a

My father & I are going to Florida in March (I am 26, he in his mid 50's). We we be there for a total of 8 nights, the 1st day we get into miami at noon and plan on spending that night in south beach. The next day we are driving to the keys- my question is, should we spend the next 6 days in the keys & then the last day in south beach again, or should we allot more time to miami?? We plan on staying in key west for the keys portion of the trip. We like beach, restaurants, shopping- I'm with my dad so nightlife isn't too important!! Any input will help, thanks!!

susan

You may've waited too long to book in Key West. March is spring break time and it'll be hard to find accommodations. Exactly where do you want to stay?

Celeste

It's pretty late to start planning for this as March is high season in Florida, and especially the Keys. If beaches are most important to you, cut short your Keys stay as the beaches are not that great.

a

So the beaches in south beach are much nicer? What about the beaches in the keys make them not so nice?

George

The Keys beaches are not oceanfront (check a map.) They generally aren't that wide. There's often a lot of dried-up eelgrass, or seaweed, or whatever--ugly, as it were.

There are a couple of nice beaches: Ft Zachary Taylor in Key West, and Sombrero Beach in Marathon come to mind.

For your interests, you're probably going to be best off in the Miami area. A wide variety of restaurants, and some shopping is really only available in Key West in the Keys.

There certainly are some excellent places to eat in the Keys (other than Key West,) but Key West is where the action is.

susan

The problem with beaches in the keys is that they're all man-made with imported sand and most are very small. If you want a true beach experience, the keys aren't really a great destination. For everything else, though, Key West would be a good choice. There are lots of really good restaurants and as many tourist activities as you could want. Once again...March is spring break time and you may have a tough time finding accommodations.

a

Thanks for all the info.! I think we may just miss the peak of sprink break as we are going on March 1. Spring break for me in college was always the 2nd or 3rd week of March. I didn't have any problem getting rooms in south beach through price line, $75 for a 3 star.

a

If my main interest is beaches & snorkeling, would I be best to spend more time in miami? are there other beach areas in south florida which are nice? The keys sound good for sightseeing & not so much beaches, so I am trying to think of alternatives.

jmb

If you want to snorkel the Keys have the best around.

Larry

a: remember that good beaches and good snorkeling do not go hand-in-hand, rather the reverse is normally true in Florida. If you want nice beaches you'll have to stay up by Miami, if you want the best snorkeling the Keys are a better. Also, I notice that you consistently mention "South Beach", but specifically said nightlife wasn't important. Although SoBe has some good restaurants and shopping, what it is world famous for is nightlife. An alternative for a nice "quiet" beach in the Miami area would be Key Biscayne; although the shopping and restaurants on Key Biscayne are limited (but not non-existent) you would be only a 15 minute drive from Coconut Grove and about 20-30 min. away from South Beach.