NIGEL THOMPSON
AS fans of pirate films know, X on treasure maps rarely marks the spot. There can be far better clues to locating the loot – such as the visible mast of a ship which sank in a strange underwater desert off Florida’s Key West.
The supply vessel lies near where treasure hunter Mel Fisher hit the jackpot in 1985, finding £340million of gold, silver and emeralds from a wrecked Spanish galleon.
But his 16-year search for the Atocha’s riches came at a huge personal price – the lives of a son, daughter-in-law and diver, four bankruptcies and a lengthy legal fight to keep his fortune from the US government. And the surprising twist to Mel’s amazing find is that half the Atocha’s wealth is still down there.
This was an intriguing thought as our floatplane flew at 500ft over the turquoise waters and tide-sculpted dunes of the aptly named Quicksands.
The 35-minute flight from Key West airport to Garden Key in the Dry America’s most inaccessible national park, was magical.
Each passenger had a window and headphones for the pilot’s excellent commentary. Beneath us were islands, a coral atoll, sharks and loggerhead turtles shining like gold coins in the afternoon sun.
The plane landed on a bay in glorious sub-tropical sunshine just feet from white coral sands and the imposing, six-sided Fort Jefferson (keywestseaplanecharters.com, $342pp half-day excursion).
Visitors can take a $10, 45-minute self-guided tour of the fort, the largest brick building in the Americas, which served as a jail for four men linked to President Abraham Lincoln’s assassiTortugas, nation. But I was keener to snorkel in the shallow, warm and clear waters during our two-and-a-half hour stay.
The sea outside the fort’s moat walls and around rusting metal struts at an old coal dock was teeming with life – parrotfish, grunts and sergeant majors.
I also spotted a 5ft-wide grey stingray gently flapping through the water and a handful of menacing 4ft barracudas lurking, seemingly motionless, on the edge of the deep.
The Dry Tortugas was just one highlight in a six-day trip to the Florida Keys which started with two nights at the comfortable Key Largo Marriott Beach Resort, whose spacious, balconied rooms look west over the hotel’s own beach, a large outdoor pool and the Gulf of Mexico beyond.
A tasty fish dinner enjoyed with local beer outside at the nearby Sundowners at sunset was a great introduction to the Keys.
Both spots are near the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the US’s first undersea park, which has