The beach is rocky, so take water shoes to protect your feet.

The bathrooms are clean and the food stand is reasonable. They have a strange policy that says trash should be disposed of outside the park, so there are few trash cans.

For more info, see http://www.floridastateparks.org/forttaylor/Activities.cfm.

The Fort was built in the mid-19th century to guard the Florida coastways from expected trouble from the English. If the English had been a bit sharper they could've had an easy route in because the fort took a good twenty years to build - progress being slow because of inconsiderate builders dying of Yellow Fever and the like. The final construction was then manned through various conflicts including the Civil War (to my surprise it was a Union stronghold), WWI, WWII, and the Cuban Missile Crisis before becoming more than a little bit obsolete.

The Fort that remains consists of an hexagonal arrangement of batteries from different periods of the Fort's past and some of the supporting buildings. You won't get a great deal out of the place unless you take the guided tour (noon and 2pm) - the displays are quite poor and lack explanation.

As with all guided tours I've been on in the States, the quality was excellent. The guide clearly loved the place and brought to life the desolate nature of the post and the lives of the men stationed there. Picture the communal toilet with the 'revolutionary' tide flushing system and too low a tide!! The guide also draws attention to the high quality vaulted ceilings in the older of the batteries and waxes lyrical on the many types of cannon that have served the Fort . . . none of which were ever fired in anger.

If you need a break from the beach and don't have too high expectations of this little known Fort then you may have a diverting hour or so here. The Blonde opted out.

The beach itself is a half mile (approx) stretch of white sand between a belt of pine trees and the Gulf of Mexico. The beach and sea are both very clean and not particularly crowded compared to Key West's other beaches. The shallows stretch for about 5 yards before the water gets too deep for paddling.

The cafe serves mainly snacks and soft drinks including fine hotdogs and the area for eating is kept pretty clean.

This is a great beach - it's peaceful, clean and has enough facilities to make it easy to spend the whole day there. The Blonde took to it immediately and, if you're of a freckly nature, there's plenty of shade. If you get bored there's even the historic Fort Zachary Taylor to wander round (or join the tour - included in the cost of admission).

The admission covers the whole day so you can come back later for a great view of the sunset away from the crowds of Mallory Square too.