The Florida Keys are a top destination for fishing, boating, scuba diving, and snorkeling. This 120 mile string of islands has been a top travel destination since the original overseas highway was built in the early 1910’s. The climate of the Keys is more similar to that of the Caribbean than the rest of Florida, although the chain of islands weren’t erected through volcanoes. If you have the time, I highly suggest driving. The drive Is beautiful and there is plenty to do a long the way. The majority of the drive is over bridges, so just be aware if you are not a fan of driving across bridges. You get used to it quickly though, and feel very safe. If you drive you are also able to see the rest of the keys, seeing how Key West is the furthest key. Make sure that you are aware of the times that you are going to be driving down and back. The two nearest airports are Miami and Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale. If you were planning on driving over during “rush hour”, you may as well wait until a better time. There is only a way lane road connecting the islands, and the last thing you want is to be wasting your vacation sitting in traffic.
Our first stop was in Islamorada in order to feed the tarpon. This is way more fun than it sounds! Especially if you have never seen a tarpon before. They are these huge fish, that jump out of the water to try and grab the chum that you are throwing. We even had a few surprise visitors show up while feeding. Lemon sharks arrived in order to get in on the chum feast. This was my first time getting to see this kind os shark. So I was excited to check another one off of my list. We had an early flight down to Florida, so we opted to take a nap on the beach while we waited to be able to check in. I was surprised by the gorgeous quite white sand beaches that were appeared to be everywhere. Other than a few people walking their dogs past, we were the only ones on the beach. Bahia Honda State Park is a must stop. They have small changing stations, restrooms, and a little shop with all the tourist junk and food.
Fishing is HUGE down here. There is so many charters going out all day long. Even if you don’t like fishing, I still suggest taking a boat out. It’s such a fun way to see the islands, and the beauty of the ocean. We had the opportunity to keep all the fish that we caught, which made for a delicious couple of dinners. Since the weather wasn’t the best, unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to get in the ocean much. Oh well, just an excuse to take another trip down!
Expect to wait in line if you want to get a picture by the Most Southern Point Buoy. We waited in line for probably about 10 minutes. I know it would have been longer, but the weather was pretty shitty the day that we went. It was literally down pouring right before this photo. It’s interesting standing at that point and knowing that Cuba is the next closest piece of land.
If you are looking for some night life in Key West, definitely head down to Duval Street. The street is packed with bars restaurants and people. We ended up down here multiple times though out our stay. Expect to be on island time though, wherever you go. We waited quite awhile to get lunch one day, but we started to notice that is the norm everywhere we went. It’s easy to get to the area with an Uber or Lyft. After that you can literally just walk from place to place. Everything is extremely close. While we didn’t get to experience it, the bartender was telling us about Fantasy Fest. If you are like me and have never heard of this before, you are in for a treat. Essentially once a year they have a Festival that consists of crap ton of body paint and not much clothing… While this sounds like it could be fun (after a few drinks of course), maybe check to see when it is before bringing any kids down.
Sloppy Joe’s is probably the most famous bar in the area. The place is worth the hype. Expect to find it hard to get a table. The first time we tried to come here for lunch we couldn’t and end up just heading across the street to find a place. We came here at night, and they had some of the best live music I’ve heard playing cover songs at the bar. The bartender noted that they shell out some good cash in order to get better bands, and it definitely shows! The drinks were good and strong, and the bartender was on top of her game. Other than some key lime pie (a must in key west), I did not get the chance to try their food. Seeing how the place seemed constantly packed though, I’m sure it meets the hype. They even have live cameras playing on their website. So you can check it out, and see if the place interests you.
