KEY WEST · FLORIDA
End of the road. Start of the day.
Sunset sails, the only living coral reef in the continental US, mangrove tunnels by kayak, ghost tours after dark, and a Civil War fort 70 miles offshore. Mile Marker 0 to Dry Tortugas.
Only in Key West
Three things you can’t do anywhere else in the US.
Sunset cruises, snorkel boats and bar crawls exist in every coastal town. These three don’t. The square, the reef, the fort. Each one is specific to this stretch of the Florida Keys. Plan the rest of the trip around them.
At Mallory
The Sunset Ritual
Every evening Mallory Square fills up — jugglers, fire dancers, sword swallowers — as the sun drops over the Gulf. The serious move is to be on the water for it. Schooners and sailboats leave the harbour an hour before sundown and aim straight at the horizon.
- 1 Key West Sunset Sail with Open Bar, Live Music and Hors D’oeuvres
- 2 Key West Sunset Cruise: Dinner, Live Music & Drinks Included
- 3 Key West Small-Group Sunset Sail with Wine and Hors d’oeuvres
Out on the reef
The only living coral reef in the lower 48.
The Florida Reef runs from Miami down past the Marquesas — the only living barrier reef in the continental US, and the third-largest on earth. Boats leave Key West twice a day to drop snorkelers right onto Sand Key, Western Sambo and the inner reef.
- 1 Key West Afternoon Snorkel Sail with Unlimited Cocktails!
- 2 Key West Dolphin Watch and Snorkel Tour – Eco Adventure
- 3 Key West Reef Snorkel – Morning Mimosas or Afternoon Margaritas
Seventy miles offshore
Dry Tortugas & Fort Jefferson
A six-sided Civil War fortress on a sand spit in the middle of the Gulf. Reachable only by ferry (two and a half hours each way) or seaplane (forty minutes). The water is the colour you see in screensavers. The fort is the most-photographed brick structure in North America.
See all 1 →The boat everyone books
If you only sail once in Key West.
The single most-booked tour in Key West. Departs late afternoon, open bar, live music on deck, anchors a mile out to watch the sun drop.
The classics
Key West’s Most Popular Tours
Reef snorkel runs, sunset schooners, jet ski loops around the island, kayak hours in the mangroves. The reason most travellers drive down US-1.
Mile Marker 0
A day at the end of the road.
US-1 runs out at the corner of Whitehead and Fleming. Once the road stops, the day rearranges itself around water and light. Here’s how it actually goes.
Morning 7am – 11am
Through the back-country
Out at first light before the sun starts to bite. Mangrove tunnels narrow enough for one kayak at a time, tarpon visible in the shallows, herons in the trees overhead.
Kayak the mangroves →Midday 11am – 4pm
Out to the reef
Boats leave the dock late morning and aim south to the only living coral reef in the continental US. Two stops, an hour each in the water, back by mid-afternoon.
Snorkel the reef →Sunset 5pm – 7pm
Mallory hour
A schooner leaves the harbour an hour before sundown. You watch Mallory Square fill up from the water as the sky goes pink. Open bar, live music, a deck full of strangers becoming friends.
Sail at sunset →After Dark 7pm – late
On Duval
Sloppy Joe’s, the Green Parrot, Captain Tony’s. Twelve blocks of bars, ghost tours starting on the half hour from the Old Town corners, live music spilling out onto the street.
Hit Duval after dark →Iconic experiences
Six things to do in Key West.
Sunset sails for the ritual. The reef for the snorkel. Mangrove tunnels for the quiet morning. Dry Tortugas for the day out. Old Town for the conch houses and the cats. Duval for everything after dark.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Schooner if you want the sail. Catamaran if you want speed. Kayak through the mangroves, jet ski around the island, snorkel the reef, ride the Conch Train through Old Town, or chase ghosts on Duval after dark.
Before the heat
Mangrove mornings.
Tunnels through the red mangroves on the back-country side of Key West — tarpon, rays, a tunnel narrow enough for one kayak. Three guides we’d send our friends to.
Under sail
Schooner days.
Big wooden two-masters out of Schooner Wharf, sails up by the time you clear the harbour. Slower than the catamarans, lower to the water, the boat the postcard photographer is looking at. Three we’d climb aboard.
Once the sun’s gone
After dark on Duval.
Bar crawls past the Hemingway haunts, ghost tours past the haunted hotels, a cocktail walk between the live-music porches. The three we’d book first for the after-dark side of Key West.
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