Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Key Largo, Florida
With his eye on the world's best tropical shores, Jimmy Buffet has been crooning about Key Largo Beach for years. Among the celebrities fishing the Key Largo waters, former President George Bush, Sr. has been frequently spotted fishing. So what is the key to Key Largo's smashing success? The world's best diving and snorkeling amidst shipwrecks and colorful coral reefs, for one. And Dolphin swims to renew the soul, for another. Key Largo sunset cruises that make your jaw drop, and deep-sea fishing that'll give you something to tell the guys and gals back home, also sweeten the arrangement. Just wait, that isn't all—vacations at Key Largo are of the living-large variety, with activities including glass bottom boat rides, alligator farm tours, parasailing escapades, and a nightlife that almost puts the day diversions to shame. Leave your troubles behind on the mainland, cross over the Overseas Highway and feel yourself get giddy: Key Largo is a Floridian Garden of Eden.
The largest and longest of the Florida Keys, Key Largo has the best of two aquatic worlds: the reefy Atlantic Ocean on the southern shores, and the warm, shallow waters of the Florida Bay to the north. Key Largo boasts the clearest water in the Florida Keys and some of the finest underwater adventures in the world. For snorkeling and diving delights, start with Key Largo's John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the first undersea preserve in the U.S. Known worldwide for 188 square miles of coral reefs beneath glassy waters, you can expect to swim beside more than 300 species of vibrant tropical fish, giant brain coral and tree-sized elk-horn coral. If you've done John Pennekamp and still have an appetite for more, try Spiegel Grove (on the Atlantic side), an artificial reef created by an intentionally sunk, retired Navy ship, or you can submerge yourself somewhere along one of Key Largo's six unique Sanctuary Preservation Areas where fishing of every kind is prohibited. Outfitters, tour companies, diving boats and shops are a dime a dozen where you can get your diving get-up or the low-down on the area's best dive and snorkel spots.
If you'd rather not take the deep sea plunge in a wet suit, grab your bait and tackle and immerse in the Key Largo scene with a deep sea fishing excursion. Some of the world's best boat captains ply the Key Largo waters, so flag down (or schedule) a party boat for nighttime fishing or contract a private sport-fishing excursion headed for Everglades National Park, or the great Atlantic to catch sailfish, marlin, and Mahi-Mahi. If you'd rather be out on the waters alone, try bridge fishing or Blue Claw crabbing along Key Largo's Card Sound Road, bonefish on the Atlantic shallows or reel in tarpon or redfish on the Florida Bay side. Of course you can always ditch the hooks and sinkers and just float like Free Willy (well, almost). Key Largo is a prime spot for swimming and dancing with the dolphins, and learning a little bit about their intimate marine lives.
For boating buffs, personal watercraft rentals on Key Largo are everywhere. You name it, Key Largo's got it: Kayaks, Hobie Cats, jet skis, wave runners, and parasailing boats are just around the corner from wherever you are. But Key Largo's charm isn't limited to the sea, Key Largo's shores are also enchanted. Herons and roseate spoonbills pose along the coast and Harry Harris Park and Beach is a child-friendly sandy beach on the Atlantic with a picnic area and toddler playground.
But the fact that Key Largo is hot stuff is old news; even back in 1948 John Huston filmed several scenes of the movie "Key Largo" in Rock Harbor's Caribbean Club, and the more recent "PT 109" was filmed there as well. Today Key Largo remains a sight to behold. Drive south from Miami on US 1, travel over the Overseas Highway, and eighteen miles after you have said adios to the mainland you will hit Key Largo, extending from Mile Marker 90 to Mile Marker 106. To rub elbows with Hollywood producers, dolphins, and a host of tropical fish, Key Largo always ranks among the world's most adored vacation spots. Have fun!