Set sail in your land yacht to the beautiful, tropical Florida Keys.
By Janet Groene, F47166
December 2014
Our first trip to Key West was in a Volkswagen Microbus. Since then, my husband, Gordon, and I have logged many miles in the Florida Keys, either in our Type C motorhome, by private plane, or by sailboat. The Keys are America’s Riviera, a vacation bonanza like no other.
The Florida Keys are a series of islands that start approximately 15 miles south of Miami and extend south and west toward the Gulf of Mexico. The Overseas Highway connects them, and it is only two lanes much of the way. Passing lanes are now longer and more frequent than they once were. What does not change is the magical blend of shining water, flaming sunrises, streaky sunsets, and the quirky characters who inhabit Key West, the final and westernmost isle in the string — also known as the “Conch Republic.”
The first thing motorhome visitors learn is that this is life in the slow lane. Motorhomes share the road with commercial traffic, plus towed travel trailers and boats. Even where room to pass is available, speed limits are strict. Off the highway, land is at a premium, with parking tough to find. To navigate the slit-size streets of Key West’s historic center is a challenge by car and downright insanity in a motorhome.
Most travelers agree that the journey along the Overseas Highway to Key West is well worth the hassles. Even in the slow lane, you’re treated to a show of sea and sky. For long stretches, the only land to be seen is the highway itself, seemingly afloat on a silver sea. Seen from your windshield, nature’s palette can turn from deep blue to pewter, punctuated with puffy white clouds and, at dawn and dusk, bawdy pinks and reds. Don’t rush the journey. Embrace it.
Key Largo, the largest and first island you reach from Miami, is worth quite some time. A stop should be made to see the African Queen, the original boat used in the 1951 Humphrey Bogart-Katharine Hepburn film of the same name. It’s available for the public to ride in as well, through Calypso Watersports & Charters.
A bit farther along the Overseas Highway is Islamorada. (The “Is” is pronounced like “eye.”) A big attraction is Robbie’s of Islamorada, which offers fishing charters, various boat tours, a restaurant, and more. You can also feed tarpon by hand, and hear how the tradition began.
Speaking of food, at any nonchain restaurant along the highway, you’ll likely sample the world’s best tacos, Cubano sandwiches, conch fritters, grouper fingers, or Key lime pie. While on Islamorada, check out the Rain Barrel Sculpture Gallery, known for one-of-a-kind sculpture and clay pottery.
Also on Islamorada is the History of Diving Museum. It’s educational and fun, with something to interest serious historians, underwater photographers, divers, and even curious kids. And at the Theater of the Sea, a marine mammal park that dates to 1946, you can see shows starring parrots, dolphins, and sea lions, plus take boat tours. The facility offers interaction programs with rays, sharks, and dolphins as well.
For unhurried travelers, the list of quirky, fun things to see and do along the Overseas Highway never ends. If you like water sports, they are available in every form, from pier fishing and backcountry fly casting to paddleboarding, kiteboarding, and offshore scuba diving and sport fishing. At Marathon, an area composed of many keys, teens especially enjoy Keys Cable Adventure Park and the Otherside. Cable systems are used to pull wakeboarders, water-skiers, and kneeboarders across a seven-acre lake. Outfitters offer opportunities to canoe or kayak through silent mangrove swamps, zip out to sea on a jet ski, or try wind-surfing.
If you bring your own boat to the Keys, you will be glad to see plenty of launch ramps. Boat rentals with or without a guide are always close by. Party boats, also called head boats, take anglers out in large groups. If yours is a private group of six or fewer, look into chartering a boat with a skipper and crew. Sunset sight-seeing cruises provide everlasting memories. Seasonal dinner cruises, shelling expeditions, and nature cruises will also get you out on the water.
Bicycling is good almost everywhere in the Keys and is one of the wisest ways to get around Key West and other communities. Motorcycle, scooter, and moped rentals are easily found, especially around Marathon and Key West.
The city-sized Bass Pro Shop on Islamorada is a popular place. Of course, it’s a source for camping supplies, fishing gear, and stylish sportswear, but it also has its own restaurant: the Islamorada Fish Company, which overlooks the bay. Inside the store is a full-scale replica of Ernest Hemingway’s fishing boat, the Pilar.
The entire island of Key West is a sightseer’s dream. Highlights include the Key West Shipwreck Treasure Museum; Harry S. Truman Little White House; Mel Fisher Maritime Museum; old forts, art museums, and galleries; the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum; and the Key West Lighthouse & Keeper’s Quarters.
But be careful. You’ll miss a lot if your sight-seeing starts and ends in Key West. In addition to the Islamorada and Key Largo stops, you’ll want to keep others in mind.
From Here To There
One fun stop on the way to Key West is The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, a world-class rescue facility with two turtle “ambulances” and its own veterinarian. On a guided tour you’ll learn about sea turtles, perhaps observe a surgery in progress, see recovering turtles in individual tanks, and end up at the converted swimming pool where dozens of sea turtles are getting their final checkups in preparation for returning to the wild.
Opportunities to interact and swim with dolphins are available at the famous Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key. At Hawks Cay Resort, the Dolphin Connection lets visitors choose from several dolphin experiences in and out of the water, including the comprehensive Dolphin Trainer for a Day program.
The original Seven Mile Bridge at Marathon, built from 1908 to 1912, was replaced in 1982. “Old Seven” was constructed by armies of workers who were housed on the five-acre island of Pigeon Key. Pigeon Key is accessible by ferry — as of this writing, only by ferry, because while walkers and bicyclists could take the two-mile chunk of the old bridge to the isle, the ramp connecting it to the island was not functioning. Contact the Pigeon Key Foundation & Marine Science Center office for updates (305-289-0025) if you visit and wish to walk or bike over.
Pigeon Key is a place to bring a picnic lunch and a fishing pole, and to tour. After you see original cottages and dormitories and artifacts from the railroad era, you can watch a film about rail magnate Henry Flagler. His Overseas Railway transformed the Keys but came to a tragic end in the Labor Day hurricane of 1935.
The Crane Point Museum and Nature Center in Marathon educates visitors about local wildlife and human history. One highlight is the Adderley House, built in 1903, the oldest home in the county outside Key West. After touring the Museum of Natural History, you can visit the Marathon Wild Bird Center, where more than 16,000 birds have been rehabilitated and released, and tread on natural trails through the 63-acre preserve. Take the free trolley first, which includes an excellent narrated tour, then strike out on foot to explore at your own pace. Here and at all other Keys attractions, check ahead for special events, festivals, seminars, and fundraisers.
Most of Florida is subtropical, but the Keys are purely tropical. That means flora and fauna in a riot of color and motion. Large iguanas seem to be everywhere, and with luck you may see a Key deer, which is about the size of a large dog. After you cross the Seven Mile Bridge to Big Pine Key, you can visit the National Key Deer Refuge, a 9,200-acre preserve. The visitors center is on Key Deer Boulevard.
Stop at Lower Sugarloaf Key to photograph the curious Bat Tower. It was meticulously built to house hundreds of the creatures in hopes they would help control mosquitoes. Unfortunately, not one bat has ever chosen to reside there.
The highway ends at Key West, but there is much more to see by sea. Don’t miss the day trip via boat out to historic Fort Jefferson, part of Dry Tortugas National Park. It’s a huge brick fort, dark with dungeons and bristling with ramparts, where Dr. Samuel Mudd was imprisoned after his conviction for taking a role in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Whether you prefer to lose yourself in a natural world, visit rare sites, or hang out in a chickee bar, here you’ll find the Keys to the kingdom. If you long to go island-hopping without getting seasick, bring your land yacht to the Florida Keys.
Further Info
For more details about the many stops mentioned here, and others, contact:
Florida Keys & Key West
Monroe County Tourist Development Council
(800) FLA-KEYS (352-5397)
Florida Keys Facts
- Addresses along the Keys are sometimes expressed in mile markers (abbreviated as MM) along the Overseas Highway to the fraction of a mile. The address may also indicate oceanside (on your left when headed to Key West) or bayside. MM 0 is in Key West, so at MM 30 you know it’s 30 miles to the end of the road.
- Speed limits are enforced, with some notable speed traps at Key Colony Beach and at approaches to the Seven Mile Bridge.
- Conch is pronounced conk. Cay, pronounced “key” in the Bahamas and Caribbean, is pronounced “kay” here.
- The Keys are hot and buggy in summer, but they are cooled by ocean breezes and afternoon showers. They’re popular with boaters and divers in summer because waters are generally calmer and clearer then. In winter, rain is infrequent, with average temperatures in the mid-70s.
- Reservations are essential any time for camping, dining, and some attractions.
- Real Key lime pie has a yellow filling. As for the rest, it’s okay to debate whether the crust should be pastry or graham and whether the topping should be meringue or whipped cream.
Campgrounds
Following is a sampling of campgrounds in the Keys. For additional listings, please check your favorite campground directory or FMCA’s RV Marketplace, found in the January and June issues of FMC and online at FMCA.com.
Bahia Honda State Park
36850 Overseas Highway
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
(305) 872-2353
Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge
33000 Overseas Highway
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
(305) 872-2351
Bluewater Key RV Resort, C4828*
2950 Overseas Highway
Key West, FL 33040
(800) 237-2266
(305) 745-2494
Boyd’s Key West Campground
6401 Maloney Ave.
Key West, FL 33040
(305) 294-1465
Breezy Pines Estates RV Park
29859 Overseas Highway
Big Pine Key, FL 33042
(305) 872-9041
Geiger Key Marina And RV Park
5 Geiger Road
Key West, FL 33040
(305) 296-3553
Lazy Lakes RV Resort
311 Johnson Road
Sugarloaf Key, FL 33042
(866) 965-2537
(305) 745-1079
Riptide Carefree RV Resort, C12332*
97680 Overseas Highway
Key Largo, FL 33037
(305) 852-8481
Sugarloaf Key/Key West KOA
251 State Route 939
Sugarloaf Key, FL 33042
(800) 562-7731
(305) 745-3549
Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina
38801 Overseas Highway
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
(800) 852-0348
(305) 872-2217
*FMCA Commercial Member