Seeing a wild dolphin should be on everyone’s bucket list, and Key West is one of the best places to start your dolphin watch. Lots of folks come here for the marine life, from the tropical fish on the coral reefs to the manatees lounging in the seagrass beds. But dolphins have a cult following, and you can spot them in their natural habitats around the island in all sorts of ways.
Here’s a look at the best Key West dolphin watch tours, how to guarantee dolphin sightings, and which boat tours give you the best odds.
How To Go Dolphin Watching in Key West
If you’re heading down to the Keys and want to make new flippered friends, there are a few ways to do it. You might see them from shore or a kayak, take a boat tour (whether a special dolphin cruise or not), or you could try your hand at one of the dolphin interaction programs in the Keys.
You’ll have the least luck if you watch from shore or spot them from your kayak. Dolphins are all around, but you’ve got to either get lucky or cover some ground to see them. Sitting on one spot on the beach all day, or just paddling a limited area, holds the least amount of hope.
As with any kind of wildlife viewing, a huge component of luck is involved. Sometimes, a pod of dolphins pops up right off Mallory Square during the Sunset Celebration. And sometimes you pay for a dolphin tour and don’t see a thing.
Choosing a Key West Dolphin Watch Tour to Key West's Backcountry
Being on a boat gets you out into deeper water and closer to where they live, so on a Key West boat tour, there’s a better chance of dolphin sightings. Indeed, dolphin tours are some of the most popular Key West adventure tours around.
Most dolphins like to stick to Key West’s backcountry, away from town. If you get in a boat and cover 20 or 30 miles of their natural habitat, your chances are pretty good that you’ll spot one or two. Plus, you get the adventure of spending a gorgeous day on the water, enjoying the sun, salt, and sand.
There are choices, of course. You might opt for a dedicated dolphin tour or a generic boat tour that takes you to the sandbars or the reef to go snorkeling. Either method works, because they both get you away from town and tooling around in the crystal clear waters of the dolphins’ natural habitat. Plus, you’ll probably see lots of other cool marine life, like manatees, sea turtles, sharks, reef and tropical fish, and stingrays.
However, don’t count on seeing a dolphin while snorkeling in Key West. The dolphins rarely hang out at the reef; they favor things closer to shore. Your best bet is always a boat tour that explores Key West’s backcountry. Sandbar tours are an excellent choice for seeing marine animals, since you’ll get some stunning views and natural beauty, even if the dolphins don’t grace you with their presence.
Key West Dolphin Watching Tips and Dolphin Facts
The most common dolphins seen around Key West are Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins. They live in very dynamic social groups called pods. Adult bottlenose dolphins can live over 50 years, averaging about 650 pounds and up to 13 feet long.
Dolphins have keen senses, including eyesight and hearing. But they primarily use another sense for fishing and navigating underwater: echolocation. Like the depth sounder of a boat, a dolphin can emit clicking noises and register when it returns, giving them distance and relative movement of other objects in the water.
Dolphins are most active just after sunrise and just before sunset, when they’re most likely to be fishing. They’re also keenly aware of the tides, so they know when the fishing will be good and where to be for it.
Bottlenose dolphins live year-round in the Florida Keys, and that’s one reason why the Key West dolphin tour is a perfect way to get to see them. This place is a regular dolphin playground!
Another fascinating thing about the dolphins is that they love coming up to the boat, especially when we’re running fast. They get a kick out of surfing in the boat’s wake, the same way they famously like to leap in front of ships at sea. Keep your eyes peeled for them playing around whenever you’re on a boat — they’re out there!
You might think that binoculars would help you see dolphins on the water, but it’s better to keep looking with your eyeballs. We polarized sunglasses to help cut the sun’s glare on the water, and scan the water looking for signs. It’s very rare to see one jump out of the water. More often than not, you’ll see just their dorsal fin surface when they come up to breathe, or sometimes their tail flukes as they dive back down. If the light is behind them, sometimes the best way to spot them is by catching the sun reflecting in the mist shooting up from their blowholes when they breathe.
Florida Keys Dolphin Interaction Programs
Realize that it is against the law to swim with wild dolphins or harass them in any way, which includes getting too close in a boat or trying to feed them. But, if you’re hankering to get in the water and play with Flipper and friends, there is a way: a dolphin interaction program. Four or five are in the Keys, but none are in Key West.
The two best-known are Theater of the Sea and Dolphin Research Center. Theater of the Sea has interaction programs where you can swim with their trained dolphins and sea lions, as well as general admission that gets you in to see their shows and performances. They’re located in Islamorada at Mile Marker 84.
Dolphin Research Center is closer to Marathon, at Mile Marker 58 in Grassy Key, to be precise. It’s both a working research facility and a tourist attraction with shows, and they also have programs that let you get in the water with the dolphins.
There are also swim with the dolphins programs at Hawks Cay Resort and Dolphins Plus in Key Largo. All of these facilities have carefully structured programs that let you swim under the supervision of the dolphin trainer. The dolphins in these facilities are either born in captivity or rescued and deemed unreleasable — it’s illegal to capture wild dolphins.
Eco Tours and Key West Dolphin Tours on Casual Monday
If you’re ready to head out on the water and see a few dolphins, give me a call, and we’ll take the Casual Monday out for a spin. Whether you want to take a private sandbar charter, a snorkel tour, or just spend the day seeing as many dolphins and other wildlife as we can, I’ll make a custom tour that hits all your wants.
And, while I can’t really guarantee dolphin sightings, we see them out there more often than we don’t. So grab your sun shirts, sunglasses, and a couple of soft drinks — let’s go see some dolphins.
Our pet and kid-friendly eco tours and private charter trips are the best way to see Key West’s dolphins and marine life in their natural habitat.
