Key West
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Key West in early March. I know this is a busy season, would anyone advise against going at this time?

Also, would you recommend flying to Miami, renting a car and driving to Key West or flying in to Key West directly?

Thanks!

If you're going to fly into South FL, it would be better to fly into Fort Lauderdale...it's cheaper and less congested.

If you're going to stop often and make a day of going down US1 and enjoying the keys as you go, I would highly reccomend it. But after having done it once myself, when we return to Key West (and we will)...we will fly directly in and not rent a car at all...the car becomes a hassle while you're in Key West

Last month we flew from Boston to Key West for about $270 rd.trip. The flight stopped in Miami and the flight from there was only 1/2 hr.Really easy, and you do not have to hassle with a car.

Lots of people seem to love the drive down to Key West from Miami, but we avoid it when we can. The drive is a minimum of 4 hours and if there's a wreck the trip can take much longer.

I went once and got behind a school bus that stopped every few blocks with a Do Not Pass sign. It took FOREVER!

It has a passing lane now.

Tandoori Girl, have the Miami car rental companies taken off all the identifying rental marks from the cars? I remember a few years back that it was very controversial because thugs were targeting tourist cars.

Very cleverly the car rental places have gotten rid of the license plates that said "lease" on them, so everyone would know they were rentals. Now they all say "Sunshine State" on them, so any criminal who has been out of jail for more than a day or two can spot the rentals just as easily. Duh!

Patrick, I don't think that's the case. There's nothing unique to FL rental car tags, is there? What's this?

(and anyway everyone knows the tourists are the ones who stop their cars in the middle of the street -- why do they do that!!!)

Here's a vote for flying into MIA and driving down to Key West. In fact, this year, we're doing my ideal. Flying into MIA, taking four days to get down (to KW,) four days there, and flying back to PA from Key West.

The Keys are not about hurry. Four days to do 100 miles is about right.... You can hit Alabama Jack's, the Wild Bird Sanctuary, check out Sombrero Beach, visit Pigeon Key, stop at Bahia Honda--there's a lovely list.

Go to http://photos.yahoo.com/scullyyank for a selection of Keys albums from the last three years.

There is so much more to the Florida Keys than just Key West that you really need to do the drive and see it all. It is beautiful and helps to put you in the "Keys State Of Mind" after all that hussle and bussle of traveling.

We got to Key West about once a year, if it's just us, we fly into Key West. If we have folks with us who haven't been, we fly into Miami and take the drive down. But, we do fly out of Key West, it just isn't worth worrying about getting stuck in traffic on the way back to the Miami airport.

Haven't been to Key West in March, but I'm guessing the weather is great.

Have a wonderful trip.

Jean

I live in Ft. Lauderdale and get to Key West every 3-5 years. Yes, the drive is pretty in areas, and you get the "feel" for the keys state of mind, but I'd avoid it, if you don't want to drive and stop and drive and stop.

My suggestion? Fly into Key West and then if you want to see the keys, you can always rent a car and drive to the other keys and then drop it back off in Key West and not have to worry about getting behind a slow school bus or, even worse, and accident that ties up the traffic for hours. My niece flew into EYW in May and it was cheaper than flying to Ft. Lauderdale and driving down with me. You don't need a car at all in Key West, in fact, it's a burden.

PS: If you decide to fly/drive, definitely fly into Ft. Lauderdale, it's usually cheaper and you can bypass the Miami traffic -- YECH!!!!

We went to the Keys at the beginning of March last year. Heard all the stories about high season-and congestion, but still went pretty much on impulse. The drive from Miami was no problem, and is something you should do at least once.

Also would suggest taking a "flat fishing" trip in the Lower Keys. We were going to do bill fishing, but were recommeded a flat fishing trip instead. Almost like a your best science field trip ever: our guide was constantly pointing out the rich variety of wild-life. Fishing became pretty much secondary.

Sorry Patrick, but even residents have tags that say "sunshine state" on them. Believe me, I have one!

I like Heartburn3's suggestion best. We upgraded to a convertible Mustang in Miami, then our rental spent 5 days parked in our Key West hotel's garage unused.

Fly into Fort Lauderdale and drive...we did...i hear it's terrible from Miami to Key West. It was a nice drive.

Maybe I'm a little confused about the license plates. The vast majority of residents now have special plates of one of those umpteen million varieties available for an additional fee. But I thought if you had the standard "generic" one at the bottom it had the county on it. I do know that every time I rent a car here it has "Sunshine State" and not a county name on it. The odds have to be pretty good that one of those tags represents a rental or lease car. Out of curiosity, kkraczek, do you possibly lease a car rather than own it? If you own it and it was licensed in your county, why doesn't it have the county name on it?

I've lived in Florida all my life. The cars used to have plates that started with a number like "10D1234" the "10" represented Broward County, the "D" represented the weight category of the vehicle (this helped police figure out if the wrong tag was on the wrong size car -- i.e., you could immediately recognize that a VW Bug tag was on a Continental), and the last digits were unique to each car. For some reason, this was then changed to the numbers/letters currently used with the name of the county listed below. When the attacks on tourists became prevalent, the new tags were introduced that just say "Florida" and "Sunshine State".

Many people have unique license plates, there must be 30+ choices!

I hope this clarifies the license tag issue.

Now, for tourist safety...
* Put as much as you can into the trunk BEFORE your reach your destination (don't let people see you put valuables in your trunk.)
* If you must leave valuables in your car, don't leave them visible(this is true for probably anywhere you live.)
* Don't stop for directions in questionable areas. Drive to a safe area if you need directions. I know it is difficult to figure out the good and bad areas of town when you are a tourist, but usually your gut reaction tells you.)
* Keep good maps with you. The $5 investment is worth it. I keep maps of Ft. Lauderdale & Miami in my car all the time.

Have a safe and happy vacation!

Heartburn3, that is why DH rents cars with a big trunk so he can hide his golf clubs and luggage.

If you're a first-timer, take the drive because it truly is amazing and there are tons of fun things to stop and do on your way down. In fact, you may want to spend one night in Key Largo and do some snorkeling at John Pennekamp State Park. Love the Westin Resort in Key Largo. But don't fly into Miami, fly to Fort Lauderdale -- it's much less expensive and not really that much further. You can bypass all of the traffic of Miami and just scoot down the Turnpike to U.S. 1. Once you're in Key West, you're not going to need your car. In fact, you might have trouble finding a place to park without paying an arm and a leg. So, as one poster recommended, it might be worth your while to fly directly to KW and rent a car if you want to take day trips north out of there. While you're there, take a day trip to Fort Jefferson/Dry Tortugas. It's amazing. If you have the money, take a seaplane over there -- so cool. You'll see dolphins, turtles and sharks from the air in the plane. And you won't get seasick on the way over. March is busy and expensive, but fun -- best weather, too, before it gets hot and humid. And yes, even regular Florida residents like me have "sunshine state" tags. Just keep your wits about you and don't let your guard down -- same as you would be at home.

I went to Key West twice in early March about ten years ago - during my college spring break. Unless things have changed, Key West is crawling w/drunken college students that time of year. You might want to consider a different time frame, or possibly staying on one of the lower key Keys. Believe me, there is no peace and quiet on Key West during Spring Break!!!

Most rental car places will give you a map and for heaven's sake don't pull it out and read it in a bad area. Study it before you leave the rental car lot. Some rental comapnies have gps systems available, Hertz for one.

As for the drive down, we have flown into both Miami and FLL. Usually you can get better deals into FLL on flights. We always stay the night in FLL and get up early in the am to make the drive down to Key West. You miss the traffic.

We visit the Keys often (my inlaws live in Homestead and we're in Orlando area). This past Sep was the first time we ever flew into Key West. If you've never driven US 1 to Key West it is worth. The drive is pretty and there are lots of things to see, places to stop, (Seven Mile bridge made famous when Schwarzenegger pulls Jamie Lee Curtis out of a limo and into a helicopter in whatever movie that was!, great restaurants, fabulous snorkeling in Key Largo, Bahia Honda SP & beach, tiny little native key deer on Big Pine Key I think, endless semi-outdoor bars & restaurants, deep sea fishing guides out of Islamorada, and more). I agree with those that said having a car in Key West is more trouble and expense---parking is very limited and some places charge a lot to park. It's such a compact island you can either walk (alot) or we rented mopeds this last trip. What a hoot! We had never ridden/driven motorized bikes or motorcyles or anything before so we were tentative at first. But it was such fun, we learned quickly and we were all over the island and saw more on our mopeds than we ever had. The only drawback is the helmet hair!!! We drove our mopeds thru the cemetary there---it was fascinating---alot are above ground crypts because the limestone acquifer is at ground level. But graves going from current to the 1800's as I recall, some very ornate. Some very funny things written on some of them---one was from the town hypochondriac that read "I told you I was sick"! We also have done the Dry Tortugas/Fort Jefferson trip and would highly recommend it. The snorkeling is good most of the way around the Fort walls, the tour of the Fort is interesting with some good photo opportunities, and we found the boat trip out and back picturesque and fun(frozen drinks on the way back, chatting with people you met on the way out and while there). We saw flying fish literally flying away from the boat, various birds on the trip and on the island sanctuary that is attached to the key the Fort is on.

We've never been in March, but the weather will be fabulous for sure.

Have a great trip!

It looks as if someone else already answered your question Patrick, but I can see the confusion... I actually have one specialty plate and one "sunshine state" plate. I believe they changed from county names to "sunshine state" in 1997. So that is now the generic plate for anyone who doesn't choose one of the specialty plates. (My own personal choice- "Keep kids drug free"!)