Ft Lauderdale To Key West With Optional Activities

We were picked up on time in Fort Lauderdale, transfer to Miami to join the bus. Lovely drive to Key West where we had enough time to experience the town. Bus left on time again to Miami. Most of the people were dropped off at their hotels in Miami (which I think could maybe change to a few central locations as it made the trip very long driving through Miami to all the different hotels). Just as we left Miami the bus broke down. But within a few minutes an uber was arranged to take us to the hotel in Fort Lauderdale. I will recommend the trip.

Key West was fun but the bus trip was NOT. The bus tour guide was rude and abrasive. She didn't show the slightest appreciation for any of the travelers who had chosen her tour company. She really needs to find another line of work. The vent openings for our seats were blocked off with tape and I noticed there were others similarly covered. The five hour trip back did not include a stop for bathroom breaks and I'm sure it is because of the many stops we made to drop off passengers. When we signed up for this bus tour, no mention was made of more than 6 stops in Miami Beach to drop off other travelers on the return trip. If we had known this, we would have considered other tour providers. In summary, this was not a pleasant experience.

Very awesome bus drive and tour guide! Very nice and courteous! Take snacks with you to eat along the way. The bus does stop at a McDonald’s halfway to the Keys, preorder a if you can.

this was a nightmare and I'll never use that carrier ever again. Everything was great for pick-up and the day in Key West was great, but there was a wildfire that closed down the freeway and we were stuck on the bus for 10 hours. The worst part is by the time we got back to Miami, a few of us were told that the driver was too tired to drive us back to Ft. Lauderdale, that we'd have to exit the bus and take a Lyft back to our point of origin in Ft. Lauderdale. I've been talking to them for weeks now to obtain a refund, but they are refusing by saying its not their fault, but they made the situation 50 times worse by not even taking us home. I've given them every chance to make it right, so will never be booking with Gray Line Miami ever again. Horrible treatment of stranded customers

Getting picked up was a stressful experience because of no parking. My neck hurts from the extreme acceleration from the bus driver and breaking. The bus was extremely cold that I could not stop from shaking. Drop off was an extreme mess. The tour guide got off and made a personal errand on our time. All we wanted to do was get home. When we were leaving key west there was still 3 minutes to leave and people had to bang on the side of the bus to have him let them on when they were still on time!!! I do not recommend!!

Too long on the bus at 30 - 45 mph. However, our director (Marlene) and driver (Alton) were the best. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Assured our safety. The ac on the bus was not functioning properly (ok with us) so they arranged another bus to swap out. As most trips like this there were millennials and foreigners who were as rude as they come. Or director and driver made up with caring for us.

Our Ft Lauderdale bus was cancelled & was forced to join a Miami bus. With 50+ passengers we were drop-off last ending trip after 11:00 pm ( remember tour meeting began at 6:15am)…… Key West tour is worth doing at least once

Lily was a great host, and got us where we needed to be for our parasailing trip. Overall a beautiful day in Key West.

Great time, disappointed that the glass bottom portion was canceled. The bus bathroom was horrible. Smelled up the entire bus.

The driver didn’t wait and we lost our tour . We were in the hotel parking lot. We asked for an alternative pick up or options and driver say contact you agency even when we said we said we will there. Called him and text him not answer very rude

Beautiful day, traffic was unexpected but still got our 6 hours. Great job by our driver and guide. Sorry for the late night. You can’t control the traffic. Thank you, had great day.

The trip across the islands, 7 mile bridge, the beautiful scenery. Key West was fun! We joined the ‘Hop on hop off’ trolley to see the entire island. I was disappointed that we couldn’t hear the guides comments, even after telling him 3 times that he needed to speak up or turn up the mic volume.

This tour was the best the driver Pepe and lily the tour guide were amazing loved my time in Key west

Everything was great! Our driver Titi and tour guide Marlene were awesome. They got us there on time and were friendly. Getting our tickets was easy. The Fury staff on the snorkeling boat were professional. We all had ice cold drinks.

Really nice boat ride to the reef, nice dive gear, great crew, plenty of drinks on the return! We would do it again.

Great experience- the breakfast stop was not good - should get a better stopping place and meal was not good

This was a complete waste of our day. I do mean the day. This tour took from 6 am until just before midnight, spent mostly on a HOT bus for all of 40 minutes of snorkeling in Key West. Read on for a full description of the 18 hr ordeal.

Poorly maintained buses , no A/C half way into the journey. Due to the bus breakdown, we were stranded in the middle of the road for over 2 hours. In these circumstances, they did not give any customer friendly options. Planned activities at key west had to be canceled with no promise of reimbursements..

It was a good touring experience. The most exciting moment was to see southern-most point of USA in Key West.

The scene of the island was wonderful. And food and drinks were good. Cuddos to our trip narrater and bus driver both did and awesome job narrating and driving when I go back I want the same bus driver and speaker.

Everything was perfect for us except when we were told we couldn’t be picked up at our hotel but in another hotel a block away!!! We had to get an Uber ride to get there, mind you!!! Our pick up time was 6 am and still dark!!! But our tour bus driver dropped us off at our hotel after the tour and ended our day on a happy note!!!

This is very nice experience, I am recommending this 100% , the people is very nice ,is very funny, let's doing

Terrible it was basically a 10 hour ride on bus that broke down twice and no snorkeling because we herded like animals to a boat from bus with no time to eat or go to bathroom. What a joke of a show never again and refund would be nice

No seats left for us on the boat... they over sold the experience too packed. Wife and I had no where to sit and that wasn’t acceptable to us

We had an excellent tour guide that was able to answer all of our questions. She knew where everything was and where got us where we needed to be.

The day started off with a guy in his pj's picking us up at the hotel meeting point. We verified that he was with the tour company. He told us that he was, and he would be taking us in his van to a bigger bus that would meet us in Miami. There were only 4 of us in the van, my friend and I and another couple. The van was NOT very clean, and one of the seatbelts did not work. Most of the way the guy kept getting call after call on his cell phone, which he would answer while driving, the driver had a hard time maintaining his lane while on his cell phone. Once we were at the Miami meeting point our tour went a lot smoother! The tour guide was great (aside from her trying to push for people to sign up for tours after every sentence she spoke). My biggest compliment goes to the bus driver he was phenomenal! Especially maneuvering the big bus in the narrow streets of Key West!

The keys it's was beautiful. The bus had alot of broken seats and air vents which made the ride extremely uncomfortable. Our tour guild spoke both English and Spanish, but it was very hard to understand him. I don't recommend doing it on your last day. Also feel miami should have one drop off point like fort lauderdale had. If your in fort lauderdale plan for an extra $50 for taxi or Uber to and from drop off point.

The bus ride was awful but our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly, and entertaining. Key west was marvelous. We chose to do the snorkeling. The experience was wonderful, but we were not informed of the jellyfish until the day of the trip. A person during our tour was stung. Worrying about being stung by the overwhelming amount of jellyfish took away from the wonderful expirience.

Items where taking while on boat, Ppls phone and purses were missing out of a lock box, after parasailing was done

Parasailing was great, trip was way too long. Left at 6:15am, didn't get back until midnight. Bathroom on the bus was dirty. Tour guide was unfriendly.

The weather was Awesome, the train ride was great and the driver Bob was great made it personal,and was very funny and spoke to every rider

We were forced to drive to Miami as there was no parking at the pick up location in Fort Lauderdale. Upon arrival of the bus the tour director did not even welcome us to the bus. Once there we walked to the pier with instruction or direction of where we were going. After walking all the way there and then she said we had an hour before the snorkling trip. Snorkeling was a great trip and we would recommend this in normal times. They over booked the trip for social distancing and were negligent in that respect. When we got back on the bus there was a terrible odor from the chemical toilet on the bus. The fumes were nauseating. Marlene, our tour director, then began to ask for tips for the driver of 10%! The driver never said a word to us, not even a hello or goodbye.

This was basically a ride to Key West. We arrived from Ft Lauderdale, and entered a full bus. Could no sit together. Bus was ok but trip commentary was just ok and stop for breakfast was a waste of time. And as others have said, you have many stops in Miami before you get back to Ft Lauderdale. Maybe try an Uber for a similar cost.

Having used Gray Line for other trips, I expected a level of competence. However, we had to take a taxi to the Fort Lauderdale airport hotel to meet our shuttle van then on to a Miami hotel to wait for the motorcoach to pick up 6 passengers from the Fort Lauderdale stop. The tour guide "forgot" to make the pick up. We called several numbers for assistance. After a 2 hour wait we got the original shuttle van driver who drove us to the motorcoach's morning stop. Without an explanation from the tour guide we took the last 6 seats and took off for Key West. The Key West on our own was fine. Arriving back in Miami the motorcoach made 17 drop off points before taking take the 6 of us to Fort Lauderdale. Instead of arriving at 10 pm we arrived at 12:05 am! It was a long and frustrating day! I would not recommend this trip from Fort Lauderdale!! I am disappointed in Gray Line!

The tour leaves from Miami so a shuttle van picked us up at the Fort Lauderdale airport/hotel and drove us to Miami. There were 6 of us waiting for the motorcoach at a Miami hotel. Several coaches made pick ups here. We waited 2 hours and several phone calls before the same shuttle driver picked all 6 of us up and drove us to where the motorcoach had stopped for breakfast. We were not allowed time to have breakfast! The tour leader, Tamara, was rude and did not share any information with the 6 of us. She is not a good leader as we found out during the tour. Some of us thought Grey line was the tour operator, others had another company. I would not recommend this program. We made the best of the 5 hours in Key West which was fine. The 19 hours of travel there and back wasn't worth the aggravation! The tour operator did not even apologize for their error: change in hotel name, Tamara forgetting to make the pick up stop, no time for breakfast, late arrival back in Miami and 18 hotel stops before bringing the 6 Fort Lauderdale passengers back to the hotel drop off after midnight where we all had to make transportation arrangements to our personal destinations!

Keys West was beautiful however the bus tour guide/driver was quite rude. The bus driver "forgot" to pick us up at our designated pickup spot and a shuttle bus had to catch us up to the bus in Key Largo however this was 1 1/2 hrs later. Everyone had had the opportunity to have breakfast and go to the restrooms but the driver yelled at us and told us to just get on the bus since she had to leave. The return trip was just as bad and we were to arrive at our drop off spot by around 10PM but we arrived 2 1/2 hrs late. Overall a very poor experience with the bus service but a beautiful stay in Key West although it was shortened by 2 hrs due to the pickup mix up.

great experience with the guide and the driver. I reccomand them to anyone who want to have a great day for leisure or special event.

This was a complete waste of our day. I do mean the day. This tour took from 6 am until just before midnight, spent mostly on a HOT bus for all of 40 minutes of snorkeling in Key West. Read on for a full description of the 18 hr ordeal. Starting out at 6 am you bounce around on a small mini bus shuttle from Ft.Lauderdale to Miami Beach. To note, it arrived at barely the assigned time, the driver drove aggressively in heavy traffic using his cellphone 3-4 times. In fact a few people ended up exclaiming “he’s driving like an idiot” while holding onto their seatbelts. Once in Miami, you spend the next 1-1,5hrs on a double decker bus driving to multiple hotel pick up zones for other tourists. When this is done, you will have a bus load of about 70 people. You will make one stop on the way to Key West in Key Largo for a breakfast ~9:30am. About all of the passengers then get in line for either the bathroom or the breakfast. The one bathroom on the bus did not get restocked on toilet paper or hand sanitizer when it became out. There was NO AC or working cellphone outlets on the upper bus deck sunny side of the bus, 27C/81F weather. There is also no drinking water given. We arrived to Key West at ~12:30. Upon leaving the bus, we had to figure out which of the tourist group was our purchased activity group, yelling out over the other passengers doing the same. For the snorkeling and other water activity group, we had to speed walk across the island to the docks, ~20 minute walk, because we drove in late. Upon arriving to the docks, the sorting of tourist groups continued. As I pre-purchased my snorkel activity, we were with a different tour operator. The guide did not explain this situation clearly. We found out that we had to be in a different line at the docks when the tickets he was giving out to everyone else ran out. We almost missed our departure time with this other company. The snorkeling tour portion was fun, but it was operated by another company entirely. We did have to go to another dive spot due to high waves. We did not see any underwater life, just murky water at the new location, but the crew tried to make the best of the trip with an atmosphere on the boat, music, conversations and jokes. The tour was 3 hours in total, however only about 40 minutes for the swimming. We had 1,5hrs free time for dinner before the departure time at 6 pm. The drive back to Miami was without stopping, without toilet paper or hand sanitizer in bathroom or AC in the upper bus deck. No water was given out. We finished our water supplies halfway through the drive back as we had not anticipated the AC issue. Once in Miami, we again spent 1-1,5 hrs dropping off the bus load of tourists, before being the last ones to then be taken back to Ft.Lauderdale on the big bus, arriving just before midnight at an intersection somewhat near our original pick up point. Judge for yourself if you want this type of an ordeal yourself... such a waste of a vacation day for us not to mention the cost of the tickets.

If you are in Marathon, Fl. and don't want to drive to Key West there is a Lower Keys shuttle. Depending on your age it is $8 or $2 round trip. It does take a bit longer than driving but once you get there no need to worry about parking. To find out about check with the Visitor Info Center. Make sure you ask the driver where the shuttle picks up in Key West.

I am sure there are great things to see and do here, however it was not our cup of key. Enjoyed the treasure hunt museum, but not worth the price of admission. Plan ahead,, bring lots of cash, the harbor walk is nice.

The trip itself was great, we loved being in Key West and the 6 hours there allowed for the perfect amount of time to explore the city. The locals were amazing and the day trip options were so fun! Unfortunately, if you are traveling from Fort Lauderdale the trip back will be a nightmare. We Arrived in Miami around 9:30 to drop off the Miami passagers, which would have allowed us to get back to FLL at the expected time of 10 PM. Much to our surprise, we stopped at every hotel/pizza shop/boutique/street corner requested by the Miami riders. Sometimes stopping multiple times on the same block. We had to have made over 25 stops in Miami and didn’t get back to FLL until almost midnight. It was pretty unorganized and not sure why there wasn’t one centralized drop off/pick up spot like there was is Fort Lauderdale. It seemed excessive to stop at every request and was very frustrating for the FLL travelers who still had to get rides home after being dropped off at their centralized location.

My son and I, along with another couple we did not know, were picked up in a van at a Fort Lauderdale hotel at 6 a.m. I did not know we would meet the main bus in Miami. We waited around 45 minutes to be picked up. Then we headed out. The scenery was beautiful and the bus was comfortable with good air conditioning. We stopped at a tiny restaurant on Key Largo for breakfast. The food was good, but the lines for the food and bathroom were not. Breakfasts were $8 a piece if you got the plate meals that were on special (breakfast sandwiches with potatoes, pancakes, etc.). We took off again. Our guide was knowledgeable and gave information in English and in Spanish. She then told us of special trips and activities we could buy from her while in Key West. It would have been helpful to know this ahead of time as they expected cash only. Luckily I had enough to buy my son and I two tickets for a glass bottom boat ride to the coral reef ( a two hour trip-$90). We also bought trolley tickets since it was 92 degrees with a 105 heat index( July 27, 2018), and I did not want to have to walk all over the island. I thought the trolley tickets were expensive ($35 for the day). We later found out they stop running the trolley at 4:30 and we were there til 6:15 so we only got to use the passes for a couple of hours and we did have to hike back to the bus. Overall, we saw old forts, the southernmost point in the continental U.S., the coral reef, beautiful historic homes, and we toured Ernest Hemingway's home. The food and snacks near Mallory Square were delicious, the people were friendly, and the views were amazing. I would like to go spend more time when it's not so bloody hot. On the way back through Miami, they drop EVERYONE off near their hotel. With us being the last ones dropped off, we were in Miami for two hours in traffic dropping people off. It made for a long very long day, but we were glad we got to experience a bit of Key West.

<p>What a fantastic way to see Key West in just one day without having to do the driving. My husband and I have been there many times but we decided to take our company down for a quick visit which was a great idea. We had plenty of time in Key West 6 hours on our own to do and see everything we could for a short trip plus the tour company offered tickets to several of the popular attractions at a reduced price. The one surprise we had was on the drive down the bus stopped in Key Largo for a rest stop at a local restaurant and also told us we could purchase breakfast either to go or eat there. The restaurant was prepared for us and whipped up the food quick with either eat in or eat out on the patio options, or pack to go. The only down side was we didn't know this stop was scheduled and we had eaten a few breakfast bars as soon as we were seated on the bus, around 6:30 a.m. so we weren't hungry for their breakfast that looked great. On our travels back to Ft. Lauderdale, we first had to drop off all the travelers who were earlier picked up in Miami which was another downer our morning travels from Ft. Lauderdale were a direct drive to Miami where we boarded a second bus which had already picked up about 25 people from the Miami hotels, so we were combined on one bus and off we headed to Key West. Now on our return trip, there was no second bus to meet the Ft. Lauderdale people for the return instead we drove around the downtown Miami area for over an hour dropping off all the travelers from that area. A real bummer from 10 p.m. til about 11:15 p.m. when we were all tired from a long day already and with each Miami stop, we all grew just more tiresome and irritable. So what was suppose to be a 16 hour trip from pickup to dropoff it turned out to be around 17.5 hours! I will say it was nice to see the downtown Miami area at night all lite up and alive with people at that hour but boy, we were all tired about 20 of us and more that ready to get back. Not a good way to take advantage of tired travelers.</p>

<p>Overall, great trip to see southernmost tip of US. Bus ride for extended period OK just a little uncomfortable after hour ride. Wish there was a similar trip on a ship from FLL so you could get up and move around.</p>

<p>It was a long day. We were staying in Ft. Lauderdale and had to be transported to Miami. We took a taxicab to a designated hotel and a shuttle vehicle picked us up at 6:00 a.m. and drove us to Miami. We were the last ones on the bus and were not able to sit together for the drive to Key West. Wear comfortable shoes and take a camera. There are plenty of great places to eat/drink and many photo opportunities. We had 5 1/2 to 6 hours to explore Key West. All of the Miami day trippers were dropped off before we were. We arrived back to where we were staying at 11 p.m. Do not go on this tour if you are unable to put in a full day.</p>

<p>Worst Viator tour ever! This tour company did not describe everything correctly. First, the real meeting point is from Miami, not Ft. Lauderdale, as they described. When the shuttle gets you to Miami, then you have to go pick up more people at other stops. We did not leave for Key West until 7:45! Once we finally arrived in Key West, the guide told us to return to the bus at 5:15 and that we were leaving at 5:30 sharp. At 5:45, I approached the guide and told her that we everyone on the bus have been waiting for over a half hour and it was time to go. She argued that there were two people that did not return. Well, as grown ups, it was their decision to miss the return time. We finally left, however, when we returned to Miami, we did not have a shuttle to take us back to Ft. Lauderdale. We had to stay on the bus, while they dropped off everyone else at their hotels, which amounted to another 1.5 hours before we got back to our hotel. I confronted the guide again and she said that she was just following what she was tole. It was the bus ride from hell! The guide was rude and uninformed. At the end of the tour, she told people that they could not leave out of the back of the bus, just so she could make sure she got her tip. However, when we reached our drop off spot, the rear doors were opened, so that she did not have to speak to us. Do not take this tour. Find another company or drive!</p>

<p>We were picked up in Fort Lauderdale to join this day trip to Key West. We had to travel to a pickup hotel location. We were first to be picked up and driven 30-45 min to join the group in Miami and last to be dropped off!! The rest of the tourists were staying in Miami and were picked up from their hotels. The bus driver delivered us to Key West at the designated time and picked us up promptly. Because of the early morning start and late night return, I would not recommend doing this trip from Fort Lauderdale unless you are willing to sit in the bus for hours. Also, since we were dropped off at the same pickup location which is not our hotel, we ended up getting a taxi back to our hotel.,,hence, a very long day!!!</p>

<p>I booked this tour, hoping that it wouldn't be a this sounds better than t actually was and I was truly relieved! The tour was through Greyline Tours in Miami and they had a pick-up leg in Ft. Lauderdale. I followed suggestions and called ahead to confirm my booking. The night before the trip, my pick-up driver called me to confirm the next morning, I got a little lost and called him to say I was late and he guided me to my location. He drove all of those who were atheist pick-up point to Miami to get on the actual tour bus. The tour guide on the tour bus I'm sorry that I can't remember his name was superb! He literally guided the entire trip in English and Spanish AND took care of our needs for additional tours on Key West. He stated expectations for the return VERY early and there should have been NO reason for anyone to be misled and everyone was back on the bus on time. He was patient, helpful, but also structured and time conscience. He took the stress off the travel for all us tourists. The bus driver was a great, very safe, smooth driver. They were a great team and made my day trip stress-free and enjoyable. I highly recommend doing this tour rather than trying to drive for a day.</p>

<p>Overall good Key West experience. Great not having to drive my own car. The 7.50 breakfast stop was a bit of a tourist trap--with only one ladies room for five busloads at one time. Hop on trollies could be scheduled more frequently. Having to wait a half hour per stop cut into sightseeing time. On the return trip having ten drop off points in Miami while Ft. Lauderdale customers had only one could have been condensed. And our bus breaking an axle at the last stop in Miami lengthened the Fr. Lauderdale trip by almost 2 hours.</p>