ParkwolfGet the app
North Coaling Docks in Dry Tortugas National Park

Sight · Dry Tortugas National Park

North Coaling Docks

Swim over the Navy’s old pilings beside a deep, fish-rich channel.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Sight
Nearest trail
0.2 mi
DirectionsMap
Parkwolf audio tour16 stories across Dry Tortugas’s roads

Overview

About North Coaling Docks

Why stop

  • Historic pilings and marine life make a distinctive snorkel stop.

Heads up

  • Open water, no lifeguard and distant medical help.

Map

Where it is

Loading the Dry Tortugas map
Full map
SightNorth Coaling Docks24.63040, -82.87120
Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your stop

Before you go

5 active Dry Tortugas alerts

  • CautionGarden Key Harbor Light extinguishedVessel operators should treat the Garden Key Harbor Light as extinguished while it undergoes repairs. - The NPS says it is unknown when the light will again be illuminated.Official details
  • ClosureBush Key partially closed for nesting seasonVisitors may access only the harborside of Bush Key through Fall 2026 because the island is closed to protect nesting Sooty Terns, Brown Noddies, and Magnificent Frigatebirds.Official details
See all 5 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Dry Tortugas Tour Guide

Your drive to North Coaling Docks, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Dry Tortugas National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

More stories near here in the app

  • Life Among the Seagrass
  • Too Heavy for the Scrap Dealer
  • The Reef Cleaning Station
  • Watch the Frigatebird Chase
  • 16 audio storiesacross Dry Tortugas’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Green Sea Turtle, Great White Heron, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 2 trails, 21 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
★★★★★
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
JMJamesApp Store review
Download Parkwolf on the App StoreGet Parkwolf on Google Play

4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about North Coaling Docks

A snorkel over the old pierNorth Coaling Docks are the surviving pilings of late-1800s U.S.

North Coaling Docks are the surviving pilings of late-1800s U.S. Navy coaling piers at the north end of Garden Key, near North Beach. The warehouses and dock are gone. This is an in-water stop for snorkeling or diving, not a shore-side ruin to walk through.

Fish along the channelA dredged channel drops away beside the pilings.

A dredged channel drops away beside the pilings. Their shelter draws large grouper, tarpon, barracuda and occasional sharks; smaller fish and colorful coral live on and around the structure. These are possible encounters, not guaranteed sightings.

A Navy refueling stopThe Navy built the coaling warehouses and piers in the late 1800s to refuel ships.

The Navy built the coaling warehouses and piers in the late 1800s to refuel ships. A strong hurricane destroyed them, and the Navy did not rebuild. The pilings are what remains of that working harbor.

Take the water seriouslyThere is no lifeguard, and the nearest medical help is 70 miles away.

There is no lifeguard, and the nearest medical help is 70 miles away. Keep at least an arm's length from the bottom and coral. Coral, reef fish and cultural artifacts are protected: do not touch or take them, and do not fish. Divers should go with a buddy and choose between the north and south coaling sites with the wind in mind.

snorkelingdivinghistorymarine

Wildlife

Wildlife in Dry Tortugas

All Dry Tortugas wildlife maps
Loggerhead Sea Turtle13 sightingsLoggerhead Sea TurtleMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapGreen Sea Turtle12 sightingsGreen Sea TurtleMost seen around noonSighting mapGreat White Heron11 sightingsGreat White HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapMasked Booby102 sightingsMasked BoobyMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapBrown Booby65 sightingsBrown BoobyMost seen around 10 AMSighting mapRed-footed Booby12 sightingsRed-footed BoobyMost seen around 5 PMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Dry Tortugas. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near North Coaling Docks

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyBush Key Trail1 mi · 45 min · 0.2 mi awayA mile of shore beside up to 80,000 nesting sooty terns.EasyLoggerhead Key Walk0.3 mi · 30 min · 3.2 mi awayA short, boat-only walk to a historic island lighthouse.

More stops nearby

Beach · 0.1 mi awayNorth BeachAn easy-entry swim beach around the back of Fort Jefferson.Sight · 0.2 mi awayTortugas Harbor LightAn iron lighthouse rises above Fort Jefferson's brick defenses.Sight · 0.2 mi awayFort JeffersonA vast brick fort that became a Civil War prison.Visitor center · 0.2 mi awayGarden Key Visitor CenterA cool stop for fort artifacts and a quick island primer.Sight · 0.2 mi awayGarden Key Dock House and InformationThe ferry arrival stop at Fort Jefferson's only entrance.Campground · 0.3 mi awayGarden Key CampgroundStay overnight for Garden Key after the day visitors leave.Beach · 0.3 mi awayGarden Key Dinghy BeachThe designated landing for small craft on Garden Key.Beach · 0.3 mi awaySouth BeachEasy shore entry with nearby reef and Fort Jefferson in view.

Parkwolf’s Dry Tortugas ranking

Top sights in Dry Tortugas

All 21 places
  1. 1Fort JeffersonSight
  2. 2South BeachBeach
  3. 3Loggerhead KeySight
  4. 4North BeachBeach
  5. 5Bush KeySight
  6. 6Windjammer WreckSight

Take Parkwolf to Dry Tortugas.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Download Parkwolf on the App StoreGet Parkwolf on Google Play