NYgirl

Our original plan was the Caribbean, but we're concerned about our passports coming ontime, so we changed plans to south florida. We're planning on going around mid-late March

We've never been to the Keys and ourplan is to fly to Fort Meyers and take the cat to Key West.

Now:
-what is the beach situation. Are there really no actual beaches to lie on?
-when is the spring break rush
-is there any reliable website on the keys and traveling between them

Thanks all for the advice.

clueless

The Keys are known for their beaches but their are beaches to lie on. A cute public beach in all the way at the end of Duvall Street near the Southern Most Point or next to the Southern Most Motel.

Can't help you with the others.

Peter_krynicki

If you stay in Key West on or near Duval Street you are within walking dof pretty much everything. Duval is 1.25 miles long and most of the good stuff is on the north side.

But you can stay at, for example, either La Mer, the Dewey House or the Southernmost Hotel and have access to a small beach at the Duval Beach Club. It's 5.00 / day for a chair. People have told me that there is occassionally a smell of seagrass there.

You can stay across from either Higgs Beach or Smathers Beach, near the airport, but then you are between 3 - 4 miles from the north end of Duval and end up cabbing back and forth.

The Pier House has a small beach which is nice enough for me, and the Hyatt has an even smaller one which isn't. The Ocean Key has very nice rooms and a big pool, but very little shade. The Pier House is at 1 Duval Street and the Ocean Key is across the street at 0 Duval. You'd be 2 minutes from the Key West Bight to the east and 2 minutes from the Mallory Docks, and within walking distance of snorkel trips or sunset sails.

IMO Key West has enough to do/see/expirience, that the lack of a beautiful beach is not a show-stopper. Besides beachin' what else would you do?

Pjk

Peter_krynicki

Sorry - one other thing. The bars in Key West are very sensitive to under-age drinking so < 21 year-olds don't tend to go down and the one time I was there for spring break it wasn't very crowded or rowdy. Even the so-called "booze cruises" where there is unlimited beer and wine card people as they board so these also don't get bad.

Pjk

NYgirl

Thanks for the beach info!

We'll prbably be hiking and just want to do alot of walking and maybe driving to different towns.

we're really not interested in swimming per se, just looking for a lying-around kinda feeling.

LauraATL

Most of the best scenery in the Keys is under water! If you aren't certified for diving then definately do a snorkeling trip. You'll need a wetsuit this time of year. I found that the best beach in the keys is at Bahia Honda State Park, about midway between Key West and Miami.

No_name

"We'll prbably be hiking and just want to do alot of walking"

Then you must stop at Bahia Honda. It is also one of the nicer beaches in The Keys. March is also very very popular with the Spring Break Crowd but if you stay away from the chain hotels and motels, you will be just fine. The B&B's are very strict about not allowing the college kids. The beaches in Key West will also be much more crowded with the kids compared to the beaches up the Keys. Keywest.com http://fla-keys.com/ and http://keywest.com/newbigmap.gif
Those are all good websites that have helped in the past. Have a wonderful time.

No_name

Here is a site that also shows the volume and the dates for the college breaks.

http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacit...sbcalendar.htm