My husband and I are looking to go to the Florida Keys the last week in June. We are not sure which part has the nicest beaches. Any info. would help. Thanks so much in advance, KIM

If a good beach is important to you, I'd advise you to go to the Florida panhandle. Since the keys themselves are coral, all the beaches are man-made with imported sand, and most are very tiny.

Kim,
Really limited as far as beaches in the keys. I can recommend Cheeka Lodge. They have a good beach for the keyes and is within a decent drive of Miami Airport. Good restaurant and nice water view.

I live in Orlando, and have driven down the keys. There really aren't any large beaches on the keys themselves, you can find little bits of them here and there, but nothing like you can find on the panhandle or lower Gulf coast. These beaches are really nice - wide, great sand, not touristy like the east side. I highly recommend the Sarasota region, it has a number of nice beaches (Crescent, Siesta, Lido, Longboat Key). Also, just below, for a more shelly preference, you have Sanibel and Captiva. The keys are fun for a first visit, to drive through, but if you are looking for beaches, I'd check these other places.

Kim,
First, you need to define what you consider a "nice" beach. If swimmable water with good snorkeling right off the beach and lying in the sun with a frozen drink are what you want, the Keys will be fine. If you want surf, sandcastles, and long walks, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Just wanted to agree w/ the above posts... I live in central FL, went to the keys last July. If you are looking for the tropical effect, it really isn't there. Key West is that way because it's landscaped I'm sure - we stayed at the Simonton Court Inn, which I highly recommend- close to everything I was seeking (it wasn't a nature trip for me that time, I wanted to eat drink and be merry, shop, boat rides, etc). Key West has one "beach" per se and it was closed for swimming due to some kind of contamination- but I had been warned that there weren't really any beaches and so didn't expect them! I would have been bored, dissapointed staying anywhere but Key West unless I wanted to veg out, and maybe snorkel - it's very dry and scrubby everywhere else from what I saw (correct me if I'm wrong anywone). I agree about hitting the Gulf coast for beaches - Sanibel, Siesta Key, panhandle, etc.! Have fun!

Let me clarify - there's no 'wet lush jungle' and white sand beaches-type tropical effect - the vegetation seemed dry and scrubby heading to Key West. When I read back it sounded kinda dumb to say the Keys had no tropical effect

Everyone is doing the right thing to explain the beach situation in the Keys, and they are all accurate. However, please don't get the idea that the Keys aren't a nice place to visit. They are a GREAT place to have fun and relax as long as you don't want to (as Larry said) build sandcastles. Give me the Keys ANY day over the panhandle. BUT you have to decide -- do you want wide beaches with white sand, or a fun place with gorgeous scenery?