KEY WEST · FLORIDA KEYS
Open water, open bar, and that Key West sunset.
Sunset booze cruises, reef snorkels over North America's only living coral, sandbar parties, jet ski island runs and dolphin trips into the backcountry. Every good day down here starts at the dock.
Only here
The reef, the sunset sail, the sandbar.
Boat trips and snorkel tours run in every beach town. Living coral you can reach in twenty minutes, a sunset the whole island stops for, and a party on a sandbar in the middle of the sea do not.
Open bar at golden hour
The Sunset Sail
Key West treats sundown as a daily event, and the best seat for it is offshore. Catamarans and tall ships push out past Mallory Square with the bar open and music going, the sky turning while the island lights up behind you. It is the booze cruise the whole town is built around.
- 1 Key West Sunset Sail with Open Bar, Live Music and Hors D’oeuvres
- 2 Key West Sunset Cruise: Dinner, Live Music & Drinks Included
- 3 Key West Small-Group Sunset Sail with Wine and Hors d’oeuvres
North America's only living reef
The Coral Reef
Six miles out lies the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States, a shallow, sunlit world of parrotfish, rays and staghorn coral. Most boats reach it in under an hour, hand you a mask, and on the afternoon trips pour an open bar for the sail home.
- 1 Half-Day Trip from Key West with Kayaking, Snorkeling & Sunset
- 2 Key West Afternoon Snorkel Sail with Unlimited Cocktails!
- 3 Key West Dolphin Watch and Snorkel Tour – Eco Adventure
A party in the middle of the sea
The Sandbar
At low tide the shallow sandbars surface out in the flats and the boats raft up around them. You wade into waist-deep, bath-warm water with a drink in hand while the captain drops the cooler. Half beach, half pool, no shore in sight.
- 1 Key West’s Island Adventure Sandbar Tour with Kayaking
- 2 All-Inclusive Sandbar Safari with Dolphin Playground Encounter
- 3 Key West Sandbar Charter With Kayak Tour: Includes Lunch & Drinks
Start here
The trip more people book than any other.
If you only get one afternoon out on the water in Key West, this is the one travellers pick first.
The classics
Key West's Most Popular Trips
Sunset sails, reef snorkels, jet ski runs and the ghost tours after dark. The days people come all the way down the Keys for.
Where to begin
Pick the day, then pick the boat.
Sunset cruises, reef snorkels, jet ski island runs, dolphin trips, the bar crawls and the ghost tours. The handful of days most Key West trips are planned around, and the best of each.
The big decision
Which sunset cruise?
Every boat in Key West runs a sunset sail, and they are not the same trip. Three ways to watch the island's nightly show, depending on the crowd you want around you.
Six miles out
The only living coral reef in North America.
The Florida Reef runs the length of the Keys, the third-largest barrier reef on earth and the only living coral you can snorkel without leaving the country. Six miles off Key West the water turns gin-clear over staghorn and brain coral, parrotfish and the odd sea turtle. The afternoon trips throw in an open bar for the sail home.
See the best Key West reef snorkel trips →After dark on Duval
The island doesn't quit at sunset.
When the boats come in, the party moves to Duval Street. Open-container rules let you carry your drink from bar to bar, and the crawls string together the dive bars, the rooftops and the spots with the strongest pour. Find the live music, skip the tourist traps.
See the bar & pub crawls →Mile Zero
The end of the road, the start of the water.
Key West is the last island on US-1, ninety miles from Cuba and a hundred and sixty from the mainland. The Overseas Highway runs out at Mile Marker Zero, the streets fill with roosters and gingerbread porches, and the best of it all happens out where the Gulf meets the Atlantic.
All Key West boat trips →After dark
America's most haunted little island.
Key West has buried its dead in the middle of town since 1847 and tells stories about most of them. Lantern-lit walks and trolley tours work through the old cemetery, the haunted dolls, the shipwreck-era inns and the Audubon House, with guides who know which doors not to knock on.
- 1 Key West Ghosts and Gravestones Trolley Tour
- 2 Key West Ghost and Mysteries Guided Tour
- 3 Key West Haunted Pub Crawl and Ghost Tour with Free T-Shirt
Pick your pace
From a slow drink to a full-send.
Key West does both ends of the day. A glass of wine while the sun drops, or a jet ski lap and a parasail before lunch. Pick the speed you want.
Take it easy
Drink in hand, feet up.Sunset sails, glass-bottom boats and dolphin cruises. The day spent at water level with the bar open.
Get in the water
Mask on, reef below.Reef snorkels, sandbar stops and mangrove kayak runs. In the water, out of the heat, back by happy hour.
Full send
Throttle wide open.Jet ski laps of the island, parasailing over the flats and the all-day watersports combos. As fast as Key West gets.
Full throttle
Twenty-six miles around the whole island.
The classic Key West jet ski tour is a full lap of the island, twenty-six miles of open water with a guide leading the pack past the navy base, the wrecks and the flats. Two to a ski, throttle wide, with a sandbar stop to catch your breath. Parasailing and the watersports combos run from the same docks.
See all 9 jet ski tours →By activity
Pick how to get on the water.
Catamaran if you want the open bar. Reef trip if you want the snorkel. Jet ski if you want the speed. Glass-bottom boat if you want to stay dry. Dolphins, kayaks, parasails and the rest.
Plan it
Three days in Key West.
First time down? A long weekend that hits the water, the reef and the bars without wasting an afternoon.
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