A Key West port day is short and the island is small, which is a good combination. Everything most people come to see in Old Town is within about a mile and a quarter of the pier on foot. What limits the day is not distance but closing times, the one famous trip that does not fit, and the time you have to be back aboard.
Which pier you are at
Two piers take the big ships:
- Mallory Square Dock, the city’s pier. It is at the foot of Old Town, and the way in is through the “Welcome to Mallory Square” archway, in the trolley operator’s directions.
- Pier B, which the port agent describes as a privately owned pier “immediately adjacent to downtown Key West.” Historic Tours of America, which runs the trolley and train excursions, says most ships dock here, behind the Opal Key Resort, and that it is 200 to 250 yards from the pier to its tour boarding points.
The third berth you may read about, the Navy Mole, no longer takes the big ships; the cruise-days page has that story and the two calendars.
Take your ship card and a photo ID ashore. The trolley operator’s cruise page says adults need both to get back onto any of the piers.
How far everything is
Walking distances along the streets, measured on OpenStreetMap’s footpath routing, with the time at an easy three miles an hour:
| From the pier to | From Mallory | From Pier B |
|---|---|---|
| Hemingway Home, 907 Whitehead | 0.7 mi · 14 min | 0.8 mi · 17 min |
| Key West Lighthouse, 938 Whitehead | 0.8 mi · 15 min | 0.9 mi · 18 min |
| Eco-Discovery Center, 35 East Quay Road, closed for repairs | 0.8 mi · 16 min | 0.8 mi · 17 min |
| Fort Zachary Taylor, the fort | 0.9 mi · 19 min | 1.0 mi · 19 min |
| Butterfly Conservatory, 1316 Duval | 1.1 mi · 22 min | 1.2 mi · 24 min |
| Southernmost Point buoy, 1499 Duval | 1.2 mi · 24 min | 1.3 mi · 26 min |
Duval Street starts beside Mallory Square and runs across the island to the Atlantic, so the buoy is the far end of the one street everyone walks. The buoy is at a temporary spot at 1499 Duval while the plaza at South and Whitehead is rebuilt. The train operator’s own cruise page still sends passengers to the end of Whitehead Street for it.
What closes early, and on which days
The hours that matter on a port day, from each place’s own listing:
| Stop | Open | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Hemingway Home | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily | Tickets at the gate only, $19; cards cost 3% more |
| Lighthouse | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily | Last admission 4:30 p.m.; 88 steps |
| Fort Zachary Taylor | 8 a.m. to sundown | The fort closes at 5 p.m.; $2.50 on foot |
| Eco-Discovery Center | Temporarily closed | Roof repairs, no reopening date; free when open |
| Butterfly Conservatory | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily | Last admission 4:30 p.m.; $17.50 |
| Southernmost Point | On the sidewalk | A line for a photograph |
Two of those are the free ones worth knowing about. The Eco-Discovery Center is NOAA’s own marine sanctuary visitor center, on the waterfront on the way to Fort Zach, and it costs nothing, but it is temporarily closed while NOAA works out the repairs its roof needs, with no reopening date. Fort Zach is a state park with the island’s best beach and a Civil War-era fort; the daily fort tour is at 11 a.m., and on foot the entry is $2.50. There are no lifeguards and the bottom is rocky, so bring water shoes if you plan to swim.
What fits a port day
Old Town on foot, for nothing but tickets. Hemingway Home and the lighthouse face each other on Whitehead Street; do them first, since the Hemingway Home’s first tour is at 9:15 a.m. and its only ticket window is the gate. South down Duval to the butterflies and the buoy, then back up Duval toward the ship. That is the whole island’s greatest-hits list in about three miles of walking.
A narrated loop, if walking is not the plan. Both of the island’s sightseeing rides meet cruise passengers at the pier when booked through the ship’s excursion desk:
- The Old Town Trolley is a 1.5-hour narrated loop with 13 stops and unlimited hopping off and on, from $55.60 on the shore-excursion listing below. Any time off the trolley is added to the tour, which is the thing to watch.
- The Conch Tour Train is a single one-hour loop with no hopping off, from $45.10, meeting at Mallory Station about ten minutes’ walk from the port. The train boards every 30 minutes from 9 a.m., and the last leaves Front Street at 4:30 p.m.
The trolley-or-train page compares the two properly.
A reef snorkel trip. The reef is offshore and needs a boat. The trip we list is $79 for about three hours, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure, and three hours fits most port days. Check its departure times on the listing against your ship’s hours before you book, and pick a sailing that has you back at the dock at least an hour before all-aboard. The snorkel page covers the reef, its rules and which reefs the boats visit.
A beach afternoon at Fort Zach. About a mile from either pier, through Truman Annex at the end of Southard Street. Snorkel gear and beach chairs are for rent in the park.
What does not fit
The Dry Tortugas. The ferry checks in at 7 a.m., leaves at 8, reaches Fort Jefferson at 10:30, leaves at 3 and is back in Key West at 5:30 p.m. Most ships have sailed by then. It is the day out of Key West most worth staying a night for; the Dry Tortugas page has the rest.
Sunset. Key West’s most famous hour is after most ships have gone. From the U.S. Naval Observatory’s tables, sunset is about 5:38 p.m. in early December, 7:31 p.m. in mid-September and 8:20 p.m. in early July. Mallory Square at sunset is the evening Key West is known for, and it happens on the dock your ship has just left.
Booked through the ship, or not
The two operators that meet the ships say the same thing from opposite ends:
“when purchasing an excursion through the ship, it guarantees that it will wait until the tour returns.” (Conch Tour Train)
“It is your responsibility to return to the ship on time.” (Old Town Trolley)
That is the real difference between an excursion from the ship’s desk and a trip booked anywhere else, including through the links on this page. The trolley operator sells its tour both ways; what an independent booking does not come with is the ship’s promise to wait. So the rule for anything booked independently is simple: back at the pier at least an hour before all-aboard, and all-aboard, printed in your ship’s daily program, is earlier than the departure time on the port calendar.
Which days are busy
Key West’s piers can take more than one ship on the same day, and when they do, the couple of blocks between Mallory Square and Duval are the busiest on the island through the middle of the day. That is exactly your window. The port publishes its schedules on two calendars, and the cruise-days page shows how to read them. On a two-ship day, go the other way: Whitehead Street and Fort Zach first, Duval last.
A shape for the day
- Straight off the ship to the Hemingway Home, about a 15-minute walk, for one of the early tours; they start every 15 minutes from 9:15 a.m.
- The lighthouse across the street, while you are there.
- Fort Zach, for the fort and a swim. The Eco-Discovery Center on the way is closed for roof repairs.
- Back via Duval, for lunch and the walk to the pier, with time in hand before all-aboard.
Or put the middle of the day on the water with the reef trip, and do the Hemingway Home and the lighthouse on either side of it.
