Probably one of the least accessible national parks in the US, the Dry Tortugas are a group of 7 islands 70 miles west of Key West out in the Gulf of Mexico. There are only two ways to get there - boat or sea plane. We went here last time in FLorida but decided to go again as it is such a spectacular place. The largest island is home to Fort Jefferson which was built to protect Americans navigating the Gulf from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean. Construction lasted over 30 years and was never completed as technology was advancing faster than they could build. Its best use was as a prison. Today it is a wildlife refuge for fish and birds. One of its most prominent bird is the Magnificent Frigate Bird.
The ferry ride was about 2 1/2 hours long and included breakfast which was good since we had to board the boat at 7 AM! We arrived in time to tour the fort before dressing for a long snorkel swim. I had a full wet suit and John had the half suit and thought I was nuts but the water was cold enough that I was very thankful to have a full suit. We snorkeled for about 45 minutes searching for coral, fish, and anything interesting under the waves. After lunch on the boat, which by the way was the only place we could go to the bathroom or get water or food, we suited up again and snorkeled around some old pier pilings and this is where all the fish were hiding.
We swam among tiny silver minnows and fingerlings, thousands of them! Large silver fish were clustered under waving fans and seaweed while a few black and gold striped fish and bright blue ones skirted around them. As we left the pilings, John startled a sting ray into revealing itself. We also saw some star fish and more coral and sea anemone.
After the 2 1/2 hours boat trip back we went directly to the HogFish for dinner.
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