Key Largo

New Year’s Eve partiers unwilling to endure cold-weather festivities, such as the traditional “ball drop” in New York’s Times Square, can find exuberant celebrations and far warmer temperatures in the Florida Keys.

Hundreds of college swimmers from around the country, some who have pursued Olympic gold, are to meet and compete in the open-to-spectators Orange Bowl Swimming Classic Monday, Jan. 3, the culmination of an annual monthlong winter training session in Key Largo.

Santa is likely to arrive in the Florida Keys by schooner instead of by sleigh, traveling with a team of dolphins rather than reindeer — at least during the festive lighted boat parades that enliven the Keys’ holiday season.

A dedicated section titled “Connect with Keys Life” has debuted on the Florida Keys tourism council’s visitor website, fla-keys.com, highlighting one of the Keys' greatest "natural resources" — the friendly, easygoing people who make the island chain their home. 

Hospitality executives representing resorts throughout the Florida Keys are to showcase Keys venues for meetings and incentive groups at IMEX America, Nov. 9-11.

Indigenous Florida Keys cuisine typically means fresh fish and seafood harvested from local waters, headlining nearly every restaurant menu. For a delicious bite to spark your taste buds, check out some small, off-the-grid and new-location eateries that Keys locals favor for their flavors. 

Cyclists are to pedal from Miami to Key West Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19-20, during “The SMART Ride,” a charitable journey that has been called the largest bicycle ride in the southeastern United States.