How to see the breathtaking Dry Tortugas National Park!

It took us 3 tries but we finally made it and it was so worth it!

Where and what in the World is Dry Tortugas National Park?

Dry Tortugas National Park lies about 70 miles west of Key West Florida and yes, that’s out in the water so you guessed it, this National Park is an island. Tortugas is Spanish for turtle. Ponce de Leon first discovered this island in 1513. They caught over 100 sea turtles while there and called it Tortugas. Hence, the Tortugas part of the name. The dry came later when they realized there was no fresh drinking water available.

In the 1600 and 1700’s these islands were used by pirates as a base for attacking passing merchants through these popular shipping lanes. Later the Fort Jefferson was built to protect these same shipping lanes. Dry Tortugas National Park is made up of a cluster of 7 islands.

The actual Fort Jefferson was built between 1846 and 1875 and was envisioned as a protector of the nation’s gateway to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the largest all-masonry fort in the US but supply issues and subsidence problems because of the islands location and lack of water delayed the construction. By the time of the Civil War the fort was basically becoming obsolete from a military standpoint.

During the Civil War the fort remained in Federal hands and was used as a prison mostly for deserters. The most famous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd who was imprisoned there for his involvement with the assassination of President Lincoln. You can visit his cell when you tour the fort. He was eventually released early because of his valiant service to the residents of the island during a very deadly Yellow Fever outbreak.

Is Dry Tortugas National Park really worth visiting?

In a word? YES! This National Park is really quite stunning. We are list checkers trying to see all the National Parks, so it was on the list so to speak. But after seeing it, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s just an amazing place to visit and see for both the history and the scenery. And for the record, getting here is half the fun and adventure.

How do you get to Dry Tortugas National Park anyway?

Basically, you get here by boat or by seaplane. We wanted to go by seaplane because it is significantly faster, and we wanted to see the views from above. The seaplane is about 35-40 minutes each way while the boat is 2 hours and 15 minutes each way. The downside to the seaplane is the weather. We traveled to Key West from NC twice only to have our flights cancelled due to storms and clouds. The seaplane flies visually and can’t go in certain types of weather. The boat takes longer but is more reliable. The third time was the charm for us, and we LOVED the seaplane experience.

Here is your seaplane option with Key West Sea Plane Charters.

Key West Seaplane Adventures was amazing. They are your only plane option from Key West and they take great care of you. They have full and half day adventures and give you a great tour on your way there and back including showing you some shipwrecks, islands and sea creatures from 500 feet above the ocean.

For your Dry Torgugas National Park Adventure Key West Seaplane will supply you with a cooler with water or soft drinks. They also supply you with snorkel gear and flotation device. You are allowed to bring your own gear if you prefer and there is room for you to bring a bag with your lunch, snacks, camera, towels and bathing suit, sunscreen (reef safe) and all your other necessities.

If taking a boat is more your speed Yankee Freedom is your option

The Yankee Freedom has an air-conditioned main cabin, restrooms, rinse showers and a galley to purchase snacks and drinks etc. They also have an upper deck to be right out with the views and the sea. The ferry leaves daily at 8:00 a.m. and arrives back in Key West at 5:30 p.m. Plan for a full day away from Key West and bring what you need for that time. There are no places to purchase food or drinks at Dry Tortugas National Park. There is only a small visitor center.

Heading out to Sea!

Check out the Dry Tortugas information page for anything you might be wondering about before your journey!

Exploring the Fort

Once we arrived and got our gear off the plane we headed into the fort. We had to get our National Park sign picture and visit the visitor center and then we headed all around the inside of the fort. It’s in fairly good shape and we could see all the different areas inside and what they were used for including military barracks, prison cells, kitchens, storage, weapons and munitions and so much more. Some of the areas inside were converted for the park rangers who live on the island.

There are still numerous cannons you can check out in the fort and the small windows they lookout gives you amazing views of the surrounding sea. Just gorgeous.

Exploring outside the fort

The water area around the fort is fantastic for snorkeling. Many people take advantage of this opportunity and head out there after exploring the fort. My husband snorkeled while I explored farther around the island. But before that we walked around the moat area of Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas National Park. You used to be able to walk the entire way around the fort but a hurricane that came through early in 2022 damaged part of the walls and while I tried to talk to my hubby into jumping across, he convinced me that I was not capable of jumping 8 feet across. I still think I could have done it. haha!

Walking around the fort is amazing and relaxing. The breeze is vigorous and lovely in the hot sun and the views are spectacular. There is a light house on one of the other islands and you can see it from the moat.

While my husband was snorkeling, I did a little exploring away from the fort. This is a small island but if you walk away from the fort, you can walk the beach areas all alone. I didn’t run into any of the other people on the island. It was so gorgeous. The water is clear, and you can see sea life while you are walking around. I highly recommend checking the rest of the island out.

The snorkeling at Dry Tortugas National Park is very good and it’s definitely something you should do while at the park. The pilot on our seaplane let us know the best areas to snorkel and he would answer questions about where you should go depending on the weather and the wind.

While you are at Dry Tortugas National Park don’t forget to go on top of the fort and look around the top area, in particular the lighthouse. It’s really cute and neat to check out while there. It’s also neat to see the top of the fort with the grass growing and the different cannons on the top level.

Island issues

When we landed on the island to visit Dry Tortugas National Park, we noticed a lot of very unsafe looking boats on the shore. There were also quite a few people on the island who looked like they had been through a lot of travel. We quickly found out from a park ranger that there were two boatloads full of migrants who had landed on the island that morning and that it had been happening a LOT in the past 2 years. During the time we were there the Coast Guard arrived to take all the people into custody. They were mostly all men, and we didn’t see any children thankfully.

Earlier this year (2023) Dry Tortugas National Park was closed for a time because there were so many boat landings that they couldn’t have visitors to the island. We had already made our visit, but I did feel bad for those who had their trips cancelled because of the park closure.

Information on previous park closures. Always check out the NPS park pages before making plans to visit a park like this.

Dry Tortugas Nation Park has no lodging or food services on the island. There are no restrooms, but you are allowed to go aboard the Yankee Freedom to use the boat restrooms when it is in the port for the day. There is, however, camping allowed, and you can spend a night or two on the island if you would like. This is primitive camping, and you need to pack in everything you need including your water and pack out everything with you when you leave. For info on getting a campsite check out this website.

I think it would be an amazing experience to camp in Dry Tortugas National Park. I would love to hear about your experiences visiting this National Park gem. Please share in the comments below. Check out my blog about how I started travel blogging for more ideas on future travel.

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Keep exploring,

Stephanie

seymoreoftheworldwithme