Island to Island Charters,
Key West: Daily Updates

Posts Tagged ‘key west eco charter’

Key West Boating

August 9th, 2014

I had a lovely newlywed couple from Wisconsin charter me for a fun day on the water in Key West. The summer days in the Florida Keys are our favorite time for boating. The water is calm, crystal clear, & quite warm. So we started out snorkeling a patch reef just a few miles West of Key West. This reef in the summer is full of very large Southern Stingrays. They also saw a Nurseshark, Barracudas, and loads of tropical reef fish. It is quite nice because the large boats usually don’t go there so there are very few people. Also as a private charter you are free from the crowds.

We definitely had to hit the beach after snorkeling. My honeymooners were able to enjoy a remote island all to themselves. How romantic is that? Not another boat in sight. It is a beautiful island with a natural beach just 15 miles West of Key West in the Key West National Wildlife Refuge. At certain tides the Boca Grande has hermit crabs cruising the beach. Also stingrays enjoy the white sand bottom. This is the true beauty of the Florida Keys. Calm blue waters surrounding lush green mangrove islands. Nothing but the sound of birds and the rippling of the ocean. I can understand why my customers tell me my trip is the highlight of their Key West vacation. I never get tired of experiencing days like these.

Just a minute from the island is a large shipwreck. They snorkeled the shipwreck for sometime and discovered a large school of parrotfish, starfish, stingrays, and various colorful fish. We have a lot of wrecks in the surrounding waters of Key West, but this one is usually full of the most marine life.

We returned to the boat, relaxed and cruised back towards Key West with plans of stopping at a sand bar along the way. We came across some dolphins en route. Stopped and enjoyed their antics. Nothing is quite as wonderful as dolphin watching! It amazes me how many people have never seen them in the wild, I am so lucky to expose them to such a wonder.

We enjoyed a nice boat trip back to Key West along the Atlantic. Past the islands in the Lakes. Caught a glimpse of a few sea turtles. All and all a successful day boating the Key West shallows.

Key West Sand Bars

August 3rd, 2014

I was joined by two very fun couples celebrating their birthdays in Key West. They visit the island frequently, but haven’t had a chance to explore the beauty of the backcountry of the Florida Keys. We cruised East about 14 miles to a gorgeous white sand remote beach extending off a mangrove island into the Gulf of Mexico. This is the only beach in the area and only occurs during low tide. We were very fortunate to catch it at the best time.

After enjoying the remote beach we explored mangroves and white sand bars looking for wildlife. We saw Stingrays, Bonnethead Sharks, Barracudas, Sea Turtles, Tarpon, & a nice size Bull Shark! The mangrove islands in the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge our abundant with bird and marine life. It really is the ultimate escape from the real world to absolute beauty and tranquility. There are some days I don’t see another boat for hours. (It is too shallow for the larger cattle boats.) It is really worth taking a private boat eco charter to see what the Florida Keys really has to offer.

At last it was time to go dolphin watching! We headed back towards Key West in hopes of finding the resident pod of dolphins. We were surrounded by endless blue crystal clear water and not another boat in sight. One of my favorite places to be! Another incredible moment of dozens of dolphins playing around the boat providing huge amounts of entertainment. My private charter had never experienced seeing dolphins in the wild. They were absolutely thrilled and could not belief how interested the dolphins were in us. They discovered how truly intelligent those creatures are!

We thoroughly enjoyed the day of dolphin watching, relaxing on the beach, chilling on sand bars, and taking in all that nature has to offer! Lots of laughs and a decision to definitely do this again next time they are in town!

Key West Snorkeling

July 22nd, 2014

I had a superb day with a family from Texas visiting Key West for the first time. Luckily for me, they decided to book my private boat charter for 2 days. We were able to explore a lot of the Key West backcountry all the way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. We started our wonderful day together dolphin watching.

We proceeded West of Key West to a patch reef to do some snorkeling. First we stopped at a sandbar to practice because it was their son’s first time snorkeling. Both parents were advanced scuba divers and were anxious to show him all the amazing marine life.

We had excellent visibility for snorkeling. They saw Stingrays, tons of tropical fish, Barracudas, Nurse Sharks, and various forms of coral. The son was an expert in no time!

I decided with their enjoyment of snorkeling to take them to a wreck just off of Boca Grande. They saw a large school of Parrotfish, Tarpon, and a lot of large Southern Stingrays. After that we relaxed on a remote island with a beautiful natural sandy beach. They had their picnic lunch there. While relaxing on a shallow white sand bar we noticed a very large dark area in the water moving. It was a bait ball full of small brown fish!

Several tarpon were feeding as well. None of us had ever seen anything like that. It was amazing to witness! They grabbed their masks and snorkeled in the midst of thousands and thousands of little fish swimming all around them.

We left the island and cruised the Atlantic past Woman & Ballest Key. We did stop to enjoy the very soft sand. That is where they found dozens of gorgeous Queen Conchs, Sand Dollars, and Bonnethead Sharks. We were lucky to view a Bullshark swim by the boat.

We headed back to Key West after a full day of adventure, and exploration of the Key West shallows, flats, remote beaches, mangrove islands, wrecks, reefs, sandbars & more. I am grateful to have been a part of their Key West vacation and hope to do it again.

Key West Fishing & Island Hopping

June 21st, 2014

I had the joy of taking out two sisters and their husbands for a private boat charter in the Key West backcountry for some relaxation & fun! They were visiting Key West for a relatives beach wedding and had one free day to spend with Island to Island Charters. I took them through the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge exploring mangrove islands, sandbars, and an assortment of marine life. First we traveled NorthEast of Key West to a remote beach full of beautiful white sand and shallow turquoise water.

After some beach combing for shells we cruised on the Gulf to anchor in a channel and light tackle fish for Snappers, Jacks, Sharks..etc. We were fishing over hard bottom coral where a lot of fish usually can be found. They were more focused on relaxing on the boat and enjoying the tranquility of it all. For those that work a lot and are busy taking care of their families, this boat trip is definitely good therapy to restore your energy and “check-out”!

As we cruised the flat, calm waters back to Key West we encountered a large Loggerhead sea turtle, Nurse Shark, and a pod of dolphins. What an amazing day! A Key West vacation is an excellent choice, especially if you escape on a private boat trip to discover the true beauty of the keys.

Dolphins, Snorkeling, Remote Beaches for first timers to Key West!

May 2nd, 2014

What an incredible day spent with a couple from Chicago who had never experienced the gorgeous waters off Key West! We began the trip with a little bit of light tackle fishing just a few miles west of Key West. We caught a variety of Snappers, Jacks, Blue Runners, etc. Lots of fun guessing what’s next to bite the hook.

We proceeded to a patch reef full of beautiful coral heads to do a bit of snorkeling. The Atlantic was flat calm and provided us with great visibility. Considering it was their first time and they were a tad nervous, the conditions were ideal. I have a lot of experience with beginners and its a perfect situation to literally get your toes wet. The coral and vast varieties of reef fish are real close to the boat and not in deep water so it makes it a lot easier to get comfortable and really be able to enjoy the incredible world beneath the surface. Don’t get me wrong I have also had very experienced snorkelers hear as that love it as well. After sometime cruising the coral, they came back on the boat boasting about everything they saw. One of the many things I enjoy about my job is being able to provide this incredible experience, especially for my first timers. As a teacher, she took a lot of photos to share with the children in her classroom.

After reviewing all the different species of fish, we traveled along the Atlantic just a little south of “the Lakes” headed to a remote island with a beach. I also was hoping that this particular direction we might encounter a pod of dolphins. Neither of them had witnessed dolphins in the wild, so I was looking very closely for them. Just as we were rounding the island to our beach destination, in just a few feet of crystal blue water, was a pod of dolphins! This is a sight that still makes me unbelievably happy. I could only imagine what they felt having never seen this before.

When we landed on the island we were the only people there. They combed the beach for shells and enjoyed walking in the shallow blue waters.

We headed back towards Key West in hope of catching a fabulous sunset. We cruised around the harbor and saw Mallory Square, Sunset Key and all the beautiful Sailboats. We dropped anchor at a sand bar to enjoy the sun drop into the Gulf of Mexico. What a beautiful day we had. All they talked about was needing to move here when they retired, which was coming up soon. There is something unbelievably special about this place that once is gets in your blood it never leaves!

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Island to Island Charters, Key West: Daily Updates

Posts Tagged ‘key west eco charter’

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