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Boot
Key
Harbor An On-Line
Cruising Guide for the Florida Keys & Cuba |
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CRUISING WAYPOINTS, SELECTED ANCHORAGES & MARINAS - These waypoints MUST be used only in conjunction with current charts of the area, and cross checked against other navigational methods such as soundings, navigational aids and bearings. Do not rely solely upon these waypoints, and don't use them at all unless you are able to fully navigate yourself. You are responsible for your own navigation. Remember, it's even possible that there are typographical errors on these pages - double check your navigation! These pages are split into sections so they'll load faster on your computer.
Make sure you review the rules for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary before you dive / cruise. Review the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service restrictions for the Key West National Wildlife Refuge, Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, & National Key Deer Refuge (essentially ALL of the Keys)
Loggerhead Key - The lighthouse is 151' high and located 2.7 nm to the West
of Garden Key (Ft Jefferson).
KEY WEST TO THE TORTUGAS including Marquesas - South Route RW"F", ~ 2m SW Key West LORAN: 13924.8 43637.3 RW"E", SW Key West LORAN: 13919.2 43665.9 TURN toward Marquesas - West Channel ½ way between SP"E" and R4 Boca Grande, ¾ Mi S of SW point LORAN: 13898.7, 43715.5 Y"O" Buoy, entrance SE Channel Tortugas LORAN: 13800.8 43984.2 TORTUGAS TO KEY WEST, including Marquesas - North Route
"New Ground" 19 ft light, 1 ½ mi S of light (N. of Halfmoon Shoal) Ellis Rock Light, ½ mi North of light (Marquesas) LORAN: 1389.7 43779.5 Boca Grande - Reasonable Anchorage and nice day stop with
beach. G1, N approach to NW Channel Range - into Key West KEY WEST NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - This is an area of Islands from Boca Grande which is about 11nm West, to just off Key West. CLICK HERE FOR SATELLITE & AERIAL PHOTOS & CHART OF THIS AREA JUST WEST OF KEY WEST KEY WEST TO CUBA SEA BUOY - RW "KW" MoA Buoy into South Channel of Key West
(You can go directly from here to the Approach to Hemingway in Cuba)
CUBA: Mariel Hemingway Marina - approach. DeBarlovento Light (RW) about 825 yards
out from buoy Havana Harbor Approach - about 1/4 mile off harbor entrance. Please note that this is a restricted Harbor. Do not enter without prior Cuban authorization. 23 09.072N 082 21.714W CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES & INFO ON HEMINGWAY MARINA, AND BOAT CLEARING PROCEDURES FOR ENTERING CUBA *Note: Key West is a no discharge zone (as are all the keys now in 2004). At anchor you can call Key West mobile pumpout service at 305-295-8811 (11/00) or hail them on VHF 16. KEY WEST: (See Sea Buoy GPS# above)
R2, STOCK ISLAND: Channel into Stock Island, & Oceanside Marina in Key West (Just East of Key West proper) 24 32.548N 081 43.889W R4 KEY WEST: At the end of the seawall - the Entrance into Key West Seaport 24 33.799N 081 43.093W G57 - 450 yards Channelside in Hawks Channel, Key West 24 32.158N 081 45.522W SEA BUOY - RW "KW" MoA Buoy into South Channel of Key West KEY WEST Boat Ramps: Garrison Bight, Simonton Beach, 11th Street ramp, Bertha Street Ramp
This is the boat ramp on Simonton facing out into Key West Harbor, looking at Wisteria Island in the background. Many boats anchor out here. You could use this Simonton Street ramp to dinghy in and out, but you can't block the ramp. The dinghy docks are at the City Marina in the Seaport (see the "Marinas" link listed above). Most of the restaurants will let you dinghy in if you eat there of course.
KEYS GULFSIDE: Lower Florida Keys (going from Key West to 7 mi bridge (Marathon) This is called the "Backcountry" of the Florida Keys. It's so shoal that the
Coast Guard even hates to cruise here. Fisherman love it though, but you have to
know the waters very well. Most of it is exposed at low water, and tides are
usually only a foot or foot and a half ordinarily anyway. If you're not familiar
with this area you should go slowly and carefully. Even a 3-4 foot draft will
have problems in many places. There are some nice spots to snorkel and lobster
along the reef edge on the North side of this area, but you're anchored in open
exposed water. I've included a couple places where you might be able to get in
and anchor with some protection, but these shoals are subject to continuous
shifting so you must be able to read the water and decide for yourself whether
you can get in here or not. CLICK HERE for some chart views and satellite photos of the Keys "BackCountry" Includes Jewfish Basin, Airplane Wreck, Johnston Key, Tarpon Belly, Marvin Keys, Snipe Point, Content Keys.
FAT ALBERT - A familiar site to lower Keys Residents. This is a tethered "weather balloon" (so they say) that can be flown as high as 14000 Ft (Pilots watch your aviation charts!). It's used for both weather information and sophisticated surveillance of Cuba and our Southern Border to the Caribbean. It's located on Cudjoe Key just West of Big Pine in the backcountry, and makes a great landmark. They have 2 or 3 to keep one in the air most of the time. If you come up Kemp Channel you can get a great view of them and the base on the shore of Cudjoe Key.
KEYS OCEANSIDE: Lower Florida Keys (going from 7mi bridge (Marathon) toward Key West) Boat Ramps in the Lower Keys (aside from Key West)
ANCHORAGE in Bahia Honda: (pronounced Bay-uhh Honda). The anchorage is nestled between the old bridge (S. or Ocean side) and the new bridge (N. or Gulf side). Clearance under the new bridge is about 19' if you're coming in from the Gulf Side. On the Ocean side part of the old bridge has been cut out on the East end to allow unrestricted passage. Anchor close to the roped off beach between the two bridges. The current gets pretty steep here between tides so anchor well and/or use a Bahamian Moor with two anchors. Don't get up close to the new bridge (N. side) to anchor on this side. We're told there's a lot of junk on the bottom to foul an anchor, but have not confirmed this. You can also anchor outside the bridges on the NW side. There is significantly less current here than between the bridges, but the holding has been reported poor too. Bahia Honda State Park has a small marina basin which contains a nice gift and snack shop. You can dinghy or boat in and tie up at no charge for the day, or dock overnight at a modest charge (don't tie up in front of the shop because the tour boats go out of here). There's also no charge for coming in to the park when you do it this way, but people coming in by car pay admission. There's a nice roped off small beach right beside the anchorage / basin. You can walk up the trail to the top of the old railroad bridge (shown below) which has been fenced off as an observation deck. Dinghy out oceanside and you'll find a couple miles or more of nice beaches on that side of the park. Some of these are hard to access from landside so you can have them to yourself. Dogs are not permitted on the beaches and they get picky about this. Dogs are allowed in the park if you keep them on a leash and stay out of the picnic areas and beach. Though most of the Keys don't really have beaches, Bahia Honda has been reported to be one of the seven best beaches in the United States. Across the highway on the Gulfside there is a small marina basin with Cottages for rent from the park.
CLICK HERE for more info on Bahia Honda, including more photos, a chart view and phtos of the anchorage, park layout & info from their brochure Also see Approaches to Bahia Honda from Gulfside listed further down this list, on Gulfside. Newfound Harbor Approach from East: R50 24 36.736 081 23.590 Newfound Harbor Channel - R2 24 37.117 081 24.419 ANCHORAGE in Newfound Harbor: This is a very nice anchorage where we
frequently spend weekends. It's a good jumping off point to run back and forth
to Looe Key reefs for diving and snorkeling too. (Look at the diving pages for
an aerial picture of Looe Key Reef). A "quickie-just-overnight-for-some-protection" anchorage is just inside
past Little Palm Island Resort on your starboard side. The better anchorage (to
the West side of three islands you see off your port bow as you come in the
channel) requires that loop up and around the islands to approach the anchorage from
the North West side. Follow the chart and stay off the shoals - it loops around
like a comma. Try anchoring at about 24 38.181N 081 23.742W just off the
little island with a sandy beach. You'll be looking at the view below.
Photo at left Courtesy Capt Frank Danisi
If
you can get someone local to give you pointers on where the canal is (look at
the Satellite view link above), you can dinghy in
to the Looe Key Tiki Bar and restaurant for dinner or entertainment from the
anchorage here. It's a small residential canal just to the NorthWest of
the anchorage, which turns and heads straight North after you're in it - up toward US 1 -
then turns East in behind the Looe Key Reef Resort and Dive Center. Tie up and enjoy.
It's 1.85 nm from the anchorage to the Bar by dinghy route. The entrance
daymarks to this canal are at 24 38.803N 081 24.194W. Don't dinghy directly from
the anchorage to these daymarks because of the shoal on the West side of the
anchorage - curve around to avoid it. The Tiki bar and Restaurant are shown
below.
http://www.diveflakeys.com/tiki.htm
*Divers - for waypoints and information on Looe Key Reef (about 6.7nm SW of Big Pine Key & 4.5nm S of Little Palm Island) go to our DIVE SITES pages Key Lois - 50A Red Daymark, 100 yds channelside of the daymark Between Ninefoot Shoal Light & G51, In Hawk’s Channel W Washerwoman Shoal - G55 450 yds channelside of the daymark - in Hawk's
Channel - Saddlebunch Keys,
Looking in between the new (right) and old (left) bridges around Big Pine Key.
Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina - Bayside This cut is between Bahia Honda and Sunshine Key, just below the 7 mile bridge. Photo looking North.
Photo Courtesy Tom Henschel, author of "The Florida Keys Ports of Call & Anchorages". This illustrated guide is available for sale at www.cruisingbook.com |
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Boot Key Harbor website created and maintained by Capt. Gregory
T. Absten, Marathon. - A Boater's Guide to the Florida Keys & Cuba |
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