A Florida Keys vacation is relaxing. Renewing. Fun. Filled with unexpected happenings, new discoveries, and fresh experiences that make lifelong memories. But it should NOT include grilling fish in a bathtub.
The free-spirited island of Key West is famed for its lively celebrations and balmy year-round subtropical weather — but in August the party scene really heats up. The reason for this “Island Fever” is the Tropical Heat festival, which will entertain revelers Wednesday through Sunday, Aug. 15-19, with a sizzling long weekend of all-male adult events.
Key West's Hemingway Days celebrates the legacy of world-renowned author Ernest Hemingway, who called the island home for most of the 1930s. What he discovered there fed his exuberance for living, launched the most prolific period of his career and inspired him to use Depression-era Key West as the setting for “To Have and Have Not” — his only novel set in the United States.
Legendary shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher, who found the wreck of the 1622 Spanish galleon Atocha, was one of Key West's most colorful and inspirational characters. Adventure lovers can celebrate his legacy during Mel Fisher Days, set for July 12-14 in his longtime “home port.”
Key West's sun-drenched days and cool island breezes beckon visitors to get out and explore countless outdoor activities — all sure to excite the senses and rejuvenate the spirit after a long, chilly winter indoors. Discover five "locals' favorite" activities that reveal the quintessential appeal of Key West.
Divers and snorkelers can explore part of the continental United States’ only living coral barrier reef Saturday, July 7, while rocking to a unique sub-sea concert (!) that promotes reef protection. It's called the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, and it’s unlike any other dive or snorkel experience on the planet.
They’re everywhere: Key West history books, Conch cookbooks, descriptions of Cayo Hueso and life among its inhabitants. The island has been romanticized, glorified, insulted and libeled in print (sometimes all in the same piece of prose!). The author of the first book about Key West could never have known what a precedent he was setting.
Key West and the Florida Keys are defined by a laid-back vibe, an atmosphere of welcome and acceptance, and an approach to living that blends individuality and a near-reverence for relaxation. And once you get home, you can create a space that allows you to recapture that magical Key West mindset.
The tropical weather, nearby Gulf Stream and 125-mile-long arc of islands that makes up the Florida Keys create a fishing environment that’s completely unique in the world. Get to know this diverse fishery with seven quick essentials.
Captain Finbar Gittelman, a roguish Florida Keys seafarer, bears a slightly unnerving resemblance to the fierce Barbossa from “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Owner and master of the majestic Schooner Wolf, he’s also the venerable First Sea Lord and Supreme Commander of the Keys’ picturesque Conch Republic Navy. Yet despite his imposing titles, most people simply call him “Finbar."