Ecotourism in Key West

Key West is known to be one of the most popular destinations for ecotourism, hotels in Key West are full of ecotourist all the year round. With over 70 miles of amazing coral formations, uninhabited sands spits and small islands the Dry Tortugas National Park is a vast playground for those who love nature as it is. This area provides a great selection of activities to enjoy: from catamaran sailing to kayaking or scuba diving. Referred to as The Lakes by locals the National Park is raw nature as it was thousands of years before the region was inhabited. Some tours will offer you a ride to Boca Grande Key, a beautiful uninhabited island with white sand beaches and coral patch reef. Another destination of ecotours lays in the opposite direction, northeast of Key West, to behold the beautiful mangrove backcountry.

If you love to go with the birds and appreciate the marvels of nature from the air, Key West gives you this spectacular opportunity. You can catch up a small seaplane leaving several times a day from the airport for an exciting trip to Fort Jefferson, a fortress in the Dry Tortugas National Park built during the Civil War.

The planes usually fly at a small altitude of about 500 feet to give the tourists a spectacular view on the rich and abundant marine life of the Keys. You'll have plenty of time to behold the amazing Marquesas Keys, a chain of small islands, as well as Quicksands, an area full underwater sand dunes, which is the exact place where the famous treasure hunter Mel Fisher found the bounty of the Spanish galleon Atocha.

If you prefer to go by sea, the Dry Tortugas can be easily visited with a motor boat, catamaran or high-speed ferry. Maybe it's not the fastest way to reach the fortress, but it sure is an unforgettable on with all the beauties of nature just a few feet away from you. And while you're sailing, the crew will definitely have some interesting stories to tell.