jlee

Hello - so I want to be planning in advance for our vacation next year 2018 (late May/early June) to Key West. We have 2 kids (will be 3 and 6 1/5 by then). Is Key West a kids friendly place to visit? Since kids are still young, we just wanna stick to beach vacation, less hectic and we can relax. What would you recommend? How many days is good enough?

Are there direct flights into Key West? We are from Southern California.
Hotel better or renting a place there from airbnb or vrbo?
Car rental needed?

If no direct flights into Key West, which airport would we fly into? How far is the drive from airport to Keywest?

Dukey1

Are you FAMILIAR with sites like Kayak.com and hipmunk.com for finding out about flights?

AustinTraveler

There aren't many beaches in Key West...it's more of a snorkeling/diving kind of place. For family friendly, calm waters, and beautiful beaches I would choose a place like Anna Maria Island or Siesta Key. Or the beaches in the Panhandle (Pensacola Beach, Destin, Grayton Beach, etc.). But, this all depends on what time of year. When are you going?

vincenzo32951

Is Key West kid-appropriate?

First of all, there are no good beaches.

Second, the last time I was there, I walked down Duval St. early in the evening and was greeted by a male stripper in a Speedo-like outfit taking a smoke break on the sidewalk.

I'll let you decide the answer to the question.

(BTW, I like Key West.)

garyt22

When your kids are awake, Key West is very kid friendly... chickens wandering the street, breakfast at Blue Heaven, butterfly conservatory, pirate treasure, conch train, six toe cats at Hemingway house, pools, sunset sails, aquarium, ice cream, t shirt shops, casual restaurants...

Just make sure you stay in Old Town... if you don't, it can be a nite mare getting back and forth to Duval...

If you want a better choice at their ages, pick Sanibel/Captiva... Fly into Fort Myers, rent a car and rent a cottage... save KW til they can walk up and down Duval on their own without whining...

suze

Key West isn't a beach vacation. And you do know it's a gay hub, right/

Maybe you'd like to go to one of the other keys instead? Like here:

http://bahiahondapark.com/

garyt22

3 and 6 year old kids don't care about "Gay Hubs"... Get a life suze...

suze

Their parents might IF for some crazy reason they did not know this about Key West.

Dukey1

OK, Suze, so there are a lot of gays in KW. so what? There are also a lot MORE rednecks dragging Duval on weekends in cowboy cadillacs, too.


To the OP: you can fly to KW but you'll have to change somewhere such as Miami or perhaps Tampa to do so.

Fra_Diavolo

Didn't strike me as great for kiddies. Beaches are not large or particularly good. Also perhaps the drunkest town I've ever seen. I liked it.

gmoney

Definitely would not take a 3 and a 6 year old to Key West. Not really a great kids destination. Eating, drinking, and relaxing are the main features. Good chance you will see some very un-kid friendly behavior on Duval street. You would be better off in Islamorada. But if you really want a beach vacation go somewhere else.

I recommend St.Pete Beach.

Macross

You do know many families with kids live in KW. It is great for anyone and the beaches are not bad. Orlando has connections to KW. Cab it to old Town. Great places to eat, history and water sports.

vincenzo32951

>>You do know many families with kids live in KW. >and the beaches are not bad.

janisj

I've only been to south Florida and KW once so definitely not an expert like some of the Floridians who have already responded. I really had a great time the 2.5 days I spent in KW . . . but I would not consider it (at all) a good destination for a young family. There are so many other/better options.

Christina

I don't know how you picked Key West but no, there are no direct flights from Southern California.

YOu can get direct flights from some place in FLorida, of course (like FLL), and from Atlanta on Delta, perhaps some other choices, but you won't find a direct flight from where you live.

So you can fly direct to FLL from LAX, stuff like that. Or a nonstop to Tampa.

jlee

Thanks all for your comments. Definitely helpful. My coworker talked about Key West alot saying how nice it is over there so I wanted to check it out. No specific reason.

But I love beach vacation and my kids love the water so I want to go somewhere that has nice beaches, nice sand and clear water. I've been on 2 Caribbean cruises already, so I'm done with cruises for now...and I picked Florida because I think it offers nice beaches and water just like the Caribbean, but it's still within the U.S.

Based on some of your comments, I did look into Anna Maria and Sennibel islands. Those two look great, too! What to do there besides the beach? Any recommendations as to how many days? places to eat and stay? I'm assuming no direct flights there either. So where to fly into? Thanks again! I appreciate all your comments.

gmoney

jlee, here's a good example of why KW might not be the best place for kids. I was there with my wife (several years ago) staying at the Reach resort (owned by Marriott at the time). As we were sitting on the small private beach two young women came and sat near us and immediately removed their tops.

Also on the same beach a few days later we noticed a small boat approach the hotel next door as they had a dock attached to their pool deck. The people on the boat removed all their clothes and proceeded up the stairs to the pool deck completely naked. Well obviously I had to investigate so I went next door to check it out and the entire pool deck was clothing optional.

Just a warning that your kids may observe similar behaviors while in Key West.

jlee

Ok, great responses...I got a better idea now, no KW for us then. We'll put that on hold for when the kids are older and we can go without them.

gmoney

Again, I would recommend St Pete Beach. Besides fantastic beaches there are also fun kids activities nearby:

Busch Gardens
Lowry Park Zoo
Rays baseball games
Fort Desoto/Egmont key/Shell key
John's Pass Pirate ship cruise

Fra_Diavolo

You might consider Sarasota, which has many condo rentals on or near its amazing beach on Siesta Key. The city itself has restaurants, theaters, and an attractive shopping area known as St Armand's. It has its own airport but flights to Tampa (an hour away) are more numerous and often less expensive.