My youngest son turned 16 this year and, as he told me many times, had reached the magical age where he was allowed to operate a jet ski. All he wanted for his birthday was to go jet skiing. Unfortunately, his birthday is in January which is decidedly not jet ski season in North Carolina.
So when the boys were a little disappointed that our ski trip was canceled, I quickly researched jet ski options in Key West and found that they were plentiful. The second I told my youngest that he could jet ski in Key West, snow skiing was completely forgotten.
Since the waters surrounding Key West are a protected marine sanctuary, you cannot just rent jet skis and go off on your own. You can only jet ski as part of a tour with a guide. And that was perfectly fine by me. Although my son was raring to go, I was a little nervous about the whole thing.
We researched several options and landed on Fury Water Adventures. They are one of the biggest tour companies in Key West, offering everything from snorkeling to parasailing and everything in between. I liked that they advertised having brand new SeaDoo jet skis and their website made it clear that 16 year olds could drive. The last thing I wanted was to get there and find out my son couldn’t drive!
What wasn’t so clear though was whether or not the boys had to obtain a Boater Safety License in order to drive the jet ski. The wording on the website was super confusing, as was any other google search we did. And we got conflicting answers from the company via email, chat and the phone. We were all ready to wake the boys up so they could take the $14, 4 hour online boater safety course when we determined that if we shared jet skis, all of the boys could drive without a boating license as long as a parent rode with them. Done!
We met at the dock, did a quick tutorial and instructions and were off. There was one guide leading the group and one guide in the back making sure everyone was doing ok and was properly spaced out. At a few different points the guide in back pulled ahead to take pictures of us as we passed, which I thought was amazing, and he airdropped them to us at the end of the tour. The photos were taken in “Live” mode so they don’t translate well into the post but I am thrilled to have photographic evidence of my son’s first jet ski experience.
Over the next 90 minutes, we did a complete circle around the island, covering 28 miles on the jet skis. And man was it fun. As the rider in back, I will admit to holding on to the strap for dear life, especially as my son was still figuring the whole thing out and maybe even moreso when he gained his confidence. It seemed pretty easy to get thrown off the back but thankfully nobody did. I will also admit that it was a little jarring at times but the look on my son’s face made any temporary discomfort worth it.
About half way through we pulled up alongside a mangrove to rest and jump off and swim if you wanted to. After about 10 minutes we continued on until we reached the Southernmost Point Buoy. It was neat to see it from the water after seeing it on land. And it was even more obvious that it is not, in fact, the southernmost point in the continental US. The actual southernmost point is in the Truman Annex but the Navy isn’t too keen on letting tourists in there. So this is the closest public point to the actual southernmost point.
We rounded the state park and wrapped up the tour. It did not disappoint. After years of wanting to jet ski, I was so glad my son got to do it and that it lived up to his lofty expectations. We thought our guides were fantastic, the tour was fun, and the jet skis were in great condition. This was a little outside my comfort zone but I had such a great time.
