TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Florida Keys Bareboat

We just started brainstorming Fl Keys bareboat trip for sometime next year. Are there any suggestions for
1) charter co
2) itinerary
3)research links

We feel like we're low on information and we're not sure where to look.
Btw, I realize it's a bvi forum but I couldn't figure out where else to start.
Thx

Dave - I don’t know that there are a whole lot of charter companies in the Keys - it’s not a hot spot for chartering the way the BVI are. Why not the Bahamas??

Actually my wife came across something while she was traveling the other day and it made us want to look into it. We (and a bunch of our friends) love Key West and we've been trying to get them to the BVI's. But schedules and flight costs have kind of limited our ability to get a consensus.

From Philly we can get cheap flights to either Miami or Ft Lauderdale so that would help for cost. Also, an itinerary that would take us from Miami to Key West and back over 10 days would allow some crew who don't have 10 days to fly and meet us around Isla Morada or Key Largo or something like that.

Not something we're fixed on but it seemed like a fun trip, different from our normal BVI trip and flexible enough to attract some new crew. At least worth doing some research.

We were told Moorings has a spot in Miami but we didn't see anything on their site. Googling brought up a couple more things but it would be nice to hear from anyone who's done it. We'd even look to go out of the Ft Myers area if there was a reputable charter company up there.

These guys might fit the bill.
https://www.floridayachtandcharters.com
G

https://www.facebook.com/SailingTheSpaceBetween/

try this...not bare boat but where you want to be and seem like really good family

We did it a few years ago when the Moorings had a base in Miami, it's since been closed. We spent two weeks going down to Key West and back. It was a great trip and I would definitely recommend it.

We chartered a 42 foot cat out of Key Largo a few years ago with a company called 360 yachting. We picked it for the reasons you mention, easy/cheap to get to, looked good on paper, but in the future we'd spend a bit more and go to the Bahamas.

Many issues with the boat, I think 360 yachting is no longer in business. More relevant is that we didn't find the area particularly good for chartering. Very shallow even a couple miles off shore made for non-relaxing sails, not many protected anchorages, marinas too shallow even for the cat, not very good snorkeling, and pretty mediocre restaurants in general. We had only 7 days so didn't make it all the way to Key West, so it might have gotten better the further we went, and we may have just hit all the wrong places, but just giving you our experience. We would choose another destination next time.