The Dry Tortugas National Park

The Dry Tortugas is one of Florida’s three National Parks. Visitors to Florida will almost certainly know of the Everglades National Park and may possibly have heard of the Biscayne National Park, but the Dry Tortugas are much less well known, mainly due to their remoteness.

This park is made up of a cluster of seven islands some 70 miles west of Key West. The islands were discovered by Ponce De Leon in 1513 and are made of coral reef and sand. The original inhabitants of the island were turtles and they became a source of fresh meat for the first human inhabitants, so much so that the Spanish for ‘turtles’ -Las Tortugas – became the new name for the islands. They soon marked on maps as the Dry Tortugas as there is no fresh water available on the islands.

Now known for its exceptional marine and bird life, along with legends of lost pirate gold, the park includes the largest of Americas coastal forts built during the 19th Century.

On Garden Key in 1825 a lighthouse was first built to warn sailors of the rocky shallows but was replaced in 1856 by the present lighthouse on Logger Key.

Probably the main reason for moving the lighthouse was the realisation in 1929 that the United States could control navigation in the Gulf and protect boats leaving the Mississippi and heading for the Atlantic by building a fort. However, despite starting construction of Fort Jefferson in 1846 on Garden Key, and continuing for 30 years the fort was never completely finished. Nevertheless it was used as a prison for Union deserters during the Civil War and even at one time held four prisoners who had been convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

In 1935 the Fort Jefferson National Monument was created to preserve the historic fort and then in 1992 the area was designated as the Dry Tortugas National Park in order to protect the areas marine ecology including the reefs, nesting birds, turtles and other wildlife.

Today the Park is home to spiny lobster, a variety tropical fish, corals and seafans, and whilst shells above high water may be collected, all corals are ‘off limits’ to collectors, as are the lobsters and conch. Nevertheless, whether you go with the intention of bird watching, snorkelling or fishing, you will soon appreciate the magic of the Park.

The best time to visit this park is from November to April, avoiding the hot and humid conditions of the subequatorial summer. However, a degree of planning is required if you wish to visit the park as there are only two vessels, the Yankee Freedom and the Sunny Days Catamarans, together with Seaplanes of Keywest, which are authorised to land at the islands. While the entrance fee to the park is only $5 (boat trip extra of course! ) it should be noted that the round trip takes 9 hours of which 5 hours is spent on the islands. Each boat is limited to 100 passengers and so if your time in the Keys is strictly limited it would be wise to book in advance to avoid disappointment.