little africa

i enjoyed snorkeling on this reef, but was disappointed to see so much coral bleaching. There is another reef a few hundred yards to the south of Little Africa that is nice snorkeling but it too has a lot a bleached coral. We kayaked over from Garden Key.

It was fantastic to scuba dive there. It felt like you had the whole ocean to yourself! Getting there is tough, but sure worth all the trouble!

I kayaked over from Garden Key last week!! The weather was ideal wind less than 5 knotted and clear skies. Took about an hour and a half of easy paddling. It was the second time I've kayaked to Zloggerhead and the first time I took to snorkel Little Africa! It has some amazing corals. I actually saw more fish snorkeling Garden Key spots but not near the coral formations at Loggerhead. I have gone the past 3 years and camped out at Dry Tortugas Park. I take the ferry only go the first or second week of December. The weather was too windy last year but the first and third year we had perfect weather for kayaking

And that's because I have never snorkeled in the Eastern Hemisphere! Anyway, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. As the other reviews has suggested, getting there is 99.9% of the difficulty. As an alternative, you might consider paddling via kayak. Caution - it is a six mile round trip and should be considered an open water paddle, only to be attempted by experienced kayakers. The Yankee Freedom II, the approved ferry to the Dry Tortugas, will take kayaks for campers for a small add'l fee (Do not think they'll take kayaks for day trippers. Besides too far of a paddle for the time allowed). Make arrangements far in advance as they can only take 3 to 4 boats per trip and they have to account for drop offs and pick ups. Also, please read directions and suggestions for kayaking on both the Yankee Freedom and Dry Tortugas National Park websites and plan to bring some gear you normally would not need to consider - marine VHF, GPS, signal flares, ditch bag with add'l food/water, anchor, etc. So getting the kayak to Garden Key is the first hurdle. After that, it's all weather permitting, which depends on current, tide, wind, and weather. I've only ever been out to Ft. Jefferson in the spring and it's always windy. I would NOT attempt the trip in anything over a 10 knot sustained wind. So assuming weather is a go, then it's simply a matter of paddling over in the morning, landing on the beach to the left (south) of the light house and dock, and walking a trail over to the other side of the key. You'll see the ruins of a dock with a "Loggerhead Key" sign - get in and start snorkeling. I felt comfortable going out as far as the marker buoys, making a lazy U turn back to the beach. The number and variety of corals and fishes is AMAZING and as the other posters suggested, you are likely to have the place to yourself. I was happy to see the corals and fishes seemed untouched by the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill, though time will tell. Anyway, do yourself a favor and add this to your bucket list. Probably means you'll need to camp for two or three nights on Garden Key, which is primitive (no water!), but that in and of itself is rewarding. It's really magic after the ferry leaves, especially on weekdays - just you and a handful of other campers - and the night sky is PHENOMENAL. Don't forget the saltwater croc in the moat (not kidding) or the huge Goliath groupers under the dock. I could go on and on. I've been to Ft. Jefferson four times - three times to camp, twice to kayak - and still have not done/seen all that I wanted to do, including snorkeling the wreck of the Windjammer Avanti. This is one of my favorite places on Earth and would be happy to answer any questions, so please feel free to reach out.

The first review was dead on the money, i have a boat and was able to go there and snorkel with friends we made over there. Its simply beautiful, you just off the shore and into 8 ft of water with coral all beneath you, beautiful because there is no humans out there to destroy it! Must go if you can, make friends with sailors they will take you for a

Little africa lies on west side of Loggerhead Key. Walk along the beach until you are level with the yellow house then about 100 yards out to sea.The cuuent flow is North to South and the reef sits in around 20 feet of water at it's deepest point. I have snorkelled here many times not seeing a soul apart from the light house keepers.Getting over from Garden Key is the problem , you need to be on a boat to get there.I always manage to find someone to take me over for the day ( A bottle of Jack Daniels is a great persuader).Whilst over at loggerhead there is a partly submerged wreck " The Wind jammer" it lies about 1/2 mile off the southern tip of loggerhead again in around 20/30 feet of water and it excellent for snorkelling. Do not rely on GPS to find this wreck as the coordinates are wrong and just the tip of theSteel hull breaks the water by less than a foot.