were exhausted, sleepy, and achy. We bee-lined it back to the RV to rescue the dogs, who had a mini adventure of their own. We had booked our first Rover service with a very tall former NJ man who has lived in Big Pine Key for a decade now. He was wonderful with the dogs and they survived their long day alone.
I highly recommend a visit to the Dry Tortugas National Park the next time you are vacationing on the Florida Keys. Summertime is the ideal time to witness the colorful coral, but autumn in the Keys is less humid and less crowded overall.