Snorkeling Guide: Dry Tortugas National Park

The Tortugas Islands are about 70 miles west of Key West, and are home to Dry Tortugas National Park. Centered on historic Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, a 19th Century naval artillery fortress, the park is only reachable by boat, helicopter, or float plane, and is a paradise for anyone looking for a little undersea adventure. 46 square miles of the park are part of a Reserve Natural Area (RNA), meant to protect the undersea life. That means fishing and dropping anchor within the specified boundaries are prohibited, providing a sanctuary for the fish and an environment perfect for pristine coral development. While the RNA was not declared until 2007, the park was already famous for its sea life, and it will now only improve with each passing year.

Snorkeling
The snorkeling starts in the immediate area right around Fort Jefferson. The local waters on all sides, excepting the boat and plane landing area, have sites of corals or old pier ruins that are teeming with colorful fish. The park service has a small number of designated concessioners that offer day trips by boat for snorkelers to waters farther afield. There are reefs abounding in the local area with bottoms in 25 feet of water, and in some places the corals are submerged under only a few feet of water. With visibility regularly in the 65 feet or higher range, this means that a dramatic amount of sea life is visible from the surface of the water, and more can be accessed on a skin dive.

An example of the opportunities in these waters is the wreck of the Avanti, a windjammer sailing ship that sank in a storm in 1907. Reachable by boat trip, the entire wreck lay in a mere 18 to 21 feet of water. That makes everything visible from the surface on even the worst days, and easily reachable by skin diving. Also, like wrecks everywhere, the Avanti is a magnet for fish and other sea life.

Fort Jefferson
The fort was part of a network of sea and port fortifications known as the Third System. The most famous forts of this generation of American military engineering were Fort Sumter and Fort Alcatraz. The construction was begun in 1846, and continued off-and-on for 30 years until it was finally abandoned. The widespread introduction of large caliber rifled artillery had rendered brick fortresses like Fort Jefferson obsolete, as was demonstrated more than a few times during the Civil War. One of the more interesting military features of the fort is that it was dependent entirely upon rain water to meet the demands of its garrison, and there is an elaborate network of cisterns in the fort for that reason.

Camping
The only way to stay in the park is to camp there. Sites are available on a first come, first serve basis for a mere $3 per night. Campers are required to bring all their own supplies, including water and cooking fuel.

Sources: http://www.yankeefreedom.com/images/garden-key.pdf; http://www.nps.gov/drto/planyourvisit/upload/Windjammer%20Site%20Bulletin.pdf