Florida Keys Family Adventure
- Matt Overton
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
For Spring Break 2025, we took the entire family and my wife's mom on a Florida Keys Family Adventure! My wife (Jen) and I have been to the Florida Keys three previous times, but this is the first time we were bringing the entire family. On past trips, we have flown to Miami and driven down, but this time we were flying into Key West. Allegiant has a hub in Asheville, so they offer a non-stop flight to Key West. The Florida Keys stretch 120 miles from Key Largo to Key West. In our opinion, it is one of the most amazing places to visit in the US. On previous trips we have stayed in Key West, Marathon, and Islamorada; for this trip we chose a VRBO on Duck Key (Marathon). The spot was amazing and had canal access and a pool. There is so much to do in the Keys, for this trip we had booked a half-day of backcountry fishing and a trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park onboard the Yankee Freedom ferry.
After flying into Key West, we spent the first afternoon seeing the sites around Key West. We enjoyed lunch downtown and hit up all the popular tourist sites around Duvall Street. Southermost Point, Mile Marker Zero, and lots of key lime pie!
We spent a lot of time on the trip in the pool and dock fishing in the canal. Fishing was tough, and we definitely saw more than we caught. The pool was amazing and so was the backyard space, it was one of the best parts of the trip.
I took my two oldest boys on a half-day backcountry fishing charter that was booked through Hawks Cay. We left out of the marina and headed to the Everglades. Along the way we hooked up with a huge tiger shark until he broke our leader. It was quite an experience for Will! We made it to the backcountry flats in about 40 minutes and caught tons of sea trout, ladyfish, jack crevalle, among others. It was an awesome experience!
On the last full day of our vacation, we went to the Dry Tortugas National Park onboard the Yankee Freedom ferry. Outside of your own boat or private charter, there are only two ways to this most remote national park in the country, sea plane or ferry. Both options have to be booked months in advance and both are quite expensive, but the ferry is much less expensive option for a group of 7. You have to be at the ferry early in Key West by 7am, which makes this a very long day if you are not staying in Key West. This trip has been on my bucket list for years, so I was happy to check it off! The Dry Tortugas is a remote chain of islands that is 70 miles off the coast of Key West. Fort Jefferson was built on the island and has some really cool history. You can also snorkel around the island and there are also trip options that let you camp on the island overnight. It was a really cool experience just be aware that when the seas are high it can be rough. For us the trip to the island was great but coming back we were taking the 7 foot seas head on and most of the boat was feeling sick. Overall it was a great experience, just be aware that you may get sea sick if the water is rough!
Comments