Florida Keys Top Ten: A Cruiser’s Favorite Stops
The Florida Keys are a group of islands that run southwest from the tip of Florida and are linked by US Highway 1 starting in Miami. This chain of islands will give visitors a tropical feel while still being connected to the mainland. I spent my first year of 15 years aboard Guiding Light on the Gulf and East Coast and the Florida Keys were definitely a highlight. Writing this article took me on a wonderful trip down memory lane. Now let’s dive into my top ten of the Florida Keys.
10. Islamorada – The second large settlement coming down the chain from Miami is Islamorada and is an interesting mix of restaurants and bars. I feel like this island gets a lot of day trippers from Miami coming down to watch the sunset and do a bit of partying. I enjoyed anchoring in the lee of the island and I saw a guy driving a limousine boat which I thought was fascinating.
9. Fishing – I know for many people fishing will be much higher up on their list, but I’ve always been a recreational fisher at most. With that said I loved trolling the lines through the Florida Keys and catching dinner. Mostly I caught mackerel but there were two different times that our fish on the line was attacked by a dolphin and a shark as we were reeling it in. It was so cool to watch.
8. John PenneKamp State Park – Key Largo is the first island you reach in the keys from Miami and is the home of John PenneKamp State Park. This is a fantastic park and from a boater’s point of view is great because it has an all-weather anchorage. Just be careful because the channel to it is four or five miles long and the speedboats are reckless through it. I had to help rescue a boat that got washed onto the bank by a wake. Offshore from the state park is some great snorkeling with the Christ of the Abyss, which is a copy of a statue made in 1954 in Italy. The US one was placed here in 1962, so coral could grow on it. Also, nearby I found a little Buddha shrine that I loved.
7. Big Pine Key – Home of the native key deer, which look like a miniature version of white-tail deer and are super cute. Nearby you can find Bahia Honda State Park, which is a great place to spend the day at the beach and I loved the old Flagler Railroad Bridge. It is no longer in service, but has some great photo opportunities.
6. Key lime pie – Every restaurant in The Keys from Miami all the way down to Key West has their own version of a key lime pie. I became obsessed with this dessert and even today it’s one of my top two desserts, if it’s done right. In fact, I’ve come up with my own recipe that I served on charters for 13 years. If you’re interested you can find it in my cookbook “Cooking On The Guiding Light”. It is available on Amazon along with 75 other recipes I used to cook for guests. Additionally, there are related stories from my cruising days.
5. Marathon – Of all the places in the Florida Keys I think Marathon has the biggest cruiser community and there’s a reason why. It has an all-weather anchorage, a wonderful hospital, restaurants, and other facilities that you would want as a cruiser. Some of the things I enjoyed while at Marathon was the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center, the home of Mitzi, the original dolphin that played flipper in the 1963 movie (later turned into a TV show). Just off the island group of Marathon is Pigeon Key, which was an early 1900s work camp for the Flagler Railroad and it is a fascinating museum to check out.
4. Indian Key – Another island not connected by the main highway that has historical significance is Indian Key. This island had a town that was fairly important and inhabited between 1821 and until the 1880s and now is a ghost town, which is something I can never pass up checking out.
3. Reefs – Four to five miles offshore, on the ocean side of The Keys, is a chain of reefs before the shelf drops into the Gulf Stream. All along this 100 plus mile stretch are fantastic snorkeling and scuba diving. There are also lots of shipwrecks, both accidental and purposeful, that you can check out. In fact, wrecking, or the salvaging of wrecked ships, was huge business in the Florida Keys back in the day. One of my favorite snorkel spots was Sombrero Reef which has a cool lighthouse on it.
2. Key West – The most populated town in the Florida Keys is of course Key West. This is a favorite haunt of people going all the way back to the beginning. One of the most famous residents was Ernest Hemingway who has a house here that is now a museum with his famous six-toed cats. For a fun night life check out the sunset party at Mallory Square where you can watch all kinds of street performers. You can also go to the southernmost point of the United States, although this is not completely accurate but makes for a great photo opportunity. The famous street for restaurants and bars is Duval Street and Sloppy Joe’s Bar was Ernest Hemingway’s favorite. I also really like the Shipwreck Museum, which gave a fascinating history of the wrecking I talked about.
1. Dry Tortugas – Many people think the Florida Keys end at Key West, but the reality is they continue with a shallow bank and the Marquesas Keys within 20 miles to the west of Key West. Another 50 miles west are the Dry Tortugas. This small group of islands is dominated by Fort Jefferson which was begun in 1846 and is the largest masonry for it in the US. The only way here is by boat, whether it’s your own or a ferry, and if you take the ferry you can always camp overnight. I recommend spending a few days here, because I think the islands become even better once the daily ferry leaves. Once you’re done exploring the fort there are all kinds of snorkeling opportunities nearby and further away. If you have your own boat, you can always ask the park rangers and they will give you a couple sets of coordinates to go see shipwrecks and reefs. Loggerhead Key is five miles away and you will have this small island and lighthouse to yourself. I simply cannot say enough about the Dry Tortugas and it is one of the number of places I want to take my new wife to visit someday.
The post Florida Keys Top Ten: A Cruiser’s Favorite Stops appeared first on ALL AT SEA.