What's on in Dry Tortugas National Park, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Sooty tern nesting

  20 Jan – 10 Jul · usuallyBirdlife seasonClosures

  Around a hundred thousand sooty terns nest on Bush Key — their only regular colony in the country — and the key is closed to landings while they are on eggs. You hear them from the fort walls long before you see them. Source ↗

Still on: Winter cold fronts (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Sooty tern nesting (20 Jan – 10 Jul (usually)), Winter cold fronts (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Spring break in United States

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Sooty tern nesting (20 Jan – 10 Jul (usually)), Winter cold fronts (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Nature

  Spring migration fallout

  1 Apr – 15 May · usuallyBirdlife seasonBook early

  Seventy miles of open water from anywhere, so exhausted northbound migrants drop onto the fort's parade ground in numbers — more than two hundred species pass through. A front with wind and rain makes for the biggest days, which is not the weather you would have chosen. Source ↗

Still on: Sooty tern nesting (20 Jan – 10 Jul (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Calm-water snorkelling season

  1 May – 31 Aug · usuallyDive season

  The wind drops between the winter fronts and the peak of hurricane season, and the moat wall and the coaling docks are as clear as they get. It is also the only stretch when the ferry rarely cancels for sea state. Source ↗

Still on: Sooty tern nesting (20 Jan – 10 Jul (usually)), Spring migration fallout (1 Apr – 15 May (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 NovClosures

  The park sits further out than Key West and closes and evacuates on a storm track, campers included. September is the worst fortnight of it, and travel insurance on the ferry is not optional. Source ↗

Still on: Sooty tern nesting (20 Jan – 10 Jul (usually)), Calm-water snorkelling season (1 May – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Sooty tern nesting (20 Jan – 10 Jul (usually)), Calm-water snorkelling season (1 May – 31 Aug (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Calm-water snorkelling season (1 May – 31 Aug (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Winter cold fronts

  1 Dec – 31 Mar · usuallyWind seasonRiskClosures

  Fronts come through every week or so and put a short steep sea across the crossing; the ferry cancels and the seaplanes stay on the ground. Book two nights in Key West so a scrubbed day is not the whole trip. Source ↗