We sailed in on a cruise ship into Key West and had about 6 hours there. We arranged a sightseeing tour with Salt Island Seaplanes so we could see the the area from the air, and also hoped to get a water landing in. We were very impressed with the whole experience!
Booking: We had a couple questions about how to get to the airport from the ship and where to meet. Responses were very quick and helpful.
Airport experience: We met our pilot at the executive area of the airport. He was very punctual and came and found us in the waiting area. It was a unique experience being surrounded by all the private aircraft away from the passenger terminal!
Pilot: Our pilot, Jon, was very friendly and accommodating. He gave us the safety briefing, answered all our questions, took some pictures of us with our camera, and then helped us into the airplane.
Airplane: The airplane was beautiful! One can tell that these airplanes get a lot of love. It was in great condition, inside and out, and they provided very comfortable headsets so we could hear the pilot talk with the tower controller and also communicate with each other. This was the first experience in a small plane for one person in our party, and he felt very safe and comfortable throughout the tour.
Tour: Before we got into the air, our pilot asked us if there was anything specific we wanted to see. Since none of us knew the area, we left the decision making up to him. He suggested we fly west out over some islands, and then see if we can find some ship wrecks. That sounded great to us! Once we were in the air, our pilot pointed out some things of interest, and answered our random questions. We circled a few ship wrecks (easily seen on this clear day), and even saw some massive sting rays and dolphins from the air! There was a bit of wind which caused a little bit of chop on the water, but our pilot said that it was no problem to land in these conditions, but it'll be a little bumpy. We were okay with that, so we landed out on the water. The landing was actually very smooth, and smoother than any of us were expecting! We got out and took some pictures standing on the pontoon. We got back in the plane and returned back to the airport. On the approach into the airport, we got to fly right over our cruise ship and right over Key West, it was really amazing!
We couldn't have been happier with our tour. It actually was one of our top highlights of our entire vacation! read more