#florida-keys
10 posts tagged.
Key Deer Refuge — The 30-Inch Whitetail That Only Lives in the Lower Keys
Big Pine Key has a deer that stands 30 inches at the shoulder, weighs 50 pounds, and exists nowhere else on Earth. About 700 of them. Down from 50 in the 1950s. You can watch them for free at dusk from a dirt road off Watson Blvd.
Caladesi Island — Florida's Boat-Only #1 Beach No One Talks About
Three miles of empty white sand named #1 USA Beach by Dr. Beach. No bridge, no buildings, no concessions — just a $16 ferry from Honeymoon Island, hourly, or your own boat. The Florida the developers never got their hands on.
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail — 106 Miles of Ocean-to-Ocean Riding
A 106-mile paved trail from Key Largo to Key West, built on Henry Flagler's 1912 Overseas Railroad. Twenty-three preserved historic bridges, including the restored 2.2-mile Old Seven Mile. The only US bike route that crosses to a tropical island.
Islamorada Flats — Sight-Fishing the Grand Slam, the Hardest Trophy in Saltwater
Bonefish in two feet of water. Permit at the edge of a turtle-grass flat. Tarpon rolling the channel at slack tide. Catch all three in the same day and you've completed the Grand Slam — the rarest cumulative trophy in saltwater fishing. The Florida Keys flats off Islamorada are where it's done.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef SP — Florida's Original Snorkel Trip
The first underwater preserve in the United States, established 1963, 70 square miles of reef and mangrove off Key Largo. A 2.5-hour boat ride to the outer reef, a 9-foot bronze Christ statue at 25 feet down, and the reef most people in this country snorkel first.
Lignumvitae Key — The Last Untouched Hardwood Hammock in the Keys
A 280-acre island off Lower Matecumbe accessible only by boat, where ranger-led tours walk you through what the Upper Keys looked like before anyone showed up with a chainsaw. Mahogany, gumbo limbo, and lignum vitae trees that pre-date the state of Florida.
Lionfish Hunting in the Lower Keys — Eat the Invader, Save the Reef
Drop sixty feet onto a Lower Keys ledge in May and you'll see them on every overhang — fanned, striped, unhurried. Florida wants you to spear them. No license, no bag limit, no closed season. Take the pole spear, take the ZooKeeper, take a frying pan.
Looe Key — The Best Coral Reef Snorkel in the Continental United States
Five miles south of Big Pine Key, in 20 to 35 feet of water, sits the best coral reef snorkel site in the lower 48. Brain coral the size of small cars. A 287-foot freighter sunk as an artificial reef in 1985. And every July, an underwater music festival — yes, really — broadcast through speakers at 25 feet down.
Reef-Safe Sunscreen in Florida — What the Law Says and What Actually Protects You
'Reef-safe' is not a regulated label in the US — anyone can print it on a tube. Here's what Florida law actually allows, which ingredients hurt coral, and the clothing-first strategy that beats sunscreen on every metric.
Spiegel Grove — A 510-Foot Navy Ship Sitting in 130 Feet of Florida Keys Water
In 2002 the US Navy sunk a 510-foot landing ship dock six miles off Key Largo to make an artificial reef. She landed upside down. Three years later Hurricane Dennis rolled her upright. The Spiegel Grove is now one of the most-dived wrecks in North America — and one of the few advanced-rec wrecks…