04 May 2024

 

Florida Keys

We offer a wide choice of cheap flights to Florida Keys together with Florida Keys hotels, tours and self-drive itineraries.

Keys to happiness

Amazing fish, an underwater statue of Jesus - there’s so much more to Florida than Mickey Mouse, as Luke Salkeld discovered.

Florida Keys - The Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Florida Keys - The famous 7 Mile Bridge Florida Keys - The importance of being Earnest

1 The Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park 2 The famous 7 Mile Bridge 3 The importance of being Earnest

MICKEY and the gang would probably rather you didn’t know about the Florida Keys. Because instead of heading across from Miami airport to the crowded cartoon land he calls home, you might very well be tempted to turn left and travel south instead.

And driving along the Overseas Highway, as it arcs its way across a gentle curve of over a thousand sparkling islands, could be more of a thrill than any ride Disney World has to offer.

The Florida Keys, stretching from Key Largo to Key West, has a unique ability to provide visitors with a surge of adrenaline in an atmosphere that is perfectly relaxed.

It is famous for offering the fishing, sailing and diving opportunities of a lifetime in warm turquoise waters.

And, then, when you’ve landed the marlin, jetted off on a jet ski, and been pulled through the surf by a friendly dolphin, the slow pace of life on the Keys means you have plenty of energy left to fight another day, and, if you wish, another marlin.

The vast majority of the Keys, from the Spanish word for small island, are uninhabited but still accessible from the main populated divisions of Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon and Key West.

It's a perfectly relaxed atmosphere

The first of these is by no means the prettiest, but is just an hour away from Miami airport and home to the magnificent John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Almost entirely under the sea, the park consists of 70 square miles of clear water where you’ll find the fragile living coral reef and all the bright young fins that swim around it.

Angel fish, barracuda, moray eels and plenty more can be glimpsed from the surface, and all you have to worry about is the position of your snorkel as you take a sharp breath of amazement.


A four-hour trip with a couple of mahogany tanned sea-dogs is surprisingly inexpensive (around £25pp) and, aside from the wildlife, might involve a glimpse of an 8ft underwater statue of Jesus.

Back on dry land, there are plenty of seaside hotels to choose from, including the simply named and simply styled Key Largo Grande, which recently benefitted from a multi-million-dollar refurbishment.

The interior is as cool as the exterior is warm, and as well as a swimming pool you probably won’t need, it has a private beach you’ll find hard to leave.

The interior is as cool as the exterior is warm

Here, sunbathers are encouraged to drag their loungers into the gently lapping shallows of Florida Bay and order a cocktail from the beach shack.

Another relaxing part of exploring the Florida Keys is the road that links them. Built in the early 1900s, before sat-nav made us lose any natural sense of direction, you’d have to try pretty hard to get lost on the Overseas Highway.

There is a choice of two directions, east or west, and all addresses are located by reference to one of just over 100 numbered posts known as mile markers which measure your progress.

To test out the system, try heading for mile marker 81, in Islamorada, to spend time and money at Pierre’s restaurant, a stunning colonial-style building on a white sandy beach. Check out the engineering marvel that is the Seven-Mile bridge.

It spans a vast stretch of water, joining Marathon and Little Duck Key and has had cameo roles in several Hollywood films, including True Lies and Licence To Kill.


Closer to Cuba than mainland Florida, Key West is big and built up enough to feel like a proper town. It was once home to Ernest Hemingway, who liked his adrenaline as much as his whisky, and spent ten years in town writing, fishing, drinking and boxing.

His face is on a thousand Tshirts, there are annual look-a-like competitions and the house he lived in is still the most popular tourist stop on the island.

Guided tours are brief and entertaining and include the swimming pool where he and his second wife are said to have hosted naked parties. The only residents now are around 60 many-toed cats which prowl around the grounds and are said to be descendants of Hemingway’s own six-toed pet.

The other must-see is the nightly Sunset Celebration on Mallory Square, where jugglers, escape artists and tightrope walkers perform against the orange sky.

The island is also known as the Conch Republic after the popular mollusc eaten by locals and visitors. Pronounced Conk, it’s just one form of seafood devoured by the boatful across all of the Keys.

A must-see is the nightly Sunset Celebration

But if you’ve got room or time for only one meal, you’d be wise to pitch up at 915 Duval Street. It’s owned and run by British expat Stuart Kemp, who knows a thing or two about food.

Dolphins, known for their remarkable intelligence, are sensibly drawn to live in the warm, turquoise waters. Boat tours to see them in the wild are widely available, and if you sing to them they’ll pop their heads out of the water to say hello.

Cuter, friendlier and more intellectually stimulating than a thousand Mickey Mice, dolphins know how to have a good time. But in the Florida Keys, it’s not difficult.

This article was published in the May 2011 DialAFlight magazine and all information was correct at time of going to print.

0330·100·2220i 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X
 
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