East Fla. Help, Please
 

Hi
Hubby & I are taking our kids (16 yr old boy & 13 yr old girl) for Spring Break to the places listed below. But I feel I might have not enough time in 1 place, or too much time in another. We love snorkeling and seeing pretty places. Haven't been to any of them before.

Day 1 Drive from Richmond Va to Amelia Island, arrive pm, overnite.

Day 2 See Amelia Island and Fernandina.
Drive to St. Augustine in the afternoon.
See a little of St. Augustine if time.
Overnite St. Augustine.

Day 3 Tour St. Augustine. Want to see the historic part, lighthouse, etc. How much time would we need? Planning to drive to Key Largo in the pm, which will take about 5 hours. Don't know if this is enough time
for St. Augustine.

Day 4 Snorkel at John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo. Overnite again Key Largo.

Day 5 Have another night tonite in Key Largo, but wondering if this is too long.
Other places to snorkel? Should we do John Pennekamp again? What else to do in Key Largo?

Day 6 Drive to Key West. Stop to snorkel Bahia Honda State Park on the way. Overnite Key West.

Day 7 Tour Key West. Overnite Key West again.

Day 8 Start drive home.

Suggestions? Longer / shorter in any area?
Any ideas?
THANKS!!!
You can answer here, or email me at [email protected]
Many thanks!

I think it is going to take more than 5 hours to drive from St. A to Key Largo. I suggest you spend night 3 in St. A or somewhere in between. Start for Key Largo in the morning of Day 4 and include a side trip to the Everglades (using the Florida City entrance.) That will add about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to the drive, including seeing the alligators, birds, etc. Day 4 ends in Key Largo. Pool, dinner at Fish House. Day 5 snorkel in the am; Kayak in the afternoon. Day 6 - off to Key West. Stop at mm 77 and feed the wild tarpon at Robbies. Have a great time!

If you like this sort of thing, the last time we were in St. Augustine, we took the night ghost tour. It was a blast. If you have the time and are so inclined, I would highly recommend the ghost tour.

Great ideas! Thanks!

I think it's a lot of driving. I live in Florida and I would plan on a solid six hours (if there's no traffic) to get to Key Largo. There's a nice state beach park (Anastasia) at St. Augustine Beach, but the water will be too cold for swimming and there's no snorkeling; water activities will have to wait for the Keys.

Keep in mind that your drive home from Key West will be very long - you might want to sacrifice one night in Key Largo for an overnight stop along the way home instead.

We do plan to overnite on the way home somewhere.
Is Fernandina worth a sidetrip?
I read that it's a cute town.
Or should we just head straight to St. Augustine?
Thanks,
Linda

It's cute. But I'd just head to SA. There's more for your kids and you in SA. And cute is just not worth going out of your way.

How much time do you have for the entire trip ? Mileage wise you are looking at 1100+ miles (one way). So if you can average 60 mph, not likely in the Keys & some other areas (w/no stops) your looking at 35-40 hours of driving time ? All of your stops are fine & I've been to them all. But, you would probably need more like a month to really enjoy this trip. I would suggest either visiting N. Fla. or flying to Miami (usually very cheap) & driving out the Keys. Spring Break in Key West may not be what you had in mind for two teenagers however.