Key West Jet Ski Tour: The 28-Mile Guided Island Loop

Key West is four miles long, and from the water you can see all of it in an hour and a half. The guided jet ski loop is the fastest way to do that: 28 miles around the island with the Southernmost Point, the Navy base, the backcountry flats and the harbor going by at 40 miles an hour, with a guide out front who knows where the sandbars and the dolphins are.

This page covers what the loop is like, what it costs, the two pieces of paperwork that catch people at the booth, and why the 9:30 am tour is the one to book.

Why this made our list

A jet ski tour is on every Key West list. This one is on ours for three reasons.

The route. This loop circles the entire island, 28 miles in 90 minutes, which no other tour here does. You pass the Southernmost Point from the only angle most people never see it, run the Atlantic side along Smathers Beach, round the airport end, and come back along the Navy base and the flats on the Gulf side, where the water goes from blue to green and the guide stops to let everyone off on a sandbar.

The dock. The tour leaves from the Hyatt Centric pier on Front Street, two minutes from the north end of Duval and three from Mallory Square. There is no shuttle and no drive to a marina.

The record. The operator is the largest water-sports company in Key West, with new Sea-Doo skis every season and guides who do this loop several times a day, and this tour holds a 5.0-star rating across 660 reviews.

Why this operator

Three companies run guided jet ski tours around Key West, and we compared them on route, skis, dock location, price and reviews. This one won on the full-island loop and the downtown dock. A Stock Island operator runs a comparable 27-mile tour at a similar price, a good choice if you are staying on that side, and the south-shore resorts have guided loops from the Casa Marina and Reach docks. Hourly rentals without a guide are available from Smathers Beach.

What the Key West jet ski tour is like

The tour runs 90 minutes on the water, plus the check-in and briefing before it. Here is how it goes.

1. Check in at the Hyatt booth. Find the jet ski booth at the Hyatt Centric, 601 Front St, 30 to 60 minutes before your tour. Show your photo ID, your boater card if you need one, sign the waiver and leave a card for the damage deposit.
2. Safety briefing. It starts 25 minutes before departure and covers the ski, the hand signals, the no-wake zones and the rules for following the guide. Miss it and you cannot ride.
3. Life jackets and launch. The crew fits jackets, assigns skis and walks you onto the dock. You idle out of the harbor in a line behind the guide.
4. The loop. Once past the no-wake markers the guide opens it up. Mallory Square and the cruise ships slide past, then Fort Zach, then the long Atlantic run past the Southernmost Point and Smathers Beach. Around the airport end the water turns green over the flats.
5. The stop. Conditions allowing, the guide pulls up on a sandbar on the Gulf side. Everyone wades, takes photos and cools off.
6. The run home. Back along the Navy base and the backcountry, into the harbor and onto the dock about 90 minutes after you left.

Prices and what you get

The 9:30 am tour runs from about $140 per ski, and the later departures about $170, plus tax and booking fees. The price is per ski, not per person, so a couple or a parent and child sharing a ski pay the same as a solo rider. That includes a new Sea-Doo, life jackets, the briefing and the guide for the full loop.

Two extra costs to budget: the online Florida boater safety certificate (about $10, only for drivers born in 1988 or later) and a refundable damage deposit held on a credit card at check-in.

Who it’s for (and who should skip it)

Anyone who wants to see the whole island, couples who want something active, and parents with kids who are too young to drive but old enough to hang on. First-timers make up most of every tour; the guide sets a pace that works for the slowest rider in the group.

Skip it if nobody in your party is 18 with a physical photo ID, because nobody can drive. Skip it if you have back or neck issues that a choppy boat ride would aggravate; the Atlantic leg can be bumpy after a front. And skip the afternoon tours if you are prone to seasickness; the 9:30 is the flat one.

Where to check in and how to get there

The jet ski booth is at the Hyatt Centric Key West Resort, 601 Front St, on the waterfront at the north end of Old Town. From the top of Duval it is a two-minute walk; from Mallory Square, three. Check in 30 to 60 minutes before departure and plan on the briefing starting 25 minutes before.

If you were born in 1988 or later and plan to drive, take the Florida temporary boater safety course online before you arrive. It is a 30-minute test, the certificate is emailed to you, and the booth needs to see it. The course is linked from the booking page.

Best time to go

Time of day. The 9:30 am tour. The wind is lightest, the water around the island is flattest, and it is the cheapest departure. The 3:30 and summer 5:30 tours have the best light for photos but more chop.

Time of year. The tour runs every month. Summer mornings are glass and the water is warm enough that the sandbar wade is the highlight. Winter cold fronts put two or three days of chop on the Atlantic side after they pass; the guide adjusts the route, but if you have a choice, pick a calm morning.

Local tips before you book

• Do the boater test the night before. It is the number one reason people miss the tour. Thirty minutes online, about $10, certificate on your phone.
• Bring a physical ID. A photo of your license on your phone does not count. The booth is strict about it.
• Empty your pockets. Phones, keys and sunglasses without a strap go in the water on the first wake. The crew has a dry box.
• Share a ski if one of you is nervous. The passenger gets the same loop for free and can swap to the front on the flats if the guide allows.
• Ask for the sandbar. The guide stops when conditions allow. If the group is keen, say so at the briefing.
• Pair it with the parasail. The parasail boat leaves from the Seaport, 10 minutes’ walk away, and a 9:30 jet ski followed by a noon flight is a full morning of Key West water. For the rest, see our things to do in Key West.

The verdict

For a Key West jet ski tour, this is the loop to ride: the full island, a downtown dock, new skis and a guide who does it every day. Take the boater test the night before, bring a real ID, book the 9:30, and share a ski if you want to halve the cost.