My wife and I are going to the Fl Keys for 4 days next week. What are the things that I must see or I’ll kick myself in future years for missing? We don’t drink, so we’ll skip the bar scenes.
Thanks!
I haven’t been in decades, so I don’t know if my recommendations would be worth spit.
I liked the Turtle Kraals, and the Hemingway House (Key West). And I always feel no trip there is complete without making it to the giant striped concrete marker of the Southernmost Point of the Continental U.S.
Bahia Honda State Park should still be quite lovely - a nice place to snorkel around and look at the fishes and such.
The Dry Tortugas. It’s an island chain way off Key West. It’s got an old fort that was used to fight pirates (no foolin’!) way back when.
There’s a tour boat that takes you out there. You get lunch and so forth and they supply some snorkeling gear. There’s some decent low-skill required fish areas to go diving in.
Great fun. Best part of Key West, IMHO.
Bonus fact about the Dry Tortugas: the fort was used as a military prison during/after the Civil War. Its most famous inmate: Dr. Samuel Mudd, the man who set John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg.
The best stuff is under water. It’s heaven for scuba divers, but you can also see some great stuff snorkeling in some of the little bays and such. Ask around.
Above water, I always found them boring.
Yes, yes, yes!!!
It was the best part of my 5 days in Key West! I took a seaplane there from Key West, which made for a quicker trip. Super cool fort, nice snorkeling. The seaplane place supplied the snorkel gear too.
While passing through Key Largo, you have to at least check out Jules’ Undersea Lodge, the underwater hotel. You probably don’t want to stay in it, but when we were there (15 years ago?), they let us snorkel around the little lagoon and look down at it while they were doing maintenance.
Check out the dolphin research center on Grassy Key (near the town of Marathon). For all you 70’s era dopers, Flipper was trained there.
Molassass Reef is a nice place to SCUBA, and it’s shallow enough for good snorkeling, too. Charter from the Key Largo/upper Keys area. And while you are up there, take a look at the *African Queen * boat. Woo-hoo!
I’ll fourth of fifth the Dry Tortugas. It’s like a day of heaven. A seaplane will get you there faster, but then you miss the boat ride, which is lovely in itself.
I always do a dolphin swim when I go to the keys. I went with Wild About Dolphins last time and we had great luck. Dreamcatchers does a great back country tour, as I recall.
Don’t forget to visit Mallory Square for the sunset celebration! Cliche and touristy, but that’s kind of the fun.
even though you don’t wanna go out partying, you’ve still got to stop in and have a coke/french fries at sloppy joe’s.
there’s always the hemingway house with the plethora of 6 toed cats running around, as well.
key west has a fun museum, and of course, mallory square at sunset. the latter of the two you’ll REALLY kick yourself for not doing. give my regards to the circus cats.
How about a glass bottomed boat tour in Key Largo?
We had a great time. Thanks to all of you for the tips.
Mallory Square is definitely something to remember. The night we were there was perfect. Warm, breezy and the crowd was in great form. Jugglers, sword swallowers, animal trainers, rumpots of all persuasions, etc. Definitely would go there again! 
If you happen to do just this (You’ll see signs for the African Queen on US 1, around mile marker 104 or so), stop at Coconuts restaurant/bar. It’s not a party bar, it’s a nice restaurant that also has a bar. The crunchy grouper is the best fish I’ve ever eaten in my life. It’s a lunch item, but if you request it they’ll make it for dinner as well. So good!
Man, I just had it on Saturday and now I"m craving it again. drool
If you decide to get some air conditioner action, consider the Mel Fisher Museum in Key West.
While I’m in agreement that the Dry Tortugas should be on the short list, my boat ride was a bit less than lovely. It got pretty windy the afternoon I went, and the voyage home was pretty choppy. The waves were a little over 4 feet, too big for the catamaran to smooth out. Even with my transderm scop patch, I was pretty green for most of the two hour trip. The seaplane option is more expensive, but you can time your flight to avoid the folks that come out on the ferries.
For dinner, I highly recommend the Blue Heaven restaurant in Key West.
My ride back was the same way, but I **like ** it that way. I was very disappointed that the rest of the passengers were too busy retching to share my wonder and enthusiasm at all the flying fish.
I recommend Blue Heaven for at least one breakfast and one dinner! Both are fabulous!
were the circus cats there?