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Key West CompassIndependent trip guidance

For Key West operators

Find out in two minutes whether this is worth a call

Updated

12 questions about your operation, of which 3 are hard conditions we do not make exceptions to. You answer them for yourself; nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no version of this that ends with us approving you.

What this is, and what it deliberately is not

Most “are you qualified?” forms are a lead capture wearing a quiz costume: the questions are a formality, the score is generous, and the answer is always yes followed by a phone call. This one is built the other way round. Three of the questions end it outright, and the best available result says only that a conversation makes sense.

It also collects nothing. There is no submit button, because there is nowhere for the answers to go — they exist in the page while it is open and disappear when you close the tab. It never asks for a licence number, an insurance certificate, a tax identifier or an upload of any kind. Confirming that you hold something is different from handing it over, and a public page is the wrong place for the second thing.

Answering yes is not us verifying anything

We never describe an operator as licensed, insured, vetted or approved on the strength of what they told us — not here, not on the application, not anywhere on the site. Those checks happen separately, with a person, before any placement runs. Our review standards set out what that involves.

The self-check

Your answers stay in this browser tab. Nothing here is submitted, saved or counted, and there is no field in our analytics that could hold one — the strongest outcome it can give you is “worth a conversation”, which is your own answers read back rather than a decision by us.

Eligibility

Three hard conditions. A no here ends it, and we would rather you found that out in ninety seconds than after a call.

You run the trips yourself in Key West or the Lower Keys, rather than reselling somebody else's.Hard condition

A traveler who is introduced to a reseller ends up with a boat nobody described to them. That breaks the only thing this site has.

You hold the licensing your activity requires, and you could produce it if asked.Hard condition

We never describe an operator as licensed on the strength of a tick box. This is your own confirmation, and it is checked separately before any placement runs.

You carry current liability insurance appropriate to your operation.Hard condition

Same standard as licensing: your confirmation, checked separately, never published as our verification.

Running the trips

Whether the operation can absorb what a category produces, and whether it says no when it should.

There is room in the season you would want this for — more bookings would be welcome rather than a problem.

A full calendar makes a paid position a waste of your money. We would rather say so now.

You will state your real capacity and turn away a group that does not fit, rather than squeezing them aboard.

The groups we send arrive having been told what to expect. A squeezed-in booking becomes a complaint about both of us.

You will move, shorten or cancel a trip for conditions, and say so to a guest who would rather you did not.

Our guides tell travelers that a good operator calls the weather honestly. If that is not you, the introduction sets you up to disappoint them.

Answering travelers

The part that decides whether an introduction is worth anything. Most of what we send you is won or lost in the first reply.

Somebody answers an inquiry within one business day during your season — a real process, not an intention.

Travelers who reach us are still deciding. A reply on day three arrives after they have booked something else.

You will tell a traveler your trip is the wrong fit for them, before they book, on the phone.

It is the whole editorial standard of this site, applied to a conversation we cannot hear. An operator who hesitates here is the one we walk away from.

Your deposit, cancellation and weather terms are written down, and you will send them before a booking.

Half the questions our guides answer are terms questions. Travelers arrive expecting to be sent something.

The commercial reality

The honest terms. Read these slowly — they are where a good fit and a bad one actually separate.

You are comfortable paying for a position before there is a track record, knowing no volume is promised.

We have no traffic history, no inquiry history and no conversion data, and we will not estimate any of it. That is the actual trade.

You are comfortable being the only operator we introduce in your category for an agreed term.

It is the point of the position, and it means the inquiries in that category land with you rather than being spread across five inboxes.

You are comfortable that we keep publishing who your activity does not suit, and that a placement never changes it.

The guides are why a traveler believes the introduction. An operator who wants the caveats removed is asking us to destroy the thing they are buying.

Not finished yet

0 of 12 answered

Answer the rest and this will tell you where you stand. Nothing you have entered has been sent anywhere — it exists only in this browser tab.

If it says no, that is a real answer

An operator we disqualify honestly is worth more to us than one we talk into a position that does not fit. If the result above names something specific, fix it and come back — or tell us on the contact page why you think the question is wrong. Both of those are useful.

Worth reading either way: what the levels actually are and the current state of every category, which says publicly that no operator is assigned anywhere.