Dry Tortuga

[floridaflygirl]

Hello,

We are headed to our yearly Keys trip and deciding whether or not to do the Dry Tortuga dive with Finz. I have done some dives around KW and Cudjoe.

My question is, for those of you who have dove the DT, how nice is it? Is it worth it? I am not a hardcore diver. I love diving just to dive but I would hate to spend quite a bit of cash and time to be somewhat disappointed with health of reefs. I did some snorkeling in the Bahamas and those reefs were gorgeous, maybe the best I’ve seen. I have traveled elsewhere and some of the diving, while a lot of fun, is just A okay. I don’t know what to expect and if DT will be like the reefs/wrecks I’ve seen around KW.

Any thoughts/comments appreciated.

 

[Wants2divemore]

Unfortunately I've never been but I was just diving in Beaufort, NC with a DM who works for Finz. She says that DT is amazing and worth the trip. She said their current boat is a spartan 6-pack but they're getting a new boat which will be larger and more comfortable for the trip. She might be a little biased being a Finz DM, but from my conversations with her during the day she seemed like a straight-shooter.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

My wife and I just visiting DT last week on July 4th. We did the Yankee Freedom ferry. Snorkeling is very easily done around Garden Key on that trip. You have a solid 4 hours of available free time. Diving is not an option on the ferry, but the waters are very shallow right around Garden Key and snorkeling is sufficient IMO. DT are 70 miles from Key West. I could not imagine making that trip in a 6-pack. That does NOT sound like fun even if the conditions were flat calm. I would love to see a liveaboard option to be able to spend 3-4 days out there and hit many parts of the 100-sq mile park.

ADDITION: The water is beautiful, incredibly clear, and all of the tropical species and corals you would expect can be found on and around Garden Key and Fort Jefferson.

 

[-JD-]

My wife and I just visiting DT last week on July 4th. We did the Yankee Freedom ferry. Snorkeling is very easily done around Garden Key on that trip. You have a solid 4 hours of available free time. Diving is not an option on the ferry, but the waters are very shallow right around Garden Key and snorkeling is sufficient IMO. DT are 70 miles from Key West. I could not imagine making that trip in a 6-pack. That does NOT sound like fun even if the conditions were flat calm. I would love to see a liveaboard option to be able to spend 3-4 days out there and hit many parts of the 100-sq mile park.

ADDITION: The water is beautiful, incredibly clear, and all of the tropical species and corals you would expect can be found on and around Garden Key and Fort Jefferson.

+1
We tried to dive Key Largo in March years back and were blown out for our entire time. We moved on to Key West and took the Yankee Freedom - it had laid down by then, but we heard from the crew that during those days, the waves were crashing onto the pilot house (bridge)


My favorite snorkeling location was the Coaling Pier pilings. It was like swimming in a packed aquarium.

 

[Wookie]

I ran liveaboard charters there for 10 years.

It's the best diving in the Keys, bar none. The vis can be exceptional, and Finz runs an excellent boat.

 

[floridaflygirl]

Thank you for all the responses! I appreciate the advice.

 

[Boiler_81]

I just got back to my rental after an all day trip with Finz. It’s a first class operation. The trip was well worth it for our group.

 

[Wants2divemore]

I just got back to my rental after an all day trip with Finz. It’s a first class operation. The trip was well worth it for our group.

Glad you had a good trip. What was the boat size? How many dives did you do?

 

[Boiler_81]

I’m not sure of the size of the boat but it looked fairly new with twin 350 HP engines. Seating is sparse. For the crossing bean bags are put on the floor toward the rear.

The DM gave us a fort tour before the ferry arrived. It was really nice having the place to ourselves.

We had four divers and two snorkelers. We did three dives, all of which were heavily populated with sea life. There was a nice giant grouper on the windjammer wreck. On the last dive we saw the largest lobster any of us have ever seen. The marine sanctuary certainly allows him to live his best life.

 

[Johnoly]

....It was really nice having the place to ourselves.

Nice report and just before the storm. Robert is a great captain. How did the retail building & area look after the fire damage 2mths ago?