THE US FLORIDA KEYS destinations
Keys selling
Meera Dattani finds plenty to
recommend in the Florida Keys
points
“O
f course, the island has
changed in 30 years. I
don’t think any place could stand
still,” says Carol Shaughnessy,
Key West publicist and writer.
“But under the surface, Key West
is the same island I fell in love
with 30 years ago.”
You could say this for the rest
of the Florida Keys. Frequently
described as ‘laid back’ and
‘timeless’, this coral cay
archipelago feels a world away
from Orlando and Miami. Fortytwo bridges along the engineering
feat that is the Overseas Highway
connect the 125-mile-long island
chain, made up of five regions:
Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon,
Big Pine and the Lower Keys,
and Key West.
w SELL: BALMY AND
BARMY
A subtropical climate, ecotourism, flourishing food scene
and buzzy Key West make the
Florida Keys an easy sell. Heidi
Blades, Premier Holidays’ general
manager for North America,
says: “Key West is great, with its
offbeat restaurants, whimsical
shops and lovely streets. Families
love Duck Key for activities
such as swimming
with dolphins, and
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3 September 2015 travelweekly.co.uk 63
destinations FLORIDA KEYS THE US
OF THE
BEST
PLACES
TO EAT
Food and the
Keys make a
dream pair.
Islamorada is the ultimate place to
wind down.”
The Florida Keys attracts about three
million visitors annually. Jade Andrews,
product administration executive for
Funway Holidays, says: “Florida Keys
is 46% up in terms of room nights
generated in 2015, and a popular
twin-centre holiday with Orlando.”
The archipelago has wide appeal,
with plenty for families, couples,
groups, nature lovers and water-sports
fans. With North America’s only living
coral reef, the coastline is designated
the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary, with intentionally sunk
vessels creating impressive artificial
reefs. Air Adventures offers helicopter
tours including sunset trips, which are
a wonderful add-on for clients.
Kayaking, fishing and diving are
part-and-parcel of island life, while
museums, history and festivals keep
Quirky Key West declared
itself as the independent
‘Conch Republic’ in 1982
and the name has stuck
it culturally active. Agents can learn
more at the Key Lime Academy at
fla-keys.com/keylimeacademy.
w SEE: SELECTION BOX
The big ticket is Key West – the
birthplace of quirky. After a
disagreement with US border control
in 1982, it declared itself as the
independent ‘Conch Republic’ and
the name has stuck for this tonguein-cheek micro-nation ever since.
The most populated island, it’s the
southernmost of the Keys, 150 miles
from Miami but only 90 miles from
Cuban capital Havana.
Key West’s magic lies in its
chameleon-like ability to appeal to all.
Art deco and Victorian architecture,
leafy streets and vintage signs make
it a joy for walking, from the Historic
Seaport to the quieter stretches of
Duval Street. Suggest the new Made in
Key West Food Tours or the Old Town
Trolley Tour, with its excellent guides
charting Key West’s history of Native
Americans, pirates, wreckers and the
Civil War. Stops include Hemingway
House where Ernest Hemingway lived,
and Key West still remains a writers’
and artists’ town. Other sights include
the Harry S Truman Little White House,
Key West First Legal Rum Distillery and
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park,
which is best explored by bike.
ABOVE LEFT:
Key West
ABOVE RIGHT:
Marker 88
restaurant
LEFT: Fantasy
Fest
For brunch/
lunch in Key
West, suggest
open-air Blue
Heaven, with live
music, roaming
chickens
and sublime
key lime pie.
For Cuban
food, takeaway
stands such as
Cuban Coffee
Queen serve
delicious coffee
and sandwiches.
On Big Pine
Key, No Name
Pub, which is
adorned with
dollar bills
and serves
great pizzas,
describes itself
as ‘a nice place if
you can find it’.
For sunset,
seafood and
cocktails,
suggest
Islamorada’s
beachfront
Marker 88.
On Key Largo,
The Fish
House serves
everything
from hogfish
to conch.
64 travelweekly.co.uk 3 September 2015
destinations FLORIDA KEYS THE US
LEFT: A Key deer
RIGHT: The
Africa Queen
BELOW: Serenity
Eco Therapy
By night, Mallory Square’s daily
sunset celebration is a must, or
suggest Danger Charters’ Wind
and Wine sunset sail. The food
scene is thriving, from waterfront
seafood restaurants to finedining, while partygoers love the
‘Duval Crawl’ along Duval Street.
Key West is also festival mad,
from Hemingway Days and the
Key Lime Festival to flamboyant
street parade Fantasy Fest.
Eastwards lies Big Pine and
the Lower Keys, which are big
on eco-tourism. Home to the
National Key Deer Refuge, it’s a
haven for indigenous miniature
Key deer, while Big Pine Kayak
Adventures offers trips through
protected mangroves. In Bahia
Honda State Park, Sarah Sullivan’s
Serenity Eco Therapy experiences
include stand-up paddleboarding,
paddleboard yoga and
meditation on kayaks. There’s
also excellent diving on Looe Key
Reef, which hosts July’s Lower
Keys Underwater Music Festival.
Seven Mile Bridge (6.79 miles
to be exact) is Marathon’s main
sight, running parallel to Old
Seven Mile Bridge, a throwback
to the railroad era. Nearby
attractions include tours of the
Turtle Hospital, a refuge for
sick and injured sea turtles; the
Dolphin Research Center on
Grassy Key, resting place for one
of TV’s first ‘Flippers’; and Florida
Keys Aquarium Encounters. For
66 travelweekly.co.uk 3 September 2015
Grassy Key’s Dolphin
Research Center is the
resting place for one
of TV’s first ‘Flippers’
something different, suggest
archaeological site Crane Point.
A Native American village once
stood here and nature trails pass
Marathon Wild Bird Center.
Sports-fishing is a big draw
on chilled-out Islamorada,
while divers and snorkellers
head to San Pedro Underwater
Archaeological Preserve and
hikers and canoers to Long Key
State Park. Indian Key Historic
State Park is an interesting spot,
with the remains of the wrecking
(shipwreck salvage) community
from the 1830s. A more modern
spot is the Morada Way Arts &
Cultural District, with galleries,
restaurants and the Upper Keys’
first microbrewery. A monthly
ArtWalk offers an evening of
alfresco art, music and food.
There’s fantastic diving
and snorkelling in Key Largo,
particularly in John Pennekamp
Coral Reef State Park. The
longest island and bordering
Everglades National Park,
Key Largo is famous for the
eponymous film starring
destinations FLORIDA KEYS THE US
sample
product
Jetset Holidays
offers a week in
the Florida Keys
from £1,599,
including British
Airways flights
and car hire.
Based on four
sharing, the price
covers four nights
at Amara Cay
Resort and three
nights in a twobedroom cottage
at Sunset Key
Guest Cottages.
jetsetholidays.
co.uk
USAirtours has
seven nights
at Amara Cay
Resort from
£1,449 between
January 5 and
March 13, 2016,
including Virgin
Atlantic flights
from London
or Manchester.
The operator
also offers seven
nights in a twobedroom cottage
at Sunset Key
Guest Cottages
from £1,735, based
on two adults/two
children sharing.
usairtours.co.uk
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
The island hosts the Humphrey Bogart
Film Festival, and at the Holiday Inn
Key Largo Resort & Marina, visitors
can sail the African Queen, the boat he
skippered in the film.
w STAY: LOW-KEY LUXURY
The Keys do low-key and luxury in
equal measure. At Sunset Key Guest
Cottages, one to four-bedroom
cottages, each with private patio and
garden or ocean views, are scattered
across this peaceful island across the
water from Key West. There’s a pool,
spa and private beach, while upscale
bar and restaurant Latitude is renowned
for its Caribbean or ‘Floribbean’ cuisine.
A 24-hour boat service ferries residents
and dinner guests to and from town.
For olde-worlde luxury, Waldorf
Astoria’s Casa Marina is hard to
top with its private beach, pools,
spa and golf course. Newcomers
include The Gates Hotel Key West,
where minimalist rooms feature local
photography and exposed beams, and
a food truck and rum bar are among
the drinking/dining options. The luxury
96-room Marker Waterfront Resort,
the first newly built hotel in Key West’s
old town for 20 years, combines conch
architecture with contemporary art in a
hectare of landscaped grounds.
Under the Islamorada Resort
Company umbrella is Islamorada’s
newest resort, Amara Cay, a fusion of
Funway Holidays
offers seven
nights at Hawks
Cay from £1,099,
for departures on
November 11. The
price includes
car hire and
Delta flights from
London to
Key West.
funway4agents.
co.uk
68 travelweekly.co.uk 3 September 2015
trendy Miami South Beach and laidback Keys with beautifully designed
and spacious rooms and suites. Its
Italian restaurant Oltremare – one of
few upscale Italian spots in the Keys
– offers a menu big on fresh seafood
and homemade pasta. Other facilities
include water sports, outdoor pool,
private beach with hammocks and
convivial Sparrows Rum Bar.
Other newcomers include Islander
Resort, the latest in the Guy Harvey
Outpost portfolio. A marine wildlife
artist, conservationist and diver,
Harvey’s properties are run by staff
passionate about the water. There are
114 rooms in 1950s-style villas and 25
cottages in 10 hectares of landscaped
grounds. Facilities include Guy’s
Beachside Bar & Grill, water sports and
on-site massages.
Big changes are afoot in Key Largo
with Marriott’s waterfront Playa Largo
Resort & Spa, scheduled to open in
December, complete with marina
and spa. The island is also home to
the world’s first and the US’s only
underwater hotel, Jules’ Undersea
Lodge. Guests must be certified divers
as rooms can be accessed only by
diving – luggage and meals are brought
down in waterproof cases – but it still
has free Wi-Fi. For those who don’t
want to stay overnight, three-hour
experiences are available, including a
pizza lunch and diving the lagoon.
FIND OUT MORE: fla-keys.co.uk
ABOVE: Amara
Cay Resort
LEFT: Sunset
Keys Cottages