Fort Jefferson — Attraction in Florida

We took the Yankee Freedom Ferry to visit Dry Tortugas National Park on a Tuesday in late Dec 2024 (Christmas eve).

We went to visitor center to get junior ranger booklets and passport cancellation stamps. They had 4 different stamps, Dry Tortugas NP, Underground railroad freedom, Loggerhead Lighthouse and Garden Key Light House. We purchase some merch in the shop. There were a couple small exhibits in 2 adjoining rooms. There was also a tv playing a video with a bunch of chairs but I don't think I ever saw many people in the visitor center let alone watching the video. When we left we did all our pictures by the National Park sign. There was no one there at this point and we didn't have bunch of people in behind our photos.

We returned to complete our junior ranger around noon, snorkeling was first. It wasn't very hard. The answer for cisterns are right outside visitor center to the right and bakery was directly across the fort from the visitor center. We did take some time to hike around and fort but we went fast. We noticed a lot of areas closed off due to falling bricks. The place of Dr. Mudds cell did not look like it did on some older youtube videos I watched. It looked like the park service had closed off the area and made a new brick wall to stop people from going any further. But maybe I'm remembering incorrectly or we didn't actually find it because we were running through so fast.

We opted to not joint the large group tour with the ferry and instead do a choose your own adventure to avoid the crowds.

People aren't lying then they say 4.5 hrs is not long enough on the island to do everything you want to.

Walking on top of the fort can be scary for those afraid of heights. There are no railings and you need to watch younger children who like to run or wander off.

My favorite was the light house and the view of bush key from the top of the fort. We probably spent no more than an hour total exploring the fort and I'm sure there was much more to see. We just prioritized the beach and snorkeling. If we visited again we would definitely spend more time exploring the...

Wow. What an experience. Such a great and unique place to visit. The fort itself is good for a walk around, once you enter across the bridge over the moat. It has 3 levels, each offering a different perspective of this buildings location out in the gulf. The top level is the one that gives you the full picture of just how remote and isolated you are. But, be careful walking around the narrow trails as they sit close to the edge of that upper level and there are no barriers between you and the moat below.

There’s a lot of history here that is fun to dig into but the real gem is the ocean around the outer wall of the moat; and if snorkeling is your thing, then the coral and sea life is great to experience up close. Make sure to check out the underwater bridge that has formed in the moat wall, just off the south beach. I saw a group of large fish just hanging out in the shadows. We did encounter some jellyfish. So, watch out for those. They were isolated incidents and fairly easy to avoid if you saw them.

We even got to see some aerial maneuvers from jets out on exercise from the nearby Naval Base in the Keys.

Overall this was a fantastic experience and a big...

Speechless. Most spectacular water I have ever seen. Walking the moat you could see into the water as well as you could from your snorkel mask. There were hundreds of giant pink jellyfish (dinner plate-size) on the dock-side of the island so we went to the opposite side to snorkel where there were just a few. I believe I got hit by a couple of them and, to be honest, I didn't even get an itch. (They have very short tentacles/stingers.) The water was not as clear as I had hoped when snorkeling - it must have been stirred up a bit but there was no real waves. We swam next to the moat where there is coral growing on the walls. There were some fish, but not as many as I had hoped for. Don't be afraid to go to the coal pier pylons - there are probably more fish there. You might want to leave your stuff right next to the ferry until you decide where you are going to snorkel so you don't have to haul your stuff around. The walk to the other side of the island is not far, but you'll wish you didn't have to carry your stuff back and...