A Clothing Optional Charter Boat: The Best Way to Explore the Islands around Key West

Key West has changed a lot in the past 20 years. It’s still a party town with lots of great restaurants and bars and lots of live entertainment with a festival to celebrate sunset every night. It’s still filled with all kinds of people and has a wild side. Gone though are the Key West guest houses offering clothing optional pools and topless sunbathing. Only a few remain and they are all for gay and lesbian vacationers. Apparently when Key West became a cruise ship destination, a lot of the Key West destinations visited by both nudists and first-time couples who wanted to try showing skin on vacation disappeared.

When my wife suggested we visit Key West for the first time in years, I was all for it and thought immediately to all of the guest houses offering clothing optional pools and sundecks that we had never visited before that we might want to consider now. After making several calls, I was disappointed to see they were gone and replaced by a more family friendly Key West. Even the “adults only” guest houses didn’t allow nudity, but did allow women to wear thong bikinis by the pool. I was convinced this would be the best we could find when I discovered a new option that actually is better than laying by the pool naked all afternoon: a clothing optional charter boat.

Before I share more, our blog is for couples who are interested in learning more about clothing optional trips and experiences. My wife and I have loved our nude experiences over the years and have many wonderful memories. We’ve been doing this for 25 years now and have found it to be a wonderful connecting point for us and our marriage. There is a lot of bad information about social nudity or nude recreation online. It is NOT sexual but is more about bonding with your spouse or significant other and making friends with our likeminded people. It isn’t about “hooking up” or sexual experiences. There is a time and a place for intimate activity and that’s not what a clothing optional, nudist/naturist experience is all about.

While we chose a trip to Key West for some much needed rest and relaxation, our clothing optional boat charter with Fish N’Chicks Key West Charters was the best part of our trip. I spoke with the Fish N’Chicks owner Raquel Crommitt about island hopping and seeing the marine life around the waters of Key West, and doing it without our swimsuits. Raquel advertises clothing optional tours on her website and I knew my wife would be more comfortable with a female captain. Raquel knew exactly what we were looking for and scheduled our tour to be led by Captain Danica.

When we arrived at the marina to start our tour, Danica was professional and told us her plan for the day and our options. While we enjoy being naked, we do not enjoy parading around in the buff with other clothed onlookers. She immediately suggested we travel to an island with a bird sanctuary called Boca Grande Key where there would be fewer visitors and lots of space. While my pictures are good, this video does a nice job showing the island, ocean and beach. Danica told us all about the island and pointed out the many birds and fish in the shallows we could see. She was a wealth of knowledge about the marine life and history of Key West. She really knows her stuff.

Danica also told us where we could explore on our own. My wife’s bikini quickly came off and we were off exploring. We had a blast and felt like we had the island to ourselves. Modern day castaways exploring the warm water and sandy beaches in the buff.

Later after following a pod of dolphins, we traveled to Woman Key and anchored on a sandbar offshore. Captain Danica joined us in walking in the shallows and showed us stingrays, lobsters, conch, horseshoe crabs, sea biscuits and other birds and wildlife. This was exactly what we were looking for on our trip. Experiencing the natural beauty of the Keys and doing it naked and free. Really was a wonderful experience.

While we both would have enjoyed laying out naked next to the pool, that wasn’t possible this trip. Sidenote: I do believe there is a real opportunity to open a clothing optional guest house in Key West again. I know we’d be there.

Until then we strongly recommend setting up a charter with Raquel and Danica at Fish N’Chicks Key West Charters . There are other charter companies that offer clothing optional trips but we found this woman-owned business to be first class in every way and it made for a fantastic sightseeing, sun-loving experience for us. Charters are four ($600) and six ($800) long and you can bring your own beverages and food. Water is provided. Best to call in advance to set up your tour at (904) 994-5824. Tell them you read TC’s review and are interested in setting up your own clothing optional – Keys experience.

Please note we paid for our charter and wrote this blog post based on our experience. We did not receive any trade or compensation for our post and review.