2 Best Sights in The Florida Keys, Florida

This isn't your typical large-city aquarium. It’s more hands-on and personal, and it's all outdoors with several tiki huts to house the encounters and provide shade as you explore, rain or shine. Plan to spend at least two to three hours here. You’ll find a 200,000-gallon aquarium and plenty of marine encounters (extra cost), as well as guided tours, viewing areas, and a predator tank. The Coral Reef encounter ($95 snorkel, $130 regulator) lets you dive without hearing the theme from Jaws in your head (although you can see several sharks on the other side of the glass). Touch tanks have unique critters like slipper lobsters. Hungry? The on-site Eagle Ray Café serves up wings, fish tacos, salads, burgers, and more. Note that general admission is required, even if you've signed up for a marine encounter.

Pet a nurse shark and explore the fascinating underwater realm of the Keys without getting wet at this historic aquarium. Hundreds of tropical fish and enormous sea creatures live here—all locals. A touch tank enables you to handle starfish, sea cucumbers, horseshoe and hermit crabs, and even horse and queen conchs—living totems of the Conch Republic. Built in 1934 by the Works Progress Administration as the world's first open-air aquarium, most of the building has been enclosed for all-weather viewing. Guided tours, included in the admission price, feature shark feedings. Tickets are cheaper when booked online.