Key West Dog Beach

Dirty and small. Had to bath the dogs immediately after leaving. Love the concept but the water in that area (and the beach itself) was not pleasant.

I’ll give it 3 stars because regardless of it being ridiculously tiny, my pup had a blast with the 2 other dogs that were there. I was expecting a beach that was at least a block wide, but instead it was a wedge of sand nestled between two buildings. Literally the length of an alley. When one of two pups bailed and the only one left was the one whose owner was sipping her wine in her fancy shoes on the deck of the restaurant next door was left, we leashed our beast and walked him to Higgs Park about two blocks away… Not that I have anything against wine or fancy shoes… But it’s kind of the equivalent of leaving your 3 year old human child alone in the playground to wreak havoc.

Great place to bring your overheated pooches to take a dip in the water :-) do not trust the map apps and just look for the junction of Vernon and Waddell. Tiny, but cute, and enough to at least let your dog cool off!

This is a very small beach, even by Key Standards. You can bring your dog here to play in the water. There is some parking around the entrance, but it is limited.

No beach in KW is a natural beach. This dog beach is the tinyest of them ALL!
But your dog probably won’t notice that!

Thank you Alex for your review. This really is the ONLY dog beach on the island. Pretty sad — considering it is such a dog friendly place in general. At first I went to Higgs beach, which also boasts a dog beach. BUT — to clarify: there is a gated dog park across the street from Higgs beach. Dogs aren’t really allowed in the sand/​ocean.
Our pup was happy to splash around in the ocean. However, this place is by no means a family friendly beach. Locals drive up and throw the ball to their doggies for an hour or so, but out of towners like me that want to make a day our of it are left pretty disappointed. There’s no showers, no fresh water… not much space in general. The entirety of the dog friendly beach is 25 paces across. Sad, compared to all the other beach areas in Key West.

This is the only dog beach we found on Key West. It’s not very big. In fact, it’s small, but all the dogs seem to have as good of a time as any of the mile and half long dog friendly beaches we’ve been to.
Took the dogs on a family trip to Key West, which is probably THE most dog friendly place in the US I’ve ever been to. SF, LA, NYC, Boston??? Nope it’s Key West where I wasn’t scrounging around for dog friendly restaurants for dinner. Not relegated to a small out of the way table in the «Enchanted Grotto» (Frasier fan). But I digress, this is supposed to be about the dog beach.
The sand is characteristic of the region and is super soft. Much softer than the beaches in Southern CA where we’re from. The waves are nice and calming which is good for smaller dogs. Bigger dogs love swimming out and retrieving their favorite toy. There isn’t much shoreline, but even when it got crowded (maybe about a dozen dogs) every dog and person seems to have enough space. You should be so lucky if there are other dogs there to play with. For most of the time we were there, we had the small beach to ourselves and got some good photos of our boys, but we were yearning for more dogs and we got them. The huge kicker for us is that it is right next to Louie’s Backyard where you can grab a beer and overlook the beach with your best friend (s). They unfortunately won’t serve food there — unless you’re a sweet talker like us.;) That point of having an outdoor bar right next door to the dog beach is a huge luxury and had me thinking of ways we could make a second home here. I could spend all day here, getting no work done, and drinking my way to oblivion. Check, check, and … we’ll see. Met a few out of towners like ourselves, so I know this beach isn’t that closely guarded of a secret. The locals are all very friendly and a couple of them will bring a ton of floatable toys for not only their dog, but every one else too. So nice!
Down points? It COULD be bigger, but I’m not refusing it in it’s current incarnation. Oh there is one warning. The beach does fringe on the private backyards of some houses. The way the beach slopes up, your dog (especially those who like to run) will run onto their property with a fence obscuring their view. It didn’t seem to be a problem, but if you have a runner, they could be gone in an instant and at the very least annoy the homeowner, who could threaten to call the police and ruin it for everyone. It didn’t happen when we were here, but I could totally see it being a problem.
You didn’t really need my review to check this place out, did you? Have fun!