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 Where would you expect to find an exotic 400-acre island, complete with a lighthouse, ghost town, and mysterious military fortifications, all guarded by a large resident population of tortoises? Some forgotten colonial outpost in the Carribbean, perhaps? No, lucky for you this island is Egmont Key and it's just a stones throw from Fort DeSoto at the mouth of Tampa Bay.
The only access to Egmont Key is by boat, and in our case we took the ferry service from Fort DeSoto, which is $15 per person round-trip. The ferry leaves at 10:00 and 11:00 most days and returns at 14:00 and 15:00. Space is limited (around 50 people, I believe) so arrive a little earlier than your departure time. If you follow the signs for the ferry once you reach Fort Desoto, you'll wind up at the Fort and Gulfside Pier parking lot. Right at the southeast corner of the lot is an informational sign which will direct you to the ferry pick-up location. There is an optional snorkeling segment to the trip which is an extra $5 for gear rental and $10 for the ferry trip to the snorkeling area.
Facilities are extremely limited on the island, so you'll want to bring everything you'll want with you, but pack light enough that it won't be a burden to carry it all as you trek to the beach and explore the abandoned streets and fort.
In our case we arrived around 9:30 and the ferry showed up not too long after that and we boarded right off the beach. It takes a little time to have everyone purchase their tickets and sign in, but there were some dolphins swimming around close by to make the wait enjoyable. Once everyone's aboard, the trip to Egmont Key does not take long. In our case, the ferry went pretty much straight across the shipping channel and then the captain took us on a quick peek around to the northwest side of the island to point out how clear the water was and to show us some of the fortifications before bringing us back around near the lighthouse to unload.
 Once in the island, we walked inland to check out the lighthouse. The existing lighthouse was first lit in 1858, as a replacement for the 1848 lighthouse that was destroyed by hurricanes. The current light is an aero-beacon installed in 1985. From the lighthouse we walked south and west to explore the remains of the town at Fort Dade. Brick streets and walks are everywhere and stretch out south as far as we could see. Foundations overgrown with vegetation and a few scattered bricks and roof fragments are about all that remains of this city that had 300 inhabitants back in 1906. We enjoyed walking among these ruins and reading the informational signs about each building. Clusters of palm trees provided some welcome shade on many of the walkways.
 Tortoises large and small are everywhere. We saw this little guy walking across one of the brick streets.
 Eventually the beach on the west side of the island came into view and we found ourselves near the ruins of Ford Dade's power plant. Due to erosion, the ruins are collapsing into the Gulf of Mexico it seems. It made for interesting scenery as we set up our sun shelter and played in the delightful Gulf waters. We were somewhat suprised by how busy the beach was, but as we found out the island seems popular with boaters who can anchor right off the beach in the shallow water. By the time we were ready to leave, the boats were stacked up pretty good with no more room for any more, as near as we could tell.
 On our trip back to the ferry pick-up spot, we explored the ruins of Battery McIntosh and Battery Howard, two of the three non-submerged fortifications on Egmont Key. (There are two other submerged batteries on the south end of the island, which is where the snorkeling trips go) These batteries are similar to what is at Fort DeSoto, but not as well preserved and the big coastal mortars (guns) have been removed. Nevertheless, they are still impressive and definitely worth visiting.
Eventually we made it back to where the ferry arrived, and made the quick return trip to the beach at Fort DeSoto. We're looking forward to going back again, perhaps on a weekday when the beach will be less crowded.
permalink | posted on 17-May-2005 | Topics: Egmont Key Gulf Coast Beaches
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