Beach for snorkeling?

[svnet]

Hi all,

We'll be in Key West in a few weeks with Celebrity Summit.

We are thinking of walking around town and then try to go to a public beach.

Wich are the best beaches, and the besr way to rech them?

Any good ones for snorkeling?

TIA

Sílvia

[CT Sean]

It's not exactly a snorkeling destination, but when my wife and I are there, we usually snorkel at Ft Zachary Taylor beach.  As long as there's decent visibility, the rock piles just off the beach usually ave a nice amount of life.  It's about a mile from the cruise dock if you cut through Truman Annex. It's also a just nice beach area with a "lunch counter" and some walking paths and the fort next door. Consider water shoes as the beach can be rather rough - although it seemed like they removed a lot of the usual coral rumble when we were there a few weeks ago

 

Higgs Beach is another potential snorkeling spot - there's the ruins of an old pier there that should be interesting, but I've never been there where the conditions would allow it. In fact, we go every year for several days and I have yet to see "snorkel-able" conditions. Higgs Beach is closer to 2 miles and you'd probably want a bike or to take the bus.

 

I can't think of an option 3 that would be worth snorkelling

[keywester33]

The good snorkeling here is out at the reef, not near the shore.  
 

If the water is clear you can see some fish at Fort Zachary mentioned above, but bring water shoes.  The “beach” was mostly rocky gravel as of yesterday.  The water is only clear when we have had a few days with very low winds.  If it’s windy, visibility will be poor,  check the water conditions before you rent snorkel gear.  They post it at the entrance to the park.

 

[svnet]

15 hours ago, CT Sean said:

It's not exactly a snorkeling destination, but when my wife and I are there, we usually snorkel at Ft Zachary Taylor beach.  As long as there's decent visibility, the rock piles just off the beach usually ave a nice amount of life.  It's about a mile from the cruise dock if you cut through Truman Annex. It's also a just nice beach area with a "lunch counter" and some walking paths and the fort next door. Consider water shoes as the beach can be rather rough - although it seemed like they removed a lot of the usual coral rumble when we were there a few weeks ago

 

Higgs Beach is another potential snorkeling spot - there's the ruins of an old pier there that should be interesting, but I've never been there where the conditions would allow it. In fact, we go every year for several days and I have yet to see "snorkel-able" conditions. Higgs Beach is closer to 2 miles and you'd probably want a bike or to take the bus.

 

I can't think of an option 3 that would be worth snorkelling

 

Thanks Sean,

I'll check Ft Zachary Taylor, and if we have time we'll go to Higgs, as well.👍

We're planning on lots of walking during our day in Key West - gottta spend some calories for all the yuminess we'll be eating on the ship 😁

[svnet]

10 hours ago, keywester33 said:

The good snorkeling here is out at the reef, not near the shore.  
 

If the water is clear you can see some fish at Fort Zachary mentioned above, but bring water shoes.  The “beach” was mostly rocky gravel as of yesterday.  The water is only clear when we have had a few days with very low winds.  If it’s windy, visibility will be poor,  check the water conditions before you rent snorkel gear.  They post it at the entrance to the park.

 

 

Thanks Keywester33,

I'll definitely try Ft Zachary, as we have our own snorkel gear, no need to worry about renting.

We have to try to figure out the wind situation in the weather app, because we aren't so used to check the winds (europeans 🙈😊...)

When you mentioned the reef, where is that, specifically?

[JayRich65]

The old pier at the Casa Marina (still in disrepair from previous storm), I've seen a bunch of fish and even lobster under the pier.  Without going to Casa Marina, you can swim over from Dog Beach (besides Louie's Backyard) also there is a small public park just to right of the pier that you could also swim out, but no beach.  Again this one is weather dependent too.  If you really want to snorkel, do a 4 hour excursion out to the reef

[keywester33]

8 hours ago, svnet said:

 

Thanks Keywester33,

I'll definitely try Ft Zachary, as we have our own snorkel gear, no need to worry about renting.

We have to try to figure out the wind situation in the weather app, because we aren't so used to check the winds (europeans 🙈😊...)

When you mentioned the reef, where is that, specifically?

The reef here is several miles offshore.  There are many companies that offer excursions to the reef.  Fury and Sebago are the two largest.  If you do book one, be sure it is actually going out to the reef.  Some snorkel excursions stay closer to the island and are not as good.

[svnet]

Thanks JayRich65 and keywester33,

 

I'll check those locations and try and figure if it's worth the excursion or not, because I think we'll probably choose one with snorkeling in Nassau, so I have to see the best way.

But with these recs, it sure is easier to "build" my KeyWest google maps pins of places to go 😎

🙏