Florida Keys
This park is small but sweet and the rangers are just lovely. Like most parks in the Keys, it’s a good spot for preserved tropical hardwood and mangrove habitat – a 1.5-mile hike takes you through both environments. Rent a kayak (single/double for two hours $18/22) or stand-up paddleboard ($22 for two hours). You can also camp at the park for $36 per night – sites have toilets and electric hookups.
Local waters are blissfully free of power boats, which is a blessing down here.
19.26 MILES
This park, with its long, white-sand (and at times seaweed-strewn) beach, named Sandspur Beach by locals, is the big attraction in these parts. As Keys…
Florida Keys History of Diving Museum
26.11 MILES
You can’t miss the diving museum – it’s the building with the enormous mural of whale sharks on the side. The journey into the undersea covers 4000 years,…
16.78 MILES
Named after local environmentalist Anne Eaton, this tiny beach is one of the finest seascapes in these parts. The small ribbon of sand opens upon a sky…
Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters
3.18 MILES
A visit to this small, interactive aquarium starts with a free 20-minute guided tour of some fascinating marine ecosystems. There are also more immersive…
Long Key State Recreation Area
11.13 MILES
The 965-acre Long Key State Recreation Area takes up much of Long Key. It’s about 30 minutes south of Islamorada, and comprises a tropical clump of gumbo…
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Site
28.23 MILES
To get his railroad built across the islands, Henry Flagler had to quarry out some sizable chunks of the Keys. The best evidence of those efforts can be…
6.13 MILES
This is one of the nicest spots on the island to stop and smell the roses. And the pinelands. And the palm hammock – a sort of palm jungle (imagine…
21.66 MILES
Perhaps the best-named island in the Keys, No Name gets few visitors, as it’s basically a residential island. It’s one of the most reliable spots for Key…
1. Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters
3.18 MILES
A visit to this small, interactive aquarium starts with a free 20-minute guided tour of some fascinating marine ecosystems. There are also more immersive…
6.13 MILES
This is one of the nicest spots on the island to stop and smell the roses. And the pinelands. And the palm hammock – a sort of palm jungle (imagine…
7.25 MILES
The marina, better known as Boot Key Harbor, is one of the best maintained working waterfronts in the Keys. Come during Christmas to see a ‘boat parade’…
7.41 MILES
One of the few white-sand, mangrove-free beaches in the Keys. It’s a good spot to lounge on the sand or swim, and there's also a small playground.
7.88 MILES
Be it a victim of disease, boat propeller strike, flipper entanglement with fishing lines or any other danger, an injured sea turtle in the Keys will…
6. Long Key State Recreation Area
11.13 MILES
The 965-acre Long Key State Recreation Area takes up much of Long Key. It’s about 30 minutes south of Islamorada, and comprises a tropical clump of gumbo…
7. Pigeon Key National Historic District
11.2 MILES
For years tiny Pigeon Key, located 2 miles west of Marathon (basically below the Old Seven Mile Bridge), housed the rail workers and maintenance men who…
16.78 MILES
Named after local environmentalist Anne Eaton, this tiny beach is one of the finest seascapes in these parts. The small ribbon of sand opens upon a sky…