Key West Charter

I realize this is a BVI forum, but I'm having trouble finding people with sailing experience in the Keys. We have a BVI charter booked for March 2022, and are considering a short Key West charter this fall just to get some days on the water since it's been so long for us (~2 years). If anyone has experience in Key West and doesn't mind sharing, please send me a message.

TIA,
Rebecca

Have not chartered down there yet but have been looking into it as well.

Moorings has teamed up with a Charter company down there. Florida Yacht Charters

Some good info here. Moorings Key West

Thank you. I have a request for quote in with Florida Yacht Charters. We were leaning toward Dream Yacht Charters because of the price and availability.

We looked to this at one time. The cruising area, appropriate mooring options and amenities were, in our mind, negatives. Slips would be required in many instances due to poor holding etc. We decided it was not worth it. Stay away from DYC.

Yeah, I'm gathering that about DYC. The reviews of their Key West base on TripAdvisor are terrible. We're open to other parts of the Keys or even FL if anyone knows of a good place for beginners. We took ASA 101, 103, 104, and 114 right before Covid hit so our time on the water has been extremely limited.

Where did you do your classes? Honestly I would look at CYOA in STT and see if they have any availability left for November.

Who are you chartering with in March in BVI?

We did classes with Blue Water out of STT.

We are avoiding USVI right now due to the influx of tourists. We've been visiting St John since 1998 so it's very disappointing but based on what I'm hearing and reading it's a nightmare. We were there the first week of February and it was crowded but not horrible at that time. Hoping it will slow down over the next year or so when cruise ships start running again and international travel becomes easier.

We're chartering with Captain Compass in March.

We used BW for our ASA’s as well.

We chartered in USVI last two weeks in February. It was a zoo. November should be better. Way better than Keys unless you are keen on marinas and boat slips. I can supply a list of those. But again - we personally do not feel it is worth it.

MIDiver, Did you have Captain Dick as your instructor at BW?

You make good points. I’m going to look into STT. Our dates are in October and are pretty restrictive due to our son’s high school football schedule .

No, we had Captain Jose.

CYOA looks to have a calendar block in Oct. you could email them and find out. They are really the only outfit I would go with there. I can PM you rationale. Out boat is in BVI - were there twice this year and scheduled for January and March 2022.

Sure I’m interested in any info you can provide.

In a week, I'll be happy to provide a review of DYC in St Thomas. We arrive Saturday. Booked the boat Tues so really no other options available.

Would love to hear about your experience, maytrix. Supply is very limited for our October dates.

I'll be happy to share once we get back. All assuming of course we actually make it lol.. Still waiting on our PCR test results. But we have a rapid antigen scheduled for tomorrow.. What a fun week!

We chartered out of KW last October. We used Calypso Sailing as the others had not moved into the keys yet. Calypso was great and so was the catamaran. The lack of mooring balls and sail area is a negative as stated above. Lobster pots everywhere….everywhere. You spend your entire time sailing or cruising dodging the pots. We were planning to go to the Dry Tortugas, but the weather didn’t let that happen. We got two nights out and were called back to the dock due to weather. It was the right call. You could have a great time, but it is not like sailing the VI’s. If you decide to do KW, contact Suzanne at Calypso if you want a cat. They have a couple of great dock locations and excellent boats. I am not saying I won’t sail the keys again, but there are a lot of places I would go first. I hope this helps.

Thanks for the info, TRIM. I'm not sure either option is going to work out at this point. Can't find any boats available in USVI in early October.

Timely post for me. We are seriously considering a charter in the Keys this February in conjunction with a visit to the Miami boat show. Now I'm wondering if we should reconsider. It seemed like a good alternative to the BVIs and other Caribbean locations which I am staying away from until they get a better handle on COVID and we have more certainty that there won't be any surprises. We are fully vaccinated but until the testing requirements are completely removed I don't think I want to deal with the hassle or extra expense for my family. Florida just seemed to make sense, but I would prefer to easily be able to anchor out with good holding and/or get a slip without having to plan far in advance. Maybe we'll have to adjust and head to Puerto Rico or the USVI after the show...

You may wish to consider the Abacos. I'm not sure how well recovered it is from the storm, but we were there several years before and enjoyed it. There are several charter companies there including Moorings and DYC.