The scenic view on the bus ride was beautiful, but we felt like more than half of the day was spent sitting on the bus. We were highly encouraged to do an activity/excursion while in the Keys, so we added snorkeling to our trip. It took about an hour to walk to the pier and get registered for the excursion once our bus arrived in Key West. There’s a bunch of shops but only 1 public restroom stall for each gender at the pier, so we waited in line for 30 minutes and didn’t get to use it before our boat left. The boat commute to the snorkeling site was an hour each way, and we didn’t see more than a few fish while we were there. Also, the majority of us (visitors) were inexperienced snorkelers… many of us were surprised and panicked when we were swimming through masses of jellyfish. We were not forewarned by the snorkel instructors; only told after the excursion that those particular jellyfish don’t sting. Once we arrived back at the pier, we only had about an hour before we had to get back on the bus to go home. To recap; we were picked up from our hotel at 7am, arrived in Key West at 11:30am, walked to the pier/registered/boarded our boat by 1pm, arrived at the snorkel site at 2pm, snorkeled for about 45 minutes, arrived back at the pier at 4pm, and only had enough time to grab a quick dinner before boarding the bus home at 5:30pm for another 3-4 hour commute. Total: 7-8 hours on the bus, 2 hours on a boat, 2 hours walking/waiting for excursion, 1 hour snorkeling, 1 hour to eat dinner. Although the tour guides were very nice and knowledgeable, I don’t prefer to have commentary the whole trip. Unfortunately this type of trip was not for me. I was excited to have a relaxing ride to Key West to explore the island for a day, and barely got to see any of it. Without adding on the highly encouraged tourist excursions, I might’ve had 5-6 hours to appreciate the island and its culture, but still would’ve sat on the bus for longer. I would not do this trip again.
Одговор домаћина
Aug 2021
I'm sorry the tour was not what you expected.
It really is a long trip, about 4 hours each way, (almost 200 miles each way) but it is not a route that can be done faster because it passes through many bridges and sections of the route that are not a highway in which the speed should be reduced. However, by not driving, you can appreciate the beautiful scenery as you traverse so many islands and bridges viewing the Caribbean waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
On the island, they have 6 hours free, but of course, having 3 hours to Snorkel, there are only 2.5 - 3 hours left, to travel, eat, and others. One suggestion might be to buy some food before you get on the boat, so that you can eat on the boat while sailing, as there you have free drinks. That way, when you are on the island, you can take the opportunity to get to know it and explore it, either by walking or taking the hop-on / hop-off Trolley to make it easier and visit more places. We appreciate your opinion, it is very valuable to us!