Rented a kayak from Robbie's for 60$ at four hours. Took us 25 minutes in moderate conditions. There is a section in the mangroves facing SW with a sign reading, "kayak entrance." Went to the observatory tower and realized just how small this island was. You can walk the island and read the descriptions within 20minutes. The history behind this island is neat, however there is nothing to see. The only obstructions left are cisterns, a dock(new) and an observatory(new). All in all, nice trip but plan your day with this only taking an hour.

I love the history and the seclusion but most of all I like the relative absence of bugs. I rented a power boat at Robbie's Marina and did Lignum Vitae Key and Indian Key in one morning. I spent a grand total of 10 minutes on Lignum Vitae as the mosquitos were swarming in ways reminiscent of that scene from "The African Queen." I then headed to Indian Key and guess what? No bugs! Those ghost town pioneers must have known what they were doing because no standing water equals no mosquitos. It's fun trying to imagine what life must have been like here on such a small island, in such seclusion with no electricity or conveniences. Whenever you go you can be pretty sure you'll have to whole island to yourself. Definitely worth the effort to get there.

We rented kayaks and it took us about 30 minutes to get there from the landing site off of Route 1. The island is walkable, since it was inhabited back in 1840s. Best Part....We were the only people on the island for the whole time we were there! I would recommend bringing a bathing suite and packing lunch. There is a little cove that kayaks can be dropped off at and it's possible to swim there as well. Don't forget to bring swimming shoes as the sea bottom in the Keys can be a little mucky!

We own our Kayaks so as we put in at Robbies Marina it cost us $5 each to put in and you pay at the Kayak Shak...which of coarse you can also rent single and tandem Kayaks... The trip to the island in about 3/4 mile and going into the wind and current is a tad challenging...great excerise...once we landed on the island we took a leisure walk around reading all the history markers...you will find on the pier a brochure which gives you in short the history of the people who had lived there...personally I tend to find history boring, but this I found interesting because with the story of the island I could imagine what it may have been like to live there 200 years ago. This is a must do....