What to do on way out of Keys this Sunday?
 

My best friend and I are taking a long weekend trip (without kids in search of some R&R) to Key West this weekend. We'll be arriving in MIA Thursday afternoon, renting a car and driving down to Key West.

My question is: On the way back to MIA on Sunday, what should we do? Our flight isn't until 10:00pm, but based on a lot of advice from this board we should probably start back pretty early in the day, just in case. I'm thinking maybe we could stop at John Pennekamp State Park and snorkel, etc. How far would that be from MIA and would we be mostly in the clear once we're up in Key Largo? Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
A

Without traffic problems, Pennekamp is no more than 90 minutes from MIA. The risk of traffic delay on the two lane from Florida city to Key Largo is still a possibility, but that's just life in the Keys. Pennekamp eliminates most of the bridges. Your plan is as good as any.

You could take Card Sound Road (SR-905) and avoid US-1 entirely between Florida City and Key Largo. You never see any traffic on it and it will take no more time, much more pleasant of a drive.. You could also consider the glass bottom boat out of Pennekamp.

http://www.pennekamppark.com/

Working backwards, here's what I come up with - the flight is at 10:00 PM. I asssume you need to return a car so let's get you to MIA by 8:00pm on Sunday so you can get through security, pick up snacks for the flight, etc.
I would allow 2 hours for the drive from Key Largo to MIA - just in case! (And I would take Card Sound Road).
So you need to leave Key Largo by 6:00.
The relevant snorkel trips at Pennekamp are at noon and 3:00. They last about 2 hours. There are outdoor showers and indoor changing areas at the park. Take a towel (very cheap at wal-greens in the Keys) and some shampoo and you'll be able to clean up for the flight.
If you pick the 3:00 boat, then you could have lunch in Islamorada (mm 81) at the Islamorada Fish Company and poke around in the World Wide Sportsman next door. You'll want to allow 45 min to an hour to get to Pennekamp from there. If you take the noon boat, then you could go to the Fish House afterwards for a late lunch and Key Lime Pie.
OR, take the noon boat and head back to the mainland and go to Everglades National Park for an hour or two.

I like keymom's itinery. The Anhinga Trail in the Everglades is easy, interesting and full of gators and birds. A short walk and you could linger or not.

Thanks for all the advice! Both of us have never snorkelled before. We're doing the Danger Charters daytrip in KW on Friday, so if we want to snorkel again we'll probably do Pennekamp on the way out. In case we don't want to snorkel again, how are the beaches there for hanging out?

As for the Everglades, we're from Cajun Country (Lafayette, LA), so we're all good with seeing alligators. Frankly, they scare the crap out of me.

Also, I posted separately about this also: I've seen some info online that Card Sound Road is currently under construction. Is that true??

Thanks!
A

http://www.floridastateparks.org/bahiahonda/default.cfm

This is the website for Bahia Honda a wonderful state park if you want to stop around Marathron. You can rent Kayaks, take a boat trip out to a reef and snorkel, etc.

If you have a guy named Mike Mongo as one of the crew tell him Pjk says hi!. He usually leads one of the kayak trips around the mangrove island and will get a big kick out of this.

Pjk

The Taste of the Keys festival is going on this weekend in Islamorada at Founder's park. This is usually a morning and early afternoon event which would give you plenty of time to get up to the mainland to catch your flight, etc. You might want to give Pennekamp a call on Sunday morning before you make your decision about snorkeling, as we are expecting a very small front this weekend. It won't change the temperature much but sometimes these things stir up the ocean and make the visibility less than great. I live across the street from Pennekamp, so wave at me when you go in!