garden key

Husband and I camped, two nights, three days late October, one other camper on island, the three of us had the place to ourselves! Everything others have said, Fort, beach, sunsets, snorkeling, seclusion, fabulous. A few things that haven’t been said; Ferry has rolling carts to hull camping gear to site, one person can put stuff in cart while others go find a sight, (you can see ferry from camp ground so you never loose each other), 8 camp sites but lots of picnic tables, campsite tables are marked with numbers but it’s difficult to know what’s a campsite on your first visit, we took our time and looked at all the sights (I could see how this might be a mad rush if lots of people were camping, word of advice the morning sun will move so your sight wont be in the sun all day), the toilettes were nice, they even had electric lights (which I didn’t notice until the second night! So look for them), the ferry has lunch for sale each day if you camp, (had i known that I wouldn’t have packed food, good thing I didn’t know that - the ferry never made it back the two days we were there! Lesson learned, even though you CAN buy things like food and ice - don’t count on it.) We flew into Florida and didn’t want to buy a hard cooler, bought a cheap $6 styrofoam cooler from Win Dixi to keep ice, read about rats so brought plastic smell proof bags and limited our food to canned goods, when I saw others getting off ferry w/large plastic coolers, got worried about those rats! As luck would have it, the NPD has a small pile of coolers (left by others) at the bathroom, NICE! (grab one or two when you arrive and return when you leave) we put food in one and styrofoam cooler inside another, had ice for three days, no worries about varmints. We could see the rats moving across the open areas at night in a flash light beam but we never encountered one personally, however, it makes for an uneasy sleep to know the scurry on the other side of the tent is a 10” mouse, just saying. The Moat Wall walk, fabulous! Walked it just before dusk, the waves were a bit active, didn’t occur to us they would hit the brick wall and come over! (Beware if the sea is active, waves are strong) we were soaked to the bone just before dark, with no fire, now you know! Had never COOKED with charcoal before, didn’t get the water hot enough to enjoy good coffee but it did a fine job on jiffy pop popcorn and cans of soup (we popped the top and sat the can directly on the grate). Took light weight sleeping bags and mats, even in late October the weather was warm we slept with no tent fly. Never opened our bug spray. Didn’t know Bush Key was open in late October, one of our best experiences, North side is a graveyard of corals, shells, and fans what a wonderful place!A few things kids might enjoy; There were fabulous birds at our campsite, people had obviously feed them before, they hung around the whole time, kind of nice, they did walk all over our table and food, we thought it was interesting. Hermit crabs are everywhere, soon as food comes out they smell it, the ground starts to move toward your table. I could see children having a ball with this experience.Departure; We planned to stay two nights and three full days, the ferry didn’t make it back, left by sea plane, cutting our stay by about 6 1/2 hours, we were ready to go though. The place is nice, several things to experience but we are hikers, if you’re not into snorkeling the small island gets very small quick. Two full days and two nights worked well for us. An added bonus was the sea plane ride, WOW! What a view from the air! Too bad you can’t take the plane if you’re camping. The place can leave you with a peaceful respect for the minimal, simple life, but it does have a dark sort of hard prison history, I avoided sinking too far into that energy. Blessings.

This is was our first time camping in 13 years and we had a great time. We camped for 2 nights three days in mid-April - which was ideal as the temperature was not the hot!. One can camp longer, but 2 nights were sufficient for us. Somethings we learned: Food: You do need to bring all your food and water with you (which we did!). With that said, the Ferry that does arrive every day at 1030AM or so, you do have the opportunity to buy your lunch, ice, water etc on board. The caveat here is that, if the Ferry does break down, or if the weather is to windy, the Ferry may cancel their trip leaving you in a lurch if you rely on them!Shade: Limited Shade on the island! The Fort affords some shade as well as the small visitor center. When the Ferry is docked, you can go on board and chill for a bit. The Ferry is nicely a/c!Need Camping Gear: We rented ours from an online store called lower.gear. Everything worked - there were no issues etc. All components of the tent, chair, sleeping bags, mats etc arrived right on time and nothing was missing. Showers - On the Ferry, they bring out a hose that contains fresh water where you can take a shower if you like. I also did see other campers bring portable showers as well. Each camp site does come with these large posts in the ground that you can hang things on - such as a bag of water for a shower. Bathrooms - There are 4 compost toilets - and no, they did not smell that bad! There were no bugs etc anywhere near the compost toilets. When the Ferry arrives, the compost toilets are locked and you are directed to the Ferry. Bugs - There were basically none! Since there is no natural source of water, there were no mosquitoes etc. I probably saw 2 flies at the camp site - and that was it. There were no bugs etc near the compost toilets. All in all, I think everyone had a great time camping. I would definetly come back again - although certainly not in the dead heat of the summer!

Upon arriving to Garden Key, are mode of transport was by sea plane. The moment I step my feet in the pearl white sand I knew I was on paridise. When on the island it seems as if rules don't matter. Apart from this feeling we have found many areas to jump off the rocks into the ocean. Around the fort is a wall with a moat in between the path on the wall gives the effect of walking on water. Once getting in you can see perfectly clear as the water has stunning clarity. The area where you find the most sea life has gotta be by the pillars by the docks where you can swim in giant sea fans along side tarpon. The acctual fort was special because unlike most places it hardley has anything closed off and provides a panoramic view of the island and the sea. All in all this island was the highlight of are trip, and a memory that will never be lost.

We camped here for two nights. First off, make sure you bring all of your own supplies as they provide only toilets and TP. Camping here was one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever had. After the tours leave at the daytime it is just you and any other campers (which isn't much). We were able to watch the sun set from the top of the fort, then we walked around the wall at night where we spotted bio-luminescent jellyfish and in the morning we had the beach all to ourselves. I will warn you, there are rats but they never got into our food or tents and we actually never saw any except the dead ones (it had just flooded prior to our arrival and they drowned). We will definitely be back as much as we can. Don't forget the following items: tent, chairs to sit on, water, favorite drink, food, towels, bug spray, cots/pillows/blankets or sleeping bag, automatic light up logs (like the kind used in fireplaces as it can get windy and you are not allowed to bring propane over), food that does not require cooking, and ice.

Seeing how the Garden Key is the only one you can visit, it would have to rank a 5 if Fort Jefferson and the Tortugas Banks ranks a 5. This was the highlight of our trip to Key West!

There are two smaller beaches, but they don't have to be big because there is a limited number of tourist. You can snorkel around the outside of the fort's moat and amoung old ship pilings and see some pretty cool coral and other sea life. Everything that you take onto the island must be taken back off by you and there are no restrooms, I'm not a camper so I'm not sure how that works. There are birds which nest in the area which do not nest anywhere else in the US. A great day trip and a must if you at staying in Key West for more than two days!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Dry Tortugas National Park (We took the boat-this is a full day if you take the boat as the trip each way is about 2 1/4 hours. it leaves early in the morning and returns around 5PM. They do provide breakfast, lunch, snorkeling gear and guides for a tour of the fort. ) We had a 45 minute visit to the fort with our guide shortly after we arrived, then lunch and time for snorkeling until the boat left at 2:45PM. We snorkeled around the fort and saw a school of fish and 6 barracuda on the side of the fort where the water was in shade. My only regret is that we did not have more time to explore the entire fort. You can camp overnight-conditions are primitive-but I think the additional time to explore the entire fort and island and to check out the stars in the night sky would be worth it.

We took a day trip to Garden Key on the Yankee Freedom II (see separate review). Although tiny and hot, the attraction here is the fort (which has some neat history) and particularly the beautiful clear water and nice seaweed-free beach. We snorkeled around the moat wall and the pilings from the old coaling buildings, and saw giant tarpon and all kinds of tropical fish. Overall a really nice day and worth the trip!