Your vacation in paradise awaits at the village of islands known as Islamorada, Florida. You can fish almost anywhere in the Florida Keys, and enjoy the warm, crystal clear water where you can dive, snorkel, and swim. Take in the beauty of the wonderful seascape beneath the water’s surface. Embark on your dream getaway by booking a stay at a Islamorada vacation rental. Without further ado, here are the most scenic places in and around Islamorada.
1. Islamorada, Plantation Key
Islamorada on Plantation Key offers a broad variety of enjoyable activities. Active families enjoy Founders Park Beach. It features a marina, beach, an Olympic pool, a skate park, baseball fields, and a dog park. The Family Fun Boat Tour Company invites you to relax with your family and enjoy sightseeing, eco-tours, snorkeling, and sunset cruises. If you’re ready to cut loose, A1A Watersports & Boat Rentals offers waverunners with life jackets for up to three passengers.
2. Islamorada, Windley Key
A vacation rental In Islamorada on Windley Key puts you in close proximity to Morada Way Art, a community where fine arts and cultural experiences influence daily living. Head to Theater of the Sea, where guests watch shows and interact with dolphins, parrots, and sea lions. Sea turtles, fish, stingrays, birds, and other local wildlife inhabit the lagoons and tropical gardens. You can snorkel, swim, or simply relax at the private lagoon-side beach, which has access to showers and lockers.
3. Islamorada, Upper Matecumbe Key
Islamorada on the Upper Matecumbe Key hosts the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum, which covers about 4,000 years of the sea. Displays include the 1797 Klingert’s copper kettle, heavy deep sea diving suits and an array of diving helmets from around the world. There’s a gallery devoted to Captain Nemo, along with other interesting galleries that capture the charm of the Keys. Library Beach is right behind the local library and features a large, grassy area, a playground, a picnic shelter with grills, and restrooms.
4. Islamorada, Lower Matecumbe Key
When you stay in the Lower Matecumbe Key area of Islamorada, you’re close to Anne’s Beach, a dog-friendly beach with shallow water and free parking. Head over to Caribsea Charters if you need a ride to any of the local fishing venues. In this area, you’ll find snapper, king mackerel, and redfish, mahi mahi, and blackfin tuna. The grill back at your vacation rental is waiting for you to fire it up and stage and epic cookout with your catch of the day.
5. Key Largo
Diving is Key Largo’s claim to fame, home to the country’s first underwater preserve, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Christ of the Abyss, a 4,000-pound bronze statue that stands just beneath the ocean’s surface at the head of the Florida Keys, remains a popular snorkeling and diving landmark. The town holds claim to another iconic piece of Americana, the small steamboat known as the African Queen. It’s the vessel that Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn used in the 1951 movie by the same name. It now runs cruises in the Port Largo Canal area.
6. North Key Largo
North Key Largo gives you access to parasailing and other water adventures. You can also just relax on the beach to soothe your jangled nerves. North Key Largo is a small part of the Keys, but the sparkling emerald Atlantic Ocean is at your doorstep. If you want to go on a dolphin-watching tour, waverunners and boats can take you there. Landlubbers can take in the gorgeous Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park. You can introduce your family to some 84 species of plants, including mahogany mistletoe and wild cotton throughout more than six nature trails, many of which are paved. When you want to spice things up a bit, Key Largo Parasail offers single, tandem and triple parasailing on the Florida Bay, where you can enjoy a vista of 25 miles.
7. Marathon
Aquarium creatures mesmerize and charm visitors to the Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters in Marathon. The coral reef tank contains 200,000 gallons of saltwater and a coral reef habitat for colorful fish, sharks, eels, and groupers. The facility gives visitors the option of signing up for the in-tank encounter or watching other guests feed the reef inhabitants. Visitors access the tarpon basin on the bridge near the canal. They can also purchase fish to feed to the huge silver tarpons. The facility also features a tidal pool touch tank that includes horseshoe crab and the conch. When your family is ready for some beach time, head to Sombrero Beach park on the ocean, which includes picnic shelters, volleyball courts, restrooms, and showers.
8. Tavernier
Tavernier features the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center, where staff members and volunteers rehabilitate injured birds. The salt marsh out back offers a stunning view of the Florida Bay, and pelicans congregate around the center waiting for handouts. For an exciting underwater adventure, EcoSea Adventure specializes in diving tours in the pristine waters where visibility is usually over 70 feet. You can choose deep sea diving, reef diving, or shipwreck diving. Other tours include fishing, sightseeing, shelling, and sunset cruising.
9. Layton
In Layton, there’s plenty of land and sea to explore. Long Key State Park features two nature trails by the Florida Bay and picnic areas that provide views of the Atlantic Ocean. The park also includes designated areas for swimming, snorkeling, fishing, and kayaking. Kayaks are available for rent at the park and at Pier 68 Boat Rentals, where you can also rent pontoons and fishing boats. Pier 68 rentals include paddles and life jackets.
10. Duck Key, Marathon
Vacation rentals in the small community of Duck Key in Marathon afford you the opportunity to slip away for a few tranquil days apart from the daily grind. First Love Charters draws anglers who enjoy fishing the pristine waters of Florida’s Middle Keys. Rent your own fishing and sports boats from Fish ‘N Fun Rentals at Duck Key Marina to fish or cruise where you please. Dolphin Connection offers visitors opportunities to touch, swim, and play with the dolphins in the facility’s lagoon. Those who wish to stay dry can interact with the dolphins from the water’s edge.