Key West Webcam – Mallory Square and the Cruise Port

The Key West Webcam looks down on Mallory Square, the brick waterfront plaza on the northwest edge of Key West’s Old Town, and across the harbor to the cruise ship berths beside it. BLC Streams runs it as a moving camera. For most of the day it faces southwest, with the square’s seawall, flagpoles and a small roofed pavilion in the foreground and, when a ship is in port, a white hull and funnels rising above the palms. Late in the afternoon it can swing west over open water as the sun drops toward the horizon. A second tab moves east to Key West Bight, where a camera at The Marker hotel looks over a marina packed with moored boats and tall masts.

About Key West and Mallory Square

Key West is an island city of 26,444 people (2020 census) in the Florida Keys, about 210 kilometers (130 miles) southwest of Miami by air and roughly 153 kilometers (95 miles) north of Cuba. Havana is about 171 kilometers (106 miles) away by air or sea. The island is low: its average elevation is about 2.4 meters (8 feet), and the highest point, Solares Hill, reaches only 5.5 meters (18 feet).

Mallory Square is where the town meets the harbor. A cruise ship pier opened on the square in 1984, over objections that it would disrupt the tradition of watching the sunset there. That tradition still sets the timetable you see on camera. A city rule requires cruise ships to leave two hours before sunset, which is also when the nightly Sunset Celebration begins with street performers, craft stalls and food carts. The first cruise ship to call, the Sunward, tied up in 1969 at Pier B, which the U.S. Navy owned at the time. Today three docks can take cruise ships: Mallory Square, Pier B and the Outer Mole.

The square is lined with small museums. The Key West Aquarium and a shipwreck museum sit on its edge, the old Custom House next door is now the Key West Museum of Art and History, and the Memorial Sculpture Garden holds 39 busts around a 6.1 meter (20 foot) monument called The Wreckers. The tab on this page looks over Key West Bight, another part of the Port of Key West, from The Marker hotel on the harbor’s edge. It looks over moored boats and the tall masts of traditional sailing vessels.

Weather and Climate in Key West

Winter is the bright, dry season. From November through April the island gets only about a quarter of its yearly rain, and January averages highs of 24°C (76°F) and lows of 19°C (66°F). Clear days like these tend to give the camera its brightest turquoise water and the cleanest sunsets over the harbor. Spring warms quickly, with April averaging 28°C (83°F) by day and 23°C (73°F) at night.

Summer is hot. July averages 32°C (90°F) in the afternoon and still 27°C (81°F) overnight. Most of the rain falls between May and October and peaks from August to October; September is the wettest month at about 184 millimeters (7.2 inches), out of an annual 1,027 millimeters (40.4 inches). September is also when the threat from hurricanes and tropical storms is greatest. Hurricane Irma came ashore in the Keys as a Category 4 storm on September 10, 2017. October stays warm, at around 30°C (86°F) by day and 25°C (77°F) at night.

Things to Do Near Mallory Square, Key West

The Sunset Celebration on the square runs every evening of the year, starting about two hours before sunset. Within a few minutes’ walk are the Key West Aquarium, the Custom House museum, the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and the Truman Little White House. Duval Street, the town’s main street of bars and shops, begins a short walk east of the square.

Away from the waterfront, the Key West Lighthouse stands on Whiteheads Point. First lit in 1849, the 22 meter (73 foot) tower was raised by 6 meters (20 feet) in 1894 and decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1969. It is now the Key West Light House and Keeper’s Quarters Museum, run by the Key West Arts and Historical Society. For a day trip, the Yankee Freedom III catamaran and seaplanes run out to Dry Tortugas National Park, about 109 kilometers (68 miles) west, where Fort Jefferson was built from more than 16 million bricks starting in 1847. It is the largest brick masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More cameras in Key West and along the Florida Keys:

• Duval Street Webcam
• Seven Mile Bridge Webcam
• Islamorada Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Key West located?

Key West is an island city in the Florida Keys, about 210 kilometers (130 miles) southwest of Miami. Mallory Square, where this camera points, is on the northwest waterfront of the Old Town.

What can you see on the Key West Webcam?

The main camera looks southwest across Mallory Square’s brick plaza and seawall toward the cruise ship berths, so a docked ship often fills much of the frame. It is a moving camera, and in the late afternoon it can turn west over the open water for the sunset. The Key West Bight tab shows the harbor beside The Marker hotel, with moored boats and tall masts.

Can you watch the Mallory Square sunset on the webcam?

Often, yes. In the late afternoon the camera can swing west and hold the setting sun over the water, the same view the Sunset Celebration crowd faces from the seawall. The operator moves the camera, so the sunset is not on screen every evening.

Does the Key West Webcam have sound?

No. Both cameras on this page stream with a silent audio track, so there is no harbor noise or Sunset Celebration music to hear.

Where do cruise ships dock in Key West?

Three docks take cruise ships: Mallory Square, Pier B and the Outer Mole. The main camera looks across Mallory Square toward the nearby berths, so ships there are the ones most likely to appear on screen. Under a city rule they leave two hours before sunset.

What is the weather like in Key West?

Warm all year, with January highs around 24°C (76°F) and July highs around 32°C (90°F). November to April is the drier half of the year, and the hurricane risk peaks in September.

Does this webcam show Duval Street or the Southernmost Point?

No. Duval Street starts a short walk east of Mallory Square, behind the camera’s usual direction, and the Southernmost Point marker is on the island’s south shore. The site has a separate Duval Street webcam, listed above.

Is there a lighthouse in Key West?

Yes. The Key West Lighthouse, first lit in 1849, is now a museum together with the keeper’s quarters. It is not visible on this camera.

Source: BLC Streams