Inspire Me

Things to do in Florida Keys and Key West

From swimming with dolphins to celebrating the sunset, the Florida Keys and Key West offer an array of activities to captivate the young and young at heart on land, air or sea. To get started take a drive over the Oceanseas Highway and you will realize for yourself why this is an experience in itself. Gorgeous weather and stunning scenery make US1 ideal for a road trip.

JOHN PENNEKAMP STATE PARK

Key Largo is the first stop off the Overseas Highway and the largest of the keys. Here the depths of the sea can be explored at John Pennekamp State Park, at mile marker (MM) 102.5. The nation’s first underwater preserve, the park can be explored by glass-bottom boat or on scuba diving or snorkeling excursions.

VISIT A TURTLE HOSPITAL

Visit the Turtle Hospital in Marathon and see how they rehab injured sea turtles and return them to their natural habitat. Learn how they conduct and assist with research aiding the sea turtles and work toward environmental legislation making the beaches and water safe and clean for sea turtles.

PIGEON KEY

Visitors to Pigeon Key venture back in time to a tiny island that played a tremendous role in the Florida Keys of today. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this five-acre property served as a home base for railroad workers erecting and later operating the final installment of Henry M. Flagler’s Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway: the Old Seven-Mile Bridge.

TAKE IN A SUNSET IN KEY WEST

In the evening, soak up the atmosphere at outdoor picnic tables at Schooner Wharf during cocktail hour or for something a little more left-field, Mallory Square hosts a daily sunset ritual with fire-eaters, jugglers and buskers. It is impossible not to fall for the charm and colour of America’s Southernmost city!

ISLAMORADA’S THEATER OF THE SEA

Islamorada’s lush 17-acre tropical oasis, Theater of the Sea, at MM 84.5, features a variety of fish and marine life, native birds, colorful and personable parrots, sea turtles, crocodiles and exotic plants. General admission includes live performances by dolphins, sea lions and parrots, a guided tour of marine-life exhibits and a glass-bottom boat tour of the facility’s natural saltwater lagoon. Theater of the Sea also hosts swim programs with dolphins, stingrays and sea lions.

In the Florida Keys and Key West, you will be enriched in the beauty of the outdoors. So while there, take in some of the above excursions, catch a sunset and enjoy your time in this paradise.