Key West is the end of the road, the last and most southerly of the Florida Keys, a low coral island of pastel conch houses, wandering roosters, banyan trees and a famously easy-going air, closer to Havana than to Miami. It is the island of Ernest Hemingway and his six-toed cats, of Duval Street’s bars and Mallory Square’s sunset crowds, of the Southernmost Point buoy and the tongue-in-cheek Conch Republic that once seceded from the United States for a day. For a cruise passenger it is one of the rare Caribbean-run calls that is genuinely walkable from the ship, an Old Town you can see on foot in a single sunny day.
The practical thing to know is that Key West is a docked port, not a tender port, and there are three berths. Pier B and the Mallory Square dock both land you right in Old Town, an easy walk from Duval Street, while the third berth, the Navy Mole, sits on the naval base and reaches town by a complimentary shuttle. Which berth your ship uses is not always known in advance. There is a backstory worth knowing too: Key West voters passed referendums in 2020 to limit cruise ship size and numbers, but the Florida state legislature overrode them in 2021, so large ships still call, mostly at Pier B.
This guide covers a Key West day ashore on foot: Duval Street and Old Town, the Hemingway Home and its cats, the Southernmost Point buoy, the sunset at Mallory Square and the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor, plus the practical detail of the US dollar, the ESTA a British passenger needs, the three berths and the best time of year to sail.
Port Overview
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Port Type | Docked port, not a tender port, with three berths. Pier B, privately run in front of the Opal Key Resort, is the most-used berth and takes virtually all ships; Mallory Square is a city dock in the heart of Old Town. Both are an easy walk to Duval Street. The Outer Mole, or Navy Mole, sits on restricted US Navy land and needs a complimentary shuttle into town. |
| Distance to Town | The Pier B and Mallory Square berths are in Old Town, so Duval Street, the shops and the waterfront are on the doorstep, and the Southernmost Point and Fort Zachary Taylor are a walk or a short pedicab or taxi away. The Navy Mole is the exception: it lies on the naval base and passengers are shuttled into town. |
| Currency | The US dollar (USD). This is a United States call, so UK passport holders need an ESTA under the Visa Waiver Program before they sail. English is spoken. Cards are accepted everywhere. |
| Language | English |
| Best Known For | The end-of-the-road island at the foot of the Florida Keys: Duval Street, Ernest Hemingway's house and its six-toed cats, the Southernmost Point buoy, the sunset at Mallory Square and the tongue-in-cheek Conch Republic. |
- Mallory Square & cruise piers , The city dock and Pier B, in the heart of Old Town, and the nightly sunset celebration
- Duval Street , Old Town's main street of bars, shops and galleries, running shore to shore
- Hemingway Home & Museum , Ernest Hemingway's house at 907 Whitehead Street, home to the six-toed cats
- Southernmost Point buoy , The painted buoy marking the southernmost point of the continental United States
- Fort Zachary Taylor , The Civil War fort and the beach widely rated the best in Key West
- Truman Little White House , President Truman's winter White House, in the Truman Annex
- Key West Aquarium , The small historic aquarium by Mallory Square, with shark and turtle feedings
Key West cruise piers, Old Town · View larger map
Getting From the Port to Town
Walking: The Best Option
Free- Walk time: Old Town at the dock
- From Pier B or Mallory Square you step straight into Old Town, and Key West is made for walking. Duval Street, about 1.25 miles long, runs shore to shore through the middle of it, lined with bars, shops, galleries and restaurants, and the Hemingway Home, the Truman Little White House, the Key West Aquarium and the Southernmost Point buoy are all within a flat, easy stroll. The one exception is if your ship berths at the Navy Mole, which is on the naval base and reached only by the ship's shuttle.
Local Bus
Free Duval Loop bus; paid trolley and train tours- Key West runs a free Duval Loop bus that circles Old Town and is handy for hopping between the far ends of Duval Street and the beaches. The narrated Old Town Trolley and the Conch Tour Train are paid hop-on tours that loop the main sights and are a comfortable way to see the island without walking in the heat, though the compact Old Town is easily covered on foot. Fares are worth checking on the day.
Taxi
Metered taxis and pedicabs; agree pedicab fares first- Old Town is small enough that most cruise passengers never need a cab, but taxis, pink pedicabs and electric-cart rentals are all available near the piers. Pedicabs are fun for a short hop but are not cheap and are usually priced by the minute, so agree the fare before you set off. A taxi is the simple way out to Fort Zachary Taylor or the Southernmost Point if you would rather not walk in the sun.
Top Excursions
Key West Sunset Sail with Open Bar, Live Music and Hors D'oeuvres
Admire an exquisitely painted sky during this premium sunset cruise in Key West. Create fantastic memories as you set sail on one of Sebago's modern sailing catamarans while sipping sparkling wine or your favorite cocktail and feasting on shrimp cocktail on your way to the best sunset viewing spot.
Check AvailabilityShark and Wildlife Viewing Adventure in Key West
This is the only shark tour in the USA and to our knowledge the only tour where guests do not get in the water to view the sharks. Delight in close-up views of sharks and a variety of other marine life. In this eco-friendly catamaran, travel through shallow waters to a location a few miles from shor
Check AvailabilityKey West Sunset Cruise: Dinner, Live Music & Drinks Included
Join us for Key West's Best Sunset Dinner Cruise. This 2 Hour trip Includes an amazing tropical food buffet, live music and open well bar. Climb aboard our custom luxury catamaran for a sunset trip out into the Key West sunset. As our live performer fills the air with tropical vibes, our onboard che
Check AvailabilityHalf-Day Trip from Key West with Kayaking, Snorkeling & Sunset
This trip combines sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, and local insight in a laid-back, small-group setting. You'll sail on an authentic schooner into the calm, protected waters of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge—a remote area only accessible by boat. With group sizes limited to 20 guests, the exp
Check AvailabilityMore Experiences in Key West
Key West Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley Tour
The hop-on hop-off trolley tour of Key West is a fantastic way to explore this historic island. Sit back and relax while your expert tour guide turns back the pages of history to the days of Indians, pirates, wreckers and the Civil War. You’ll get a full picture of Key West on this Old Town trolley
Key West Small-Group Sunset Sail with Wine and Hors d'oeuvres
The Wind & Wine Sunset Sail offers a boutique experience unlike any other in Key West! This isn’t your typical party boat—it’s a calm, uncrowded sail aboard a historic schooner with an intimate, relaxed vibe. You’ll enjoy a guided tasting of fine wines from around the world, along with a selection o
Key West Ghosts and Gravestones Trolley Tour
Join your gravedigger guide aboard the Trolley of the Doomed for a journey through Key West's darker side! Take an evening trolley ride down the narrow, dark streets of Old Town and hear stories from your guide about the island’s haunted history. This ghost and gravestone tour of Key West offers you
Key West Dolphin Watch and Snorkel Tour – Eco Adventure
Fury's Dolphin Watch & Snorkel Tour offers a unique blend of wildlife observation and snorkeling in Key West. Aboard our state-of-the-art 45-foot power catamaran, you’ll cruise the sparkling waters of the Gulf of Mexico, witnessing bottlenose dolphins in their natural habitat. Our expert guides prov
The best excursions in Key West fill up ahead of peak sailings. Compare options and book before you leave port.
Things to Do in Key West
A Key West day is a walking day. Once ashore in Old Town the classic shape is a stroll down Duval Street, a visit to the Hemingway Home to meet the six-toed cats, and the obligatory photograph at the Southernmost Point buoy, with a beach afternoon at Fort Zachary Taylor if the weather is right. Nothing is far, the island is flat, and the heat is the only thing that slows you down.
Beyond the headline sights there is the Truman Little White House to tour, the small Key West Aquarium by Mallory Square, and the food to work through: conch fritters and a slice of key lime pie are the local order. If your ship happens to stay into the evening, the nightly sunset celebration at Mallory Square, with its buskers and street performers, is the one Key West ritual worth timing your day around.
- Duval Street and Old Town. Duval Street is the spine of Key West, about 1.25 miles of bars, shops, galleries, cafes and old wooden buildings running shore to shore across the island. It is the classic Key West walk and the easiest thing to do from the ship, since the berths at Pier B and Mallory Square sit right at its northern end. Duck off it into the side lanes for the pastel conch houses, the roosters and the shaded, easy-going Old Town that most passengers come to see.
- Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. Ernest Hemingway’s former home is Key West’s signature sight, a handsome Spanish-colonial house and garden famous for its roughly 40 to 60 polydactyl, or six-toed, cats, descendants of a cat given to the author by a ship’s captain. Admission in 2026 is $19 for adults and $7 for children aged 6 to 12, and it is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A guided tour of about 20 to 30 minutes is included in the price and runs every 15 minutes, telling the story of Hemingway’s most productive years here.
- The Southernmost Point buoy. The painted concrete buoy at the corner of Whitehead and South Streets marks the southernmost point of the continental United States and is one of the most photographed spots in Key West. It is a flat, walkable stretch from the piers, and the queue for a photograph can be long in the middle of the day, so it is worth going early or late. There is nothing to pay and little else to do there, but the picture is the point.
- Mallory Square and the sunset celebration. Mallory Square is the waterfront plaza next to the cruise berths, and every evening it hosts the free Sunset Celebration, a gathering of street performers, buskers, food carts and crowds who come to watch the sun drop into the Gulf. By day it is a busy square of shops and the small Key West Aquarium; the sunset ritual only comes alive in the evening, so daytime callers usually miss it unless the ship is scheduled to stay late into the night.
- Fort Zachary Taylor beach. Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park holds a Civil War fort and the beach widely rated the best in Key West, with the clearest water and the best shore snorkelling on the island. The shore is coral and rock rather than soft sand, so water shoes help. It is a walk or a short taxi from the piers, open daily from 8 a.m. to sundown, with entry of $6 per vehicle, $4.50 for a single-occupant car or $2.50 on foot or by bicycle, covering both the beach and the fort.
- The Truman Little White House. The Harry S. Truman Little White House, in the quiet Truman Annex a short walk from the piers, was President Truman’s winter White House and is kept as it was, seen on a guided tour of about 45 minutes led by a historian. Admission in 2026 is $22.75 for over-12s and $10.45 for children aged 4 to 12, with tours running roughly every 20 minutes. It is the pick for anyone with an interest in twentieth-century American history, and a cool, calm change from the bustle of Duval Street.
In November 2020 Key West voters approved referendums to limit cruise traffic, capping the number of people disembarking at 1,500 a day and barring ships with capacity for 1,300 or more. In 2021 the Florida state legislature passed a seaport-preemption law, signed by the governor, which applied retroactively and nullified those local limits. As of 2026 the state preemption stands and the caps are unenforceable, so large cruise ships still call at Key West, mostly at the privately run Pier B. It is a live local controversy, but it does not affect whether your ship calls.
Eating Near the Cruise Port
- Docks in Old Town
- Old Town at the dock
- US dollar
What to eat in Key West
Key lime pie is the one, and the real thing is pale yellow rather than green, sharp rather than sweet, on a graham crust. Anything bright green has had help. Conch fritters are the local starter, and Key Westers call themselves Conchs for a reason. Stone crab claws are the seasonal delicacy, harvested from October to May by taking one claw and returning the crab. Fresh grouper and hogfish sandwiches are the everyday lunch.
What to drink
Key West does a good line in rum and frozen cocktails, and the Hemingway associations mean daiquiris are taken more seriously than the slush suggests. There’s local brewing and a local distillery making rum from Florida cane. Cuban coffee is the island’s real habit, a small sweet shot at a walk-up window, and it’s a legacy of Key West’s Cuban cigar-making years.
Where to find it
Ships berth in Old Town, so you step off into it. Duval Street is the famous run of bars and it’s exactly as loud and touristy as its reputation. The better eating is a block or two off it, and the restaurants around the Historic Seaport and Bahama Village are where the food improves. Everything is walkable and the island is small.
Good for a short port call
You’re in Old Town at the dock, so there’s no travel to budget. Walk one street off Duval and both the food and the noise level improve.
Getting Around
Key West is in Florida, a United States port, so UK passport holders must hold an approved ESTA under the Visa Waiver Program before the ship sails, even just to step ashore for the day. Apply online well ahead on the official US government site. The fee is about $40 and an approved ESTA lasts two years, covering the whole cruise if you call at more than one US port. Without it you can be refused boarding, so treat it as essential paperwork, not an afterthought.
Essential Travel Tips
Two of the three berths, Pier B and Mallory Square, put you straight into Old Town within an easy walk of Duval Street, which is what makes Key West such a good walking call. The third, the Navy Mole, is on the naval base and reached only by the ship’s complimentary shuttle, a short ride into town. Ships do not always confirm the berth in advance, so if you have booked a walking day rather than a tour, be ready to hop on the shuttle if you end up at the Mole.
The best time to sail to Key West is December to April, the dry season, warm and less humid, with average winter highs around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Key West sits inside the Atlantic hurricane belt, and the June to November hurricane season brings the heat, humidity and the small but real chance of a storm-disrupted itinerary. A winter call is the comfortable one for walking Old Town and for the clear water at Fort Zachary Taylor.
Which of the three berths you get is not always known in advance, and it changes the day. Pier B and Mallory Square put you in Old Town on foot; the Navy Mole needs a shuttle of roughly ten minutes each way. Build that uncertainty into your return, and keep the packing list short: sun protection, water, and shoes good for a mile and a quarter of Duval Street.
Key West is the port where a shore excursion is hardest to justify. Duval Street runs shore to shore for about a mile and a quarter, and the Hemingway house, Mallory Square and the southernmost point are all walkable from two of the three berths. Save the ship’s tours for the reef trips, where the boat is the whole point.
With no coach fare to cover, your spending money goes on the things worth paying for here: the Hemingway house and its six-toed cats, lunch somewhere off Duval, and a bicycle for the afternoon.
The season runs December to April, the dry months, which is the real constraint when you weigh the best time to book. Sort the paperwork long before you sail: British passport holders need an ESTA for the United States, currently US$40 and valid for two years. Choosing a cabin on the shaded side is the other decision worth making early on a Florida itinerary.
Frequently Asked Questions
They dock. Key West is a docked port with three berths: Pier B and the Mallory Square dock, both in the heart of Old Town, and the Navy Mole on the naval base. Pier B is privately run and takes virtually all the ships, especially the larger ones. There is no tendering, which makes Key West one of the easier calls to get ashore at, weather permitting.
Yes, very. From Pier B or Mallory Square you step straight into Old Town, with Duval Street, the Hemingway Home, the Truman Little White House and the Southernmost Point all within an easy, flat walk. The island is small and made for wandering. The only exception is the Navy Mole berth, which sits on the naval base and reaches town by a complimentary shuttle.
You need an ESTA. Key West is a United States port, so British citizens must hold an approved ESTA under the Visa Waiver Program before the ship sails, even just to go ashore for the day. Apply online in advance on the official US government site; the fee is about $40 and an approved ESTA is valid for two years. Without it you may be refused boarding.
The US dollar. Key West is in Florida, so it is dollars throughout, and cards are accepted everywhere from the bars of Duval Street to the museum ticket desks. There is no separate island currency to worry about, unlike many Caribbean calls, which makes spending straightforward for a day ashore.
For most people, yes, and it is Key West’s signature sight. The draw is as much the roughly 40 to 60 six-toed cats that roam the house and garden as the writer himself, and the included guided tour of about 20 to 30 minutes is engaging. Admission in 2026 is $19 for adults and $7 for children aged 6 to 12, and it is an easy walk from the piers, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
No. Key West voters passed referendums in 2020 to limit cruise ship size and daily numbers, but the Florida state legislature overrode them in 2021 with a law that preempts local limits on maritime commerce. As of 2026 that preemption stands, so large ships still call, mostly at the privately run Pier B. The limits remain a live local controversy but do not affect whether your ship calls.
December to April, the dry season, warm and less humid, with average winter highs around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Key West sits inside the Atlantic hurricane belt, so the June to November hurricane season is hotter, more humid and carries a small risk of a storm-disrupted itinerary. A winter call is the most comfortable for walking Old Town and for the clear water at Fort Zachary Taylor.
Two things above all: conch fritters, the local fried snack that gives Key West residents their Conch nickname, and a slice of key lime pie, the island’s signature tart yellow dessert. Both are on menus all over Old Town, and Duval Street and the waterfront are full of easy places to try them between sights on a day ashore.
Ready to Explore Key West?
Key West is one of the friendliest calls on a Florida or Caribbean cruise, a genuinely walkable Old Town you step straight into from the ship, with Duval Street, the Hemingway cats, the Southernmost Point and a good beach at Fort Zachary Taylor all within an easy stroll. The one thing to sort before you sail is the ESTA, since this is a US port and you cannot go ashore without it. Beyond that, it is a flat, sunny, easy day: wander Old Town, work through a plate of conch fritters and a slice of key lime pie, and if the ship stays late, catch the sunset at Mallory Square.
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