Best way to get to Key West from Port Charlotte area? (Tampa: rent, hotel) - Punta Gorda - Port Charlotte - Florida (FL) -Charlotte County - City-Data Forum

newstudent299 · 06-23-2011, 12:42 PM

Hello All,

I purchased a home in North Port and I am waiting on another in Englewood. Love the area!! Anyway my family is already planning there winter visits 8-). My neice and her husband are visiting in Nov. and have a wedding in Key West. The only transport other than driving (6 hours) I have found is Key West Express from Ft. Meyers for $160 each rt. Does anyone know of any other ways to get there cheaper? They would not mind spending 1 night there.
Thanks All!!

Harbor Hopper · 06-23-2011, 01:06 PM

Check the airports (even the small ones like Punta Gorda). Most will have charter aircraft available. I have no idea what prices would be for a Cessna puddle jumper, but it's worth looking into. We will be taking the Key West Express this fall as well (I can't talk the wife into cruising our 35ft boat that far). Good luck!

SoFLGal · 06-23-2011, 01:07 PM

I've taken the Key West Express several times. IMO it's the best way to go. I have several pics in my profile of one of my trips.

Messing About · 06-23-2011, 06:44 PM

We have made the drive about a dozen times in the past 3 years. It's fun to bring first time visitors on the drive, cut off of I-75 at SR 29 and go US41 through the Everglades. We stop at the Big Cypress Preserve to see alligators in the wild, then go Krome Avenue all the way through Old Homestead to Florida City and the Overseas Highway.

From Key Largo down, it's 110 miles of the Atlantic on your left and the Gulf on your right.
We like to spend the first night in either Key Largo or Islamorada. See where Jimmy Ray is playing live and go see him! Don't fail to stop at the Islamorada Fish Company restaurant and see the Tarpon get fed each night at sundown. Stroll into the birthplace of Bass Pro Shop at the Worldwide Sportsman, on the same grounds as the Fish Co.

Day 2 we continue south on US1, checking out some of the markers memorializing Spanish ships that went down 500 years ago just off these shores. Stop at Robbie's Marina and hand feed 200 pound Tarpon that come right up to you from the Gulfside or just watch others do it and take pictures in awe!

Just before Marathon, turf off at the hidden gem that it Key Colony Beach. Stop into the Sparky's Landing for some fish tacos for lunch or just enjoy the 99 cent peel/eat shrip with a cold beer. Don't get back on the highway before you cruise through KCB to Sunset Park; stroll the pier and dream of how the "other side" lives. See standard quarter acre empty lots that sell for a half million dollars. (I don't think the recession happened in KCB).

Finally, you get to Key West! Park at the Waffle House, then use the crosswalks to enter the center median of US 1 so your guests can get a photo standing under the Welcome to Key West, Paradise USA sign.

While there, leave your car at the hotel and spend $65 per 24 hours for a motorized scooter. It's the ONLY way to get around and see it all. What is it all?

Schooner Wharf Bar, noon to 5 you MUST hear Michael McCloud sing his stories.
Mallory Square for the nightly sunset celebration.
Mel Fisher treasure museum (Today's the Day!)
Hemingway House
Southernmost Point
The original Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Restaurant and Bar
Find another of my favorite KW musical geniuses, Scott Kirby and spend an evening listening and dreaming with his songs. (he tours a lot, so check his website...he plays many venues in KW when not on tour).

Okay...I could go on all night. We love the Keys! I love the water, I cherish the bars but most I miss the music...

When it's all over, you have a looooooong drive back home. We usually go straight through to get it done with. Beware that holiday weekends are a beeeeotch! Memorial Monday last month took us 9 hours to get home.

We are going back for New Years Eve this year and plan on doing the Key West Express for the first time. You can get a discount if you pay 7 or 14 days in advance; about $138 round trip I think?

Anyway...enough of this novel. Go to Key West and go often!

newstudent299 · 06-24-2011, 09:31 AM

Wow makes me want to take the drive 8-)....Thanks to all for the replys!

Messing About · 06-24-2011, 01:43 PM

By the way...when we drive, we take my F150 truck with a 5.4 litre V8, usually 4 passengers, luggage, and a huuuuuge ice chest of adult beverages. We get all the way from PC to KW on one tank of gas (24 gallons) with 50 miles or so to spare. Your mileage may vary but unless you take a motor home, you can't do much worse. If you have more time than money, driving is the way to go.

Old Man Winter · 06-24-2011, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

I've taken the Key West Express several times. IMO it's the best way to go. I have several pics in my profile of one of my trips.

The catamaran shuttle thingy?? If so, I put the AC and water chiller in it. Spent a full year in Tampa at the port when she was in dry dock being built and tested.

beerme1 · 06-24-2011, 07:43 PM

We have taken a cesna from Tampa to KW, driven to KW, taken jets into KW and next year will take the KW Express. I suspect we will like the KW Express best but there are limitations with sea surf and such and could wreak havoc on a trip and you need to be aware of that and be prepared for that which would be a dissapointing result. You may have to change plans and rent a car to get there the same day or get a hotel and wait a day. I don't know how often it happens, very seldom I think but it would be something to keep in mind. I believe if it happened to me I would get a car and make the drive because you will lose your room money in KW anyway and I would rather be in KW in bad weather than in Ft. Myers

Foxrivman1 · 06-24-2011, 08:58 PM

MA, I felt like I was reading a piece for a upcoming video travelogue with your infinitely detailed and wonderfully written true accounts of traveling to the keys!! Thanks, for the great reading, all I can see is shades of blue and green seas, tiki bars, oh, and by the way are we there yet?

Harbor Hopper · 10-16-2011, 06:12 PM

Just returned on the KW express yesterday. What a great ferry! It is massive and VERY comfortable! Flat screens everywhere, a bar, several comfy lounges, and very friendly crew. Seas were fairly calm on the way down (2 footers), but on the way back seas were 6-8ft and we were rocking pretty good. Wife and I were fine (I decided to make it a beer & cigar trip), but probably 100+ people were getting sick. At least there are numerous bathrooms on board! It's a bit pricey ($134 RT per person), but you can't beat the 3.5 hr trip.
Our weather sucked during our visit to KW (we actually left a day early to come home to better weather), but we'll try it again in a few months. Maybe Feb or March. Who's in???? Let's go!!!!