Miami and The Keys
 

Our family will be arriving in Miami on a Thursday near midnight.Our hotel reservations in Miami start on Friday. We don't really want to pay a full night rate for the few hours until morning. Our teens are intersested in seeing the Keys -especially Key West.We were thinking of doing something off the wall like just driving to one of the Keys and watching the sun come up. Our visit is in April. Does anone have any thoughts or suggestions to share on that?

It will take you two to three hours to drive to Key West from Miami. I doubt you'd want to drive that long, sleep in your car until sunrise, see a few things and then drive two to three hours back.

It's really not safe to hang around in the Miami area overnight, either. If you're bound and determined to start your first day in the Keys, you might want to go as far as the Islamorada area (a little more than an hour south of Miami) and wait for your sunrise there.

I certainly wouldn't consider it. First of all, it's a two hour drive on a badly lit, dangerous, two-lane road to the upper keys. Fatal accidents are frequent. And I'm assuming you'll be tired after your flight, making it all the more risky. Then you have to hang out on a deserted beach for three hours while you wait for the sun to come up? Then what? You'll still have to wait until around 3 that afternoon for your room to be ready. I don't know about you, but I'd be ready for a shower and a nap long before then. Maybe I'm not adventurous, but it sounds like a terrible idea to me.

It has always taken us at least 4 hours to drive from Miami to Key West. I cannot believe people can do it in less time. Its about 150 miles but a good portion of it, maybe 120 miles, it for the most part a two lane road. Speed limits vary between 35 and 55 during the day and is even lower at night. With that said, there is plenty of other options. How far do you think you would want to drive? There is several spots you could stop at in the Keys and watch the sunrise but I think many of the parks are closed during the night and may not open till after day break.

Grab a cheap hotel at the airport (some rooms can be had for around $100)...crash at the room and head for South Beach for sunrise(same Sun as the one in Key West)...

then grab breakfast on SoBeach...my teens love that bistro thing... your early arrival will guarantee a great parking spot and you can change to swimwear on the beach... hang out there till lunch and then head for your hotel at about 2pm... you should still be fresh, but nap if you must... and then prepare for Miami nitelife...

Right now, South Beach is is much more hip than Key West with the Models roaming the streets, celebrities at the top hotels, and the beautiful people volleyballing on the beach... all you may see through your tired red eyes in Key West are more people with tired red eyes!!!

I've gotten pretty cheap rooms around the Miami airport using Priceline.

We've made the trip between Key West and Miami many times and it's NEVER taken us less than 4 hours.

Key West is best oriented for sunset, not sunrise. South Beach is on the ocean, facing East so you get the true sunrise effect there. Watching the sunset on Miami Beach is basically watching the Miami skyline as the horizon is obscured.

The drive from the airport to Key Largo can be daunting, even during the day. Save the keys for another trip, if possible. LMF

Thank you, All, for the responses. You have been very helpful!

amos, if your trip is between April 7th and April 23rd, don't even try to chance a hotel reservation. Those are the weeks before and the weeks after Easter in which hotels will be expensive and full.

My suggestion, get a room at the hotel in which your reservation starts so everyone can get a good night sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to go.

Driving all night in an unfamily location isn't smart.

A drive into the Evergladss NP would be less stressful. Stop along the way for something to eat and make the trip to Flamingo and start the return trip at first light stopping along the way. Don't forget the Royal Palm area board walk..