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The Dry Tortugas |
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| Lobster Mania
- THIS is the place to hunt! Whether you are spearfishing or lobster hunting, these reefs are filled with fish and marine life. The Dry Tortugas are a cluster of seven coral reefs that lay almost 70 miles west of Key West. Join us aboard the Ultimate Getaway, a fast & stable 100' aluminum vessel, based out of Ft. Myers, Florida. We depart on a Thursday, motor overnight to the Dry Tortugas, and wake up at our diving destination. Make as many or as few dives as you'd like. Plan on 7-10 dives a day. For your safety, Nitrox fills are available on board from a membrane system for only $10 per trip/person. You can pick and choose which sites you would like to dive! Most dive sites average between 40 - 80 feet, and we can customize to your abilitities. All food, beverages, lodging, and diving is included. There's a large 15'x 8' dive platform with freshwater shower, four restrooms and five hot freshwater showers. The cabins are all air conditioned and there are individual bunks for everyone on board. Call for trip schedules or to help with arranging a private charter.
These reefs along with surrounding shoals and waters make up Dry Tortugas National Park. Known for its famous bird and marine life, and its legends of pirates and sunken gold. Dry Tortugas National Park includes the largest of the 19th century American coastal forts. First named The Turtles, Las Tortugas, by Spanish Explorer Ponce de Leon in 1513, these reefs soon read "Dry Tortugas" on mariners charts to show they had no fresh water. In 1825 a lighthouse was built on Garden Key to warn sailors of rocky shoals; in 1856 the present light on Logger Key was built. By 1829 the United States knew it could control navigation to the Gulf of Mexico and protect Atlantic-bound Mississippi River trade by fortifying the Tortugas. Fort Jefferson's construction began on Garden Key in 1846 and continued for 30 years but was never finished. During the Civil War the fort was a Union military prison for captured deserters. It also held 4 men convicted of complicity in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865. The Army abandoned Fort Jefferson in 1874, and in 1908 the area became a wildlife refuge to protect the sooty tern rookery from egg collectors. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Fort Jefferson National Monument in 1935. The Monument was redesignated on October 25, 1992 as Dry Tortugas National Park to protect both historical and natural features. Not least among the natural treasures are its namesakes, the endangered green sea turtle and the threatened loggerhead turtle. |
