5 Epic Florida Keys Water Adventures With Teens

If you’re heading to the Florida Keys with your teens in tow, you’re going to have to offer more than a trip to a few museums. And yet, they’re not quite ready for that wild booze cruise. So what do you do?

Hit the water, of course! On our last visit, we explored a sand bar, clear-kayaked the mangroves, snorkeled with lobsters and sea sponges, splashed in the lagoon and jet skied like the wind. Here are five water adventures in the FL Keys that your teens will love you for (and you’re going to have a blast, too!)

Islander Girl Snorkel and Tours’ Sandbar Swim (Tavernier)

Tavernier, the largest island in The Upper Florida Keys, is home to Islander Girl Snorkel & Tours. They offer sunset cruises and snorkel tours – but we took them up on a sandbar swim!

Islamorada Sandbar is a local’s favorite hangout. Yes, even though there are tours here, Key’s local Captain Chris shared that he and other islanders even head here themselves on their days off. It’s so beautiful and so fun, it’s hard to blame them.

Our family launched from Casa Mar Village with a few other travelers, heading about 20-30 minutes out to the sandbar, where we anchored.

The warm water at the sandbar was about chest high, and the tide was lowering as we played for about 2 hours… going down to about waist deep for an adult.

The boys wrestled on the huge floating “lily pad” anchored next to us. Once they tired of that, they grabbed the complimentary snorkel gear and we all explored the grassy area lining the sandbar.

We saw loads of colorful fish, tons of stingrays, and even a turtle! The first stingray we spotted surprised us because it had no tail. The crew explained that he was a regular resident of the sandbar, and a welcome friend they expect to see on almost every visit.

The crew poured soft drinks for the boys, rum punch for the adults, and a platter of cut fruit for snacking on – ideal after being in the salty water.

After noshing, the boys headed back into the gulf – taking turns using the paddleboard and donut floats, and explored with the snorkel a little longer. 

Elliot had a run-in with a jellyfish, and the crew had vinegar ready for him – and plenty of kind words and soda refills.

At about the 2-hour mark, the crew gathered all the gear while we dried off (we brought towels, but Islander Girl has some also, if you need them.) 

It took about 30 min to head back to shore, making the experience about 3-hours total.

On the way back, Captain Chris took us through Toilet Seat Cut, which you will NOT want to miss.

It’s a man-made channel marked with – you guessed it – toilet seats. They told us that new ones show up all the time, commemorating weddings, graduations, and other important events. You have to see it (and hear the whole story when you take the tour!)

The crew was fantastic, and I highly recommend this water adventure. Cooper told me later this was his favorite experience of the entire trip!

Lagoon on Grassy Key’s Rhum Runner Aquapark (Marathon)

The Lagoon is a popular spot for wakeboarding on a cable, both for newbies who have never wakeboarded – or for seasoned boarders.

We, however, were on a different sort of mission: The Aquapark.

This is a MASSIVE floating playground!

The boys (and adults! Yes, Dan and I played, too!) donned lifejackets and jumped into the deep lagoon, and swam to the playground.

We spent nearly an hour laughing, jumping, running, bouncing, slipping and sliding!

Cooper and Elliot’s favorite part of the playground was the huge tower. It lead to a slide, but they preferred jumping from the top of the tower into the water. 

The staff told us the lagoon is over 50 ft deep, so jumping was not a problem!

The lagoon is protected, so you don’t have to worry about waves (though it was particularly salty). There are also deck stairs that help you get in and out of the water.

Even with this help, though, please note that this super fun activity requires a bit of muscle and a lot of stamina. Six years old is the minimum age, but my kiddos are VERY athletic and they were winded after only 50 minutes!

(That’s a good thing, right?)

There is a store onsight if you need water shoes or sunscreen. We visited in the off-season, so the Beer Garden, Bongos, wasn’t open… however, we changed in the large restrooms in the parking lot and headed just down the road for lunch, afterward.

About a mile south is Grassy Flats Resort, owned by the same person. This is a sweet little boutique resort right on the water. 

Even if you aren’t staying here, the pool restaurant, The Rhum House, is the perfect place for lunch. 

Get Up and Go’s Clear Kayaking Tour (Sugarloaf Key)

Sugarloaf Key is about 30+ minutes north of Key West…but it is a vastly different scene. On a map, it looks like it’s made of multiple islands, but it is truly just one U-shaped piece of land that is peaceful and quiet.

It’s the perfect scene for a clear kayaking adventure with Get Up and Go Kayaking!

We met our guide on the edge of the Sugarloaf Sound. About 100 ft from the meeting place is a little convenience store, which is where we used the restroom and picked up a few bottles of water.

We piled into clear kayaks (one kid and one adult per kayak, life jackets included) and our guide pushed us out.

We paddled along the mangroves as she told us about the sponge farmers, pointed out underwater boat wrecks (so cool in the clear kayak), herons, turtles and more.

Then… we took a left and headed through a mangrove tunnel! It was long and winding – my favorite part of the adventure!

It opened up into a shallow area filled with coral, fish, turtles, sponges… even a bull shark!

As we started to head back, a little shower came down. There was no lightning so we stayed on the water. You might think that the rain put a damper on things, but honestly, it just cooled us off and made it that much more of an adventure.

We had to paddle back through the mangrove tunnel, against the current and after the rainfall. It was a little challenging, and Cooper and I got stuck for a bit – but maybe because we were laughing so hard.

We were the only people on the tour with the guide, but you might be in a larger group (we were there off-peak.) 

Someone on Instagram asked me if it was hard to paddle. The water here is very very calm. You’re in the sound, protected all around from the “U” that is this island. That makes it easy to paddle. Sometimes the boys even paddled themselves while Dan and I took a breather.

The quality of the kayak was fantastic. Prior to showing up, I wondered if they would be cloudy or scratched… but they were great. For the most part, we could easily see thru the kayak into the water. 

Some sections (not much at all) were too deep to see the floor of the sound… and sometimes the sun would glare in just the right (er… just the wrong) direction making a glare on the kayak. 

But for the vast majority of the time, it truly was a unique tour and well worth the money to seek out the clear kayak experience. 

Honest Eco’s Dolphin Watch & Snorkel (Key West)

Romantic sunset cruises… rum tours.. there is no shortage of boat excursions in Key West. But if you ask me, Honest Eco Tours is the perfect boat tour for families.

SQUID is the boat we took for our dolphin watch and snorkel. It was hand-built and is the island’s first electric-powered charter boat, charged with solar panels (and a diesel generator when necessary.)

We hopped aboard with another family and set off, and we could tell immediately that this adventure would be different than others.

The crew began by telling us about the boat and their conservation efforts, passing out reusable water bottles, and sharing their binders on the marine life we would possibly see.

For the first part of the 4-hour trip, we headed out to see the wild dolphin. They are not at all afraid of the boat – you can see in the video above how one came right up to us.

After than, we rounded the channel and headed out to a sponge nursery for some snorkeling; Honest Eco provided the gear, including flippers.

Unlike the sandbar snorkel, this water was deeper – but, it was important to continue floating the entire time rather than stand or walk.

The area we were in was full of coral and sponges. Dozens and dozens of sponges!

Besides the captain, the crew included a former teacher who was a whiz about the local marine habitat and animals. She stayed in the water with us, pointing out the different types of sponges, colorful fish, lobsters, sting rays, humongous moon jellies, and more.

Having a tour guide in the water who loved the ocean, the marine life, could talk about the conservation efforts… it really made such a difference in how special and unique this snorkel adventure was.

(Not so) funny story – Elliot got stung by a jellyfish again. Poor guy. But the crew here had the right first aid, took very good care of him, and made him comfy. They served veggies and humus on the way out – and delicious fruit on the way back.

Barefoot Billy’s Jet Ski Tour (Key West)

Ready to feel the wind in your hair? A Barefoot Billy’s Jet Ski Tour is a must!

Let me be honest. This was our last full day on a week-long tour of the Florida Keys. We had been exploring, museum-ing, swimming, walking…. and frankly, I was exhausted. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this.

But the boys (especially Elliot) were so excited… they had never been jet skiing before. So… reluctantly I agreed.

HOLY COW. I can’t even imagine if we hadn’t done this tour! We would have really missed out.

Our guide was hilarious, cracking jokes the whole time. He led the way, while another guide towed the line for the slow pokes.

Me. I was the slow poke he had to wait for.

Dan has been riding motorcycles, jet skis, dirt bikes and such his whole life… not this girl. So Cooper and I took it slow…. but that’s the point!

Experienced or not, you are going to have a GREAT time on this tour.

We headed to a secluded little bay where everyone was free to spread out and make some waves (you can see Dan and Elliot doing that in the video.) Cooper and I were content to watch the more experienced crew.

After a while, we all headed back. I was able to pick up more speed on the way back in… finally getting the hang of it. Still, the “slow poke” guide had my back and made sure we were safe and knew where to go.

Once we were done, Elliot begged us to go back out again! I’d call that a win, when it comes to entertaining the kids.