🏝️70 Miles from Key West: Dry Tortugas

There’s "remote," and then there’s being 70 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico with nothing but a 19th-century brick fort and the sound of the tide. Getting to Dry Tortugas is a journey in itself, but staying there for two nights is like stepping into a different dimension.

The plan was for tropical snorkeling and glass-calm water, but the ocean had other ideas. It was too windy to even think about getting in... the kind of wind that rattles your tent all night and makes the waves crash against the moat walls until the air feels like salt spray.

But honestly? The wind made it better. When the last ferry left and the day-trippers disappeared, it was just us and the massive, silent walls of Fort Jefferson. My days were a blur of wandering the arched brick hallways, wind-whipped walks along the narrow moat, and watching the water turn every possible shade of white-capped blue.

There’s no cell service, no running water, and zero distractions. It was two nights of living by the sun, feeling the power of the Gulf, and realizing how loud the world is once you finally leave that desolate silence behind.

Here is what 48 hours at the edge of the map looked like: