Consumer/General Media

A 125-mile-long chain of islands that begins just south of Miami, the Florida Keys are connected by the Overseas Highway’s 42 bridges — one almost 7 miles long — over the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. 

The Florida Keys — the continental United States’ southernmost island chain — are characterized by a balmy subtropical climate, breathtaking natural beauty and a uniquely laid-back atmosphere that seems to be a world away from big cities and every-day cares.

Driving from mainland Florida, visitors to the Florida Keys enter the 125-mile-long subtropical island chain at Key Largo, the longest and northernmost island in the Keys.

The fisherman’s paradise known as Islamorada was incorporated as a municipality in January 1998. Now called Islamorada, Village of Islands, the community that measures 20 miles long and in some places barely 150 feet wide encompasses Plantation, Windley and Upper and Lower Matecumbe keys.

Called the boating and family destination of the Keys, Marathon includes Boot, Knights, Hog, Vaca, Stirrup, Crawl and Little Crawl keys, East and West Sister's Island, Deer and Fat Deer keys, Long Pine and Grassy keys. It incorporated as the city of Marathon in 1999.

For more than 60 years, the region of Big Pine Key and the Lower Keys — from the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge at Sunshine Key to Stock Island — has advocated the responsible use and preservation of the vast natural wonders found there. This focus on the environment has earned the region the title of the Natural Keys.

Located closer to Cuba than to Miami, Key West is Florida’s independent and irreverent southernmost subtropical paradise. A unique confluence of rich history, natural beauty, cultural diversity, historic architecture and romantic appeal makes the island a destination far removed from the rest of the continental United States.

Key Largo, the northernmost and longest island in the Florida Keys, stretching from mile marker 108 south to mile marker 90, is known as the Dive Capital of the World and is just over an hour’s drive from Miami International Airport.

Islamorada is known as the Sport Fishing Capital of the World. Heralded for its angling diversity, it features the Florida Keys' largest fleet of offshore charter and shallow-water "backcountry" boats.

The islands of Marathon in the Middle Keys include Boot, Knights, Hog, Vaca, Stirrup, Crawl and Little Crawl keys, East and West Sister's Island, Deer and Fat Deer keys, Long Pine and Grassy keys.

Surrounded by an environment filled with abundant terrestrial and marine wildlife, Big Pine & the Lower Keys is the least “people-populated” section of the Florida Keys island chain. In fact, the majority of its inhabitants have four legs, fins or feathers.

Key West, where the Florida Keys Overseas Highway ends at Mile Marker 0, blends 19th-century charm with a laid-back contemporary atmosphere. Visitors to continental America’s southernmost city will find palm-shaded streets, picturesque historic homes with “gingerbread” trim, a nightly waterfront sunset celebration and a flourishing arts community.

In the Upper Keys, backcountry waters fringe a treasured national park where it’s easy to experience unparalleled offshore watersports amid the vast openness of the island chain’s abundant natural environment. Put one (or all!) of these "unplugged" Key Largo and Islamorada eco-experiences on your bucket list.

Among the islands of Marathon in the Middle Keys are plenty of eco-attractions, trails and sightseeing spots appealing to any visitor who shares a love of nature and marine environments. The experiences here definitely deserve a place on an eco-enthusiast’s bucket list — so indulge in some (or all!) of them during a Middle Keys adventure.

Advocating environmentally supportive actions is a vital element of the Florida Keys’ commitment to protecting the region’s natural resources. From Big Pine Key to Key West, a wide variety of positive environmental activities and attractions enable visitors to share that commitment. 

It’s spicy conch chowder. Savory Cuban pork. Succulent pink shrimp dipped in a tangy mustard sauce. And Key lime pie, sweet and creamy with a hint of tartness. It’s Florida Keys cuisine — as unique and appealing as the 125-mile island chain itself.

Few people visit the Florida Keys without sampling a few slices of Key lime pie. Just as New York is famed for its thin-crust pizza, New Orleans for its beignets and Alaska for its king crab, the island chain is known for Key lime pie.

Not long after Christopher Columbus landed in the New World in 1492, adventurer Ponce de Leon and fellow Spanish chronicler Antonio de Herrera were searching for the elusive fountain of youth when they sighted the Florida Keys. The day was Sunday, May 15, 1513. 

In the mid-1930s, with the Florida Keys reeling from the Great Depression, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration dispatched artists and writers to the region to paint murals, write guidebooks, teach craft classes and help turn the area into an attractive vacation destination.

Ten state parks throughout the 125-mile-long Florida Keys & Key West island chain include some of Florida’s most appealing waterfront views and beaches. Most parks are only footsteps from Florida Bay’s aquamarine waters to the west and the turquoise hues of the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

In the Middle and Lower Florida Keys, four unique state parks — Long Key, Curry Hammock, Bahia Honda and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic — are easy to explore and offer some of the best recreational opportunities in the 125-mile-long island chain.

The Florida Keys are known for beautiful scenery, world-class fishing and unparalleled watersports activities. Away from the mainstream, however, is a quiet world ruled by the natural ebb and flow of the sea: the backcountry. Naturalists and outdoors enthusiasts combine environmental tourism with the sport of sea kayaking to explore this unique environment, which is home to one of the most diverse assortments of marine life in the world.

Famed around the globe, the clear, warm waters of the Florida Keys attract scores of scuba and snorkel aficionados and ocean enthusiasts annually. There’s no better place to learn how to get “up close and personal” with the undersea environment.

Want to hunt the skittish gray ghost of the flats, the bonefish? Feel like testing your mettle against a reel-emptying blue marlin? Want to sit in a beach chair, sipping a cold cocktail while watching your popper dance in the current? Come to the Keys, where year-round fishing means a noteworthy or deliciously edible catch is possible virtually any time.