We are traveling with another couple and were considering renting a boat to take to Fort Jefferson rather than one of the ferry services. Do the rental companies allow this? Does the park service @ Fort Jefferson allow an individual to dock?

Thanks for any advice.

mwood, I'm jealous... and, yes, you can take boats... even camp overnight on your boat. The trip out is beautiful, too. For complete regulations, maps, etc., the national park service has a great section on Fort Jefferson and the whole Dry Tortugas. Here's the url ti the regulations pdf: http://www.nps.gov/drto/parkregs/drtopr.pdf

Last time we went, we took the seaplane, which flew us very low over the chain of keys to the Fort. The flight was spectacular, so if you decide against the boat, remember... the seaplanes are way cool.

Enjoy!

thanks for the reply. Counting Children, there will be 8 of us. It looked like it would be close to the same price or maybe even cheaper to rent our own boat vs. taking one of the ferry companies. Might be a fun adventure for the kids too.