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Reviews: Elliott Key
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Capt Maria Langer, Do It Now, on Dec 28, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 32'
Draft: 2.5'Overall Rating:4Holding:2Wind Protection:2Current Flow:3Wake Protection:4Scenic Beauty:5Shore Access:5Pet Friendly:5Cell Service:1Arrived on a perfect day with calm winds and no waves. It was very startling to see the bottom in water seven feet deep! Anchored in about 6 feet of water as close as I thought I could get to Elliot Key to get some protection from wind expected overnight. Dinghy to beaches for dog relief. I tried dingying to the dock there, hoping to follow the mapped path to the ocean side of the key, but the path was tunnel like and full of noseeums. Some day trippers on this Christmas Week Wednesday, but not bothersome. Gorgeous sunset and moonrise. Miami skyline off in the distance really lit up the sky. Cell service disappointing on Verizon and Google Fi; only one bar and it dropped out repeatedly. Wind picked up as forecasted overnight and my anchor alarm woke me at 4 AM. Putting out more rode did not help. I had to start the engine, pull the anchor, and reposition TWICE. I just couldn't get the anchor to hold for more than 15 or 20 minutes with the wind pushing the boat south. (Someone else reported that it might be rock covered with sand and I think that's correct.) Dinghied my pups to shore one more time, then departed shortly after dawn.
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Martin Blanchard, S/V No Brainer, on Dec 28, 2023
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 42'
Draft: 4.0'Overall Rating:5Holding:5Wind Protection:4Current Flow:5Wake Protection:4Scenic Beauty:4Ease of Shopping:1Shore Access:5This is a great spot if you are coming in from FLL or Miami and want to swim in clear shallow waters. It was our first time here and I was a little nervous because the charts shows 1.5 meters and some spots has no depth info. We draw 1.2 and had no issues.
Yesterday was a beautiful and warm day. This morning we had 30kts winds with gusts of 35 kts. It was coming in from the NW and we were unprotected. We dragged a little but the anchor set again by itself. There is sand everywhere so great holding !
Will come back for sure!View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Tony Buntyn on Feb 26, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 47'
Draft: 4.0'Overall Rating:5Holding:4Wind Protection:3Current Flow:4Wake Protection:4Scenic Beauty:5Ease of Shopping:1Shore Access:3Pet Friendly:3Cell Service:2WiFi:1Anchored here for 3 nights. Good holding in sand/mud/grass. Wind shifted 120 degrees during our stay. Good hold. Beautiful spot. Can be busy on the weekend, but mostly respectful boaters. Snorkel right up next to the island along the overhangs in the hard rock, lots of creatures to see! Remember, this is a lobster sanctuary.
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Susan Viltrakis, LimitLess, on Jan 1, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 60'
Draft: 5.0'Overall Rating:4Holding:5Wind Protection:4Current Flow:5Wake Protection:5Scenic Beauty:5Ease of Shopping:1Shore Access:2Pet Friendly:2Cell Service:2We anchored here for 4 days while my kids were visiting. Mostly quiet. There was one daytripper who insisted on dropping their anchor 30 feet from our boat (and playing loud music) even though it is a huge anchorage and there were plenty other spots. Other than that rude boater everything else was beautiful. You can dinghy to shore easily for pet relief and there is a dock, although we didn't go there. No amenities but much peace and quiet. We will be returning to this spot often.
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Jason Spitz, Breathe, on Dec 30, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.0'Overall Rating:4Holding:5Wind Protection:4Current Flow:4Wake Protection:4Scenic Beauty:4Ease of Shopping:1Shore Access:2Pet Friendly:3Cell Service:2WiFi:1We have been coming to Elliott Key in December for the last 8 years. We spent 6 nights this time. We tend to head south of the anchorage marker to be further from the day boats. The scenery and solitude at Elliott is why we visit. Kayaking, SUP, swimming, snorkeling are all great with lots of juvenile fish, rays, sharks and birds. Unfortunately, there are more and more rude boaters playing loud music. Christmas Eve a group of 4, that grew to 8 powerboats, had a party that kept everyone up within 1-2 miles until 4:30am. We picked up anchor and moved as far as we could but still found ourselves in Studio 54! Miami anchorages and anywhere a powerboat can get within 2 hours has become an area where good manners, respect for no wake zones, and anchoring etiquette is often forgotten.
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Timothy Mousseau, RI3, on Mar 31, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 54'
Draft: 5.0'Overall Rating:4Holding:4Wind Protection:3Current Flow:1Wake Protection:3Scenic Beauty:4Ease of Shopping:1Shore Access:3Pet Friendly:5Cell Service:2WiFi:1This is a great spot if the winds are coming from the west as they were for us (15-20). Minimal current, 1.5 ft tide or so and a handful of other boats parked at significant distance away. The t-mobile cell service was decent (>10 MBS bandwidth on my MiFi, enough to watch Netflix). The beach access by dinghy was good although the fixed dock was too high to get my dog out so beach access was the way, which was good. Unfortunately not much to see and there did not appear to be paths going anywhere except to favorite places for folks to defecate. Lol. Very few fish in the sea grass and the bottom was littered with old cans and bottles from the many years of parties on the water. On a clear day, Miami can be seen to the north.
Overall, for us at the time, this was a great place to park the boat for the night and take to dog to shore for a short walk.View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Jason Spitz, Breathe, on Dec 22, 2020
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.0'Overall Rating:5Holding:5Wind Protection:2Current Flow:2Wake Protection:2Scenic Beauty:5Ease of Shopping:1Shore Access:3Pet Friendly:4Cell Service:1WiFi:1We love Elliott Key Anchorage and have been coming here for 7 years. We just spent 5 nights in December and had a great time. Weekdays see few daytime boats and even fewer overnighters. As you are less than 10-15 miles to Miami boaters, it is a frequent day trip on weekends. And there will likely be someone with loud music. But again nighttime is wonderful. We were only boat some nights with maximum 7 and everyone was spread out by a football field length or more.
Water clarity is often excellent but can get churned up. 2-3 feet close to shore. We anchor in 7-8 feet with excellent holding. Look for sandy patches and try to protect the turtle grass. We don't anchor to close to minimize bugs. It is a no wake zone east of the buoys so stay within the zone. Most, but not all boaters respect it. Unfortunately not a lot of park ranger patrols, but they do stop people every so often. Much of this area is hard bottom covered by sand and grass with scattered sponges. There is not much of a tide swing here - usually within a foot. Some current runs parallel to the shore from Sands Cut.
There is no WiFi here and cell service is spotty for Verizon and Google Fi.
The island is about 7 miles long and has wonderful wildlife. Be sure to pull out your SUP or kayak and explore the mangroves and beaches. On a nice day, kayak out sands cut to the ocean. You can go to the park entrance to the south and land your dinghy or board. There are nice walking paths. Bring bug spray!!
We've documented our trips to Elliott Key on our BreatheSailDive Facebook page. Feel free to check it out. And here's our snorkel photography post of what we saw, including a pipefish in less than 3 feet of water!
https://www.facebook.com/289883317705682/posts/4134829186544390/View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer
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Review for Elliott Key
Reviewed by: Lucy Wilcox on Feb 22, 2017
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 38'
Draft: 3.9'Overall Rating:4Holding:3Wind Protection:3Scenic Beauty:4Pet Friendly:5Cell Service:2There is a ranger station for Biscayne National Park at Elliot Key, a campground with bathrooms and water, and dockage for small vessels under 20 ft. Leashed pets are welcome ashore at the ranger station or any of the many small bayside beaches. There is a great sandbar on the northwest side of Elliot Key. Holding is good in sand in 6 feet depths. Protected from the east. Poor cell phone coverage.
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