Island to Island Charters,
Key West: Daily Updates

Key West Beaches & Dolphins!

March 22nd, 2014

Each Key West private boat charter is extremely unique. The customized charter is uniquely designed for each individuals interest. My trips vary quite a bit each day according to who I have on board and the optimal conditions. This trip was two couples interested in a relaxing, chilled, sightseeing trip in the backcountry of Key West. Also they liked the idea of my new very spacious, and comfortable Hurricane deck boat! A nice way to cruise the inland, shallow waters surrounding Key West.

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We decided to head straight to the beach just a few miles West of Key West the island right before the Marquesas. The only island in the area with a natural beach. They enjoyed their time there walking around in the shallows, looking for shells, and chilling on the beach chairs. A great way to recover from a day on Duval St. in Key West.

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We were very lucky to spot a pod of our residential Key West dolphins playing in the channel right before the beach. We watched them for sometime from the boat while they swam around us checking us out. Always an amazing experience when the dolphins choose to come to your boat and see whats going on, especially when it is two young calfs. They jumped around and wrestled the entire time. Check out the video my client captured of the dolphin jumping out of the water!

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Key West family boat trip

March 21st, 2014

We started the day snorkeling a patch reef just a few miles off of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. They saw barracudas, tropical fish, stingrays and lots of colorful coral.

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We then took a boat cruise along the mangrove islands to a larger remote island with a white sand beach. There they sat on the beach and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

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After some combing the beach for shells we loaded up the boat to a nearby wreck for some wreck fishing. After not much success at the wreck, we traveled to do some backcountry channel fishing. First line in and first time fishing the daughter landed a beautiful Barjack!

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We were so fortunate to experience such a beautiful day on the water watching dolphins, light tackle fishing, snorkeling, island hopping, and relaxing on a remote secluded beach all just a few miles from Key West.

Boys Key West trip of fishing & football!

March 19th, 2014

We spent the day in the backcountry just a few miles east of Key West wade fishing on a beautiful white sand bar. Paul, visiting from Sweden with his two boys, caught a really nice Jack Creval. He was surprised at the fighting power of this fish!
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His two sons were really successful catching all sorts of Snappers.

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We were having such a great day fishing! I chummed up some Bonnet head sharks and he landed one! That was quite exciting for the boys to see the shark fishing.

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After all the fun fishing, we cruised around the islands looking for Sea turtles, Sting Rays, & Dolphins. And found a beautiful white sand beach exposed during low tide just ten miles from Key West. That was a perfect opportunity for the guys to play some football and enjoy the warm weather of Key West before returning to Sweden the following day.

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While enjoying watching the boys be boys, I saw some large Barracudas checking out the actions as well. Also the beautiful sight of daisy chaining Tarpon!

Ladies Day Fishing in Key West!

February 24th, 2014

We were very fortunate to enjoy a really nice day fishing just east of Key West in the backcountry. We caught some Ladyfish, and lost quite a few as well.

 

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We cruised around the basin just off the Gulf of Mexico and had quite a few bites, nothing too substantial. We landed some Jack Crevals. We were hoping for some Pompano that we spotted rolling around, but didn’t catch them.

 

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Too add to our variety, we also caught a Blue Runner and some Lane Snappers.

 

 

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We had quite a few visits from Black Tip Sharks, one which ate a Ladyfish that we just caught! Cut him right in half, and then came back to finish it. So we rigged up to Shark fish, and landed a young Black Tip Shark! We were hoping the bigger ones we saw would make the young one bait as well, but to no avail. Still a really good fight for a beginner angler in the Florida Keys, especially when you are light tackle fishing in shallow inland waters.

 

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At last we decided to enjoy a white sand beach on a remote mangrove island and relax after a good day fishing .

 

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They were happy to fish and really enjoyed the eco-tour. We saw a large Loggerhead turtle, several smaller ones, Stingrays, Sharks, a Spotted Eagle Ray, and some unknown finning fish on the flats. Jury is still out whether it was a Shark, Dolphin, Permit, or Tarpon. Before returning to the dock we did a short Key West tour from the boat in the Key West Harbor. We pointed out different Key West Bars, Restaurants, & Hotels.

Great day fishing in Key West!

February 19th, 2014

Started the day looking for rolling Tarpon just off Key West. We were successful in that pursuit, but just couldn’t get the Tarpon to eat! So we tried fishing a wreck nearby for Mangrove Snappers. When I dropped the anchor we noticed a large Barracuda near the wreck. My client, Derrick, casted a few times, but the Barracuda was clearly aware of us being there. We did catch some grouper & snappers, but only kept a large grey snapper. One of the largest I have seen in awhile.

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We then continued to travel West of Key West in pursuit of Jack Crevals. We landed a few Lane Snappers, Mutton Snappers, and a good size Bar Jack who put up a strong fight. Quite fun and enough to feed their family freshly caught fish that evening.

 

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Key West Sunset Cruise

February 14th, 2014

Key West is known for its fabulous sunsets where you see the sun unobstructed set into the Gulf of Mexico. It is quite the sight to see! The best way to do this is on a private boat charter from Key West with only your closest friends and/or family to celebrate with. I had three couples who were vacationing in Key West and were long time friends charter Island to Island Charters for a sunset cruise. It is my most relaxed and fun trip. I cruise around Key West Harbor and the two neighboring islands, Sunset Key and Wisteria. Then we go by Mallory Square to watch the performers and all the people without having to be amongst the crowds. Finally we find a white sand bar just a few miles East of Key West and anchor until the sun goes down. We are surrounded by flats in the backcountry and watch sharks, stingrays, and all sorts of fish feeding in the shallow waters. Often we are graced with dolphins swimming through the channel! The grand finale is the Key West sunset!

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Key West backcountry extravaganza

February 6th, 2014

I had the pleasure of taking a fabulous family out to experience the true beauty of Key West, the backcountry waters during low tide. A couple with a nine month year old wanted to experience calm shallow waters with a remote beach. We went east of Key West to a remote island full of mangroves and white sand bars. The water was crystal clear when we passed into the gulf we actually saw two dolphins swim under our boat. When we came close to the island I saw a nurse shark cruising by. Before anchoring we passed over coral heads as well, a great lobster are to dive for lobsters. We snorkeled a bit then relaxed on one of my favorite remote beaches in the Florida Keys, maybe a 30 minute boat ride from Key West. Also known for its great fishing!IMG_3174 IMG_3175 IMG_3178 IMG_3179 IMG_3180 IMG_3181

Key West Fishing & Beaches

February 4th, 2014

A great day backcountry fishing for Jack Crevals and Snappers, saw a few sharks didn’t land any. We had the pleasure of encountering a pod of dolphins along the way. Gorgeous visibility and clear Key West blue skies. We were out during low tide and came across white sand bars and an endless beach just 10 miles off Key West. There was only two other boats quite some distance, so we enjoyed the secludedness. We cruised around the mangrove islands looking for birdlife, stingrays, sharks, and barracudas.

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Kara and Wayne’s Sandbar wedding

October 17th, 2013

I had the pleasure of enjoying a beautiful day on the water with two couples, one of which I was the officiant for their sand bar wedding ceremony. I took them to one of my favorite group of mangrove islands east of Key West and we dropped anchor on a remote white sand bar. Talk about a true Key West wedding, the water was ankle deep and the five of us were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by beautiful water and ospreys, stingrays, herons, and quite a few hermit crabs. After a short, simple, very romantic wedding we enjoyed the secludedness of the island not to far from Key West. After sometime we moved on to do some fishing and having some laughs. We caught a few mangrove snappers, a bit to small to keep and headed back to Key West. We had the privilege of catching the famous Key West Sunset on the water before reaching the dock. What an amazing way to get married in Key West! Glad to be a part of it, thanks Kara and Wayne.
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