Dry Tortugas National Park

Dry Tortugas National Park lies almost 70 miles (113 km) west of Key West, and it is mostly open water with seven small islands. Less than 1% of the park is dry ground. Fort Jefferson, a brick fort begun in 1846, stands on Garden Key, where every ferry and seaplane lands. The park had 89,355 recreation visits in 2025, 5.3% more than in 2024 and the most of any year since at least 2016.

No road reaches the park and nothing is sold on its islands, so you plan a visit around a boat or a seaplane seat. We checked the figures below on 29 October 2026 on the park's own pages and alerts, the seaplane company's rates page, the Key West Attractions Association's ferry listing, the National Hurricane Center and NOAA's normals.

How do the Yankee Freedom ferry and the seaplane to Fort Jefferson compare?

The Yankee Freedom ferry and the seaplane are the two ways to Fort Jefferson for a visitor without a boat. The Park Service names four ways out in all: the ferry, the seaplane, a private boat or a permitted charter. Cars cannot reach the park, and ferry and seaplane passengers both land at Garden Key.

The ferry fares come from the Key West Attractions Association's listing of the Yankee Freedom, not from the operator. The ferry's own site answered "403 Forbidden" on 29 October, in a desktop browser too. The listing prints $220 for an adult holding a National Park Pass, $15 less, and gives no age limits for its child fare.

The Park Service says the boat arrives at Garden Key at 10:30 a.m., weather permitting. The listing includes continental breakfast, a buffet lunch and the option of a 45-minute guided tour of the fort.

The seaplane's fares in the table come from the operator's own rates page, read on 29 October; children under 2 fly free on an adult's lap. The Park Service lists the company as Key West Seaplane Charters, while its rates page signs itself Key West Seaplane Adventures. Reservations are required, there is no refund within 48 hours of the flight, and changing or cancelling earlier costs $50.

The ferry and the seaplane carry no pets and no compressed gas canisters, which rules out camping gas and dive tanks. The seaplane takes no campers at all, because of the added weight of their gear.

Who pays the $15 Dry Tortugas entrance fee?

Dry Tortugas charges an entrance fee of $15 per person aged 16 or over, good for seven consecutive days. Children 15 and under enter free, and the park's fees page says that includes international visitors. Ferry passengers have already paid it: the fees page says ferry tickets include the cost of entrance, but not camping fees.

Seaplane passengers pay the fee on top of the fare. The operator's rates page lists an additional $15 per person over 16, and the park's fees page gives two different accounts of when the seaplane collects it. Private boaters owe the fee for time spent on land or water inside the park and must pay within an hour of arriving.

Dry Tortugas is not on the 2026 list of eleven parks with a $100 surcharge for non-residents, so visitors from abroad pay exactly what Americans pay. The park is cashless and takes cards or digital passes. The $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass covers the entrance fee only, not the ferry or camping. Two adults on the day ferry pay $470, entrance included. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains where the annual pass pays off.

What is there to see inside Fort Jefferson?

Fort Jefferson took nearly thirty years to build, from 1846 to 1875, and the Park Service says it was never finished nor fully armed. It guarded what the park calls one of the most strategic deepwater anchorages in North America. The fort belonged to the "Third System" of coastal forts that ran from Maine to California.

The park's home page counts over 16 million bricks and calls Fort Jefferson the largest masonry fort in the western hemisphere. Another park page says only that it is one of the nation's largest 1800s masonry forts. The fort served as a prison, mainly for Union deserters, and its most famous prisoner was Dr Samuel Mudd. The USS Maine left the Tortugas in 1898 on its last mission.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the fort a national monument on 4 January 1935. The monument was re-designated Dry Tortugas National Park on 26 October 1992.

Fort Jefferson is open from sunrise to sunset, and many areas have uneven walking surfaces. On 29 October 2026 the park's alerts said sections of the moat wall, damaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, were closed for repair "until Winter 2026". The park asks visitors not to cross the barricades. The Garden Key Harbor Light, the lighthouse on the fort, was out for repairs with no date to relight it.

Which of the seven Dry Tortugas islands can you set foot on?

Garden Key and Loggerhead Key are the two Dry Tortugas islands open to the public, and Bush Key opens when nesting birds allow. Ferry and seaplane passengers land on Garden Key. Visitors reach Loggerhead Key, the largest island, by private vessel or by a kayak or canoe brought on the ferry by arrangement.

Loggerhead Key's hours come from a park page last updated in 2020. That page says Bush Key is closed during the sooty tern nesting season and usually opens from mid-October to mid-January. The alert of 29 September 2026 is newer: most of Bush Key is open, while its north side, all of Long Key and all vegetation stay closed.

The park's alerts also warn of an increase in Cuban migrants arriving by boat and landing in the park. The alert says visitor areas may be affected, and gives no dates.

Where can you snorkel off Garden Key?

You reach Garden Key's swim areas from North, South and East Beach, and the Park Service calls their gradual slope and easy entry ideal for beginners. The park recommends two snorkel sites: the outside of the moat wall and the pilings of the old coaling dock on the south side. Swimming and snorkelling inside the moat are not permitted, and nobody may dive from the walls.

Around the moat wall the park lists reef squid, nurse sharks and hogfish among cement barrels and anchor chains. The coaling pilings draw large grouper, tarpon, barracuda and the occasional shark. No lifeguard is on duty. A snorkeller outside the designated area near the campground must display an approved dive flag.

You cannot rent anything once you arrive, so bring a mask and fins. Whether the ferry lends gear was not on any page we could read. All coral, living and dead, is protected from collection. Divers with tanks must come by their own boat or a charter, and the park lists permitted charters for diving, snorkelling and fishing without prices.

How does camping on Garden Key work?

The park allows camping in Dry Tortugas only on Garden Key, in a primitive campground a short walk from the public dock. The eight regular sites cost $15 a night and take no reservations. Each holds up to six people in three two-person tents, and when they fill, campers share a grassy overflow area. The park guarantees a place to every camper who arrives.

The group site, for 10 to 20 people, costs $30 a night and must be reserved with the park in advance. Camping fees are not included in any transport fare. The newest wording on the camping page says they are paid through Recreation.gov's Scan & Pay in its phone app. Set up the account before leaving, because Wi-Fi on the island is limited to the boathouse. Senior and Access pass holders get 50% off, and no other discounts apply.

The ferry seat is the hard part. The Yankee Freedom carries only 10 camping passengers a day, and the Park Service says those places sell out months in advance. The ferry listing takes camping bookings by phone only, recommends calling 8 to 12 months ahead and starts camping fares at $240 for an adult.

A tent is required, wood fires are banned, and only charcoal briquettes may be used in the raised grills. The park allows gas stoves, but the ferry does not carry them. Quiet hours run from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and there are no showers. The composting toilets close through the middle of the day. Rats chew through tents and backpacks, so the park asks for hard-sided food containers.

What must you bring to Garden Key, where nothing is sold?

Garden Key has no drinking water, food, fuel, phone signal, public phones or bins, and the Park Service asks visitors to bring all their own supplies. Rubbish goes back on the boat with you. Plan on no internet either, since only the boathouse has limited Wi-Fi.

The Yankee Freedom sells limited goods and services once it arrives. Its bathrooms and freshwater rinse serve day visitors while the composting toilets are closed. Campers need two gallons of water per person per day, plus an extra day's food and water in case the ferry is cancelled. Souvenirs are sold at the Garden Key bookstore.

Medical help is a long way off: the park's safety page puts the islands over 68 miles of open sea from the nearest hospital. Bring any medication you need, especially for motion sickness. You may walk pets on a leash on Garden Key but not inside the fort, and neither the ferry nor the seaplane takes them.

How rough is the crossing to the Tortugas in winter?

The winter season at Dry Tortugas usually runs from November to April, the Park Service says. Cold fronts then bring winds of 20 knots or more and seas above 5 feet often enough that the park calls them not uncommon. The result is rough seas and poor visibility for snorkelling, though the weather is cooler and the crowds thinner. From about May to October the park describes little to no wind and excellent visibility.

Hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, and the Park Service adds that tropical storms can develop in the Gulf at any time of year. On 29 October 2026 the National Hurricane Center listed no tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and expected none to form in the next seven days. The ferry runs weather permitting, and its cancellation terms were not readable on its own site.

How hot is Garden Key against Key West?

Garden Key reaches 90°F or more on about 90 days a year, against about 57 at Key West's airport, in NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals. The weather station stands on Garden Key itself. Garden Key is also a little drier, with 37.6 inches of rain a year against 40.4, and September is the wettest month at both.

The table gives NOAA's average highs and lows. The island station records no days at or below freezing and no snow. Visits to the park peak in May, with 10,012 in 2025, and fall to 5,230 in September, the quietest month.

How far is the Key West ferry terminal from Miami airport?

Key West's Historic Seaport is about 159 miles and four hours by road from Miami International Airport without traffic, by our own routing. The seaport is by the ferry terminal on Grinnell Street. The route follows the Florida Turnpike south to US-1 at Florida City. From there green mile markers count down from 127 to 0 in Key West, and our routing measured that leg at 126.8 miles.

The road distances are our own routing, and traffic builds on the Overseas Highway at peak times. The ferry boards at 7:30 a.m., so a day trip from Miami means sleeping in Key West the night before or driving through the night. The park's free interpretive centre in Key West is at 901 Caroline Street, inside the Sails to Rails Museum.

Key West and the park are on Eastern Time, and clocks go back an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday 1 November 2026. Dry Tortugas is one of the three national parks in our guide to Florida, with Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park.