| Beautiful scenery and diverse water based activities are the focus for most visitors. Excellent fishing is available from the docks, beaches and bridges, as well as boat trips to suit all pockets. Boating, water skiing, jet skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving and sailing are simply a way of life for Keys residents. Visitors are able to hire equipment and join in. If you fancy something a little more relaxing there’s simply lounging in the sun with a book, romancing and sunset cruises.
Boat Hire
Within John Pennekamp State Park - there is a boat concession which in our experience offers a particularly professional approach to hire craft. They aren’t the cheapest , but they operate mostly with new engines and operate particularly stringent quality checks which offers peace of mind.
The fact that the marine patrol also operate from here may be coincidence but we don’t think so.
Quicksilver Catamaran
Snorkelling aboard the Quicksilver Catamaran out of the Holiday Inn Marina, Key Largo. Professionally run outfit, providing good quality hire equipment and will take you to some really pretty, largely undamaged areas of the reef off Key Largo. Motor Out, sail back and 4 hours on the water for $ 30 per head.
Tel - (305) 451-0105
Turtle Hospital – Hidden Harbour Marine Environment Project
MM 48.5 in Marathon
A fascinating educational tour….
Contact Michelle Rafferty on local Tel ; 305 743 6509
Booking essential, guided daily tours at 10.00 and 13.00 daily.
Tours take you through the processes of how the turtles come to need aid with interesting films and talks, a tour of the Turtle Hospital operating centre and finally through the rehabilitation pens when you get to meet the Turtles under their care.
www.turtlehospital.org
Crane Point Hammock– MM 50.5
This unique 63-acre site is home to the Museum of Natural History, Children's Museum, Adderley Town Historic Site, Marathon Wild Bird Center and an extensive nature trail system that leads through a dense tropical forest to a spectacular view of Florida Bay.
Walk the nature trails to learn about Keys native plants and animals. Visit
Wild Willie, their resident iguana and his friends at "Casa Iguana" and spend time enjoying the saltwater lagoon, home to various species of Keys fish.
Tour the Museum of Natural History to meet some of the most colorful Keys inhabitants: Spanish explorers, Keys pioneers, butterflies, tree snails, sea turtles, Key deer, and tropical fish within the simulated coral reef cave. Play on a pirate ship or search the saltwater touch tank at the Children's Museum.
www.cranepoint.net
Miami Sea Aquarium at Key Biscayne – Miami
See Sharks, Dolphins, Manatees, Sea Lions and Seals and of Course The Killer Whale show – but don’t sit near the front unless you fancy getting a complete soaking….. !
Miami Seaquarium offers a wonderful day of family fun, Exciting shows, great exhibits and enjoyable, educational presentations in beautifully landscaped parkland overlooking Biscayne Bay.
www.miamiseaquarium.com
Monkey Jungle 14805 Southwest 216th St. Miami Tel : 305 235-1611
Where Humans Are Caged and Monkeys Run Wild!
Themed areas include an Aviary, Primates, Amazonian Rainforest, Hanging with Orangs, Wild Monkey Swimming Pool, & Archaeological Discoveries
www.monkeyjungle.com
Parrot Jungle Island Located at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, off 395, between downtown Miami and South Beach.
Among the residents you can meet are ; Hanna & Jake the Orang Utan’s. Watson the White-handed Gibbon, Ray & Boomer the Mackaws – along with a host of chums (Buy some sunflower seeds prior to your trip as those for sale in the park are expensive)….
There’s also Godzilla and a Liger to meet (no that’s not a mis-type…) and a Japanese garden to explore.
www.parrotjungle.com
Robbies
Islamorada - Milemarker 77.5 Bayside
"Amazing," "breathtaking" and "impressive" are words often heard from first-time visitors to the end of Robbies dock. What they're referring to is the school of 100+ giant tarpon that come here daily and linger for hours. Maybe the "Silver Kings" just come here to see the humans, but toss a baitfish among them and the water churns as these monsters and the resident pelicans vie for the snack, causing quite a spectacle.
Occasionally, a tarpon actually rises up from the water in a powerful flash of silver and green to meet the fish as it leaves your hand. It's a sight to behold!
www.robbies.com
Dolphin Cove
Key Largo at MM 101.9 Bay Side
This is a marine education and dolphin swim facility located in sunny Key Largo. Visit them and swim with dolphins in their natural lagoon open to the Florida Bay. Don mask, fins and snorkel then swim with the Dolphins in their natural lagoon…but be sure to make an advance reservation well ahead of time…! (The first morning swim is usually best as the Dolphins are often at their most attentive first thing)
Home to Dolphin Human Therapy, their dolphins work with special needs children most of the year. Dolphin swims are available to the public throughout the year at weekends and are a great addition to your Keys Holiday.
You can also enjoy Florida Everglades Tours by Guided Kayak through Everglades National Park to discover beauty and wildlife……and a variety of Everglades Ecology Tours by boat with Captain Sterling who will take you into the remote areas of Florida Bay and show you the wild Fauna in their Natural Habitat.
www.dolphinscove.com
John Pennekamp State Park
Key Largo - Entrance at MM 102.5 Oceanside
Established in 1963, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was the first undersea park created in the United States. The park, combined with the adjacent Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, encompasses 178 nautical square miles of coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. These areas were established to protect and preserve the only living coral reef in the continental United States. The area around Key Largo benefits from years of preservation and diversity and marine restoration have been keystone pillars of effort down the years.
The park offers both a land side area of self guided nature walks along the Mangrove and Wild Tamarind trails & boardwalks, picnic facilities, and a protected beach environment.
It is also the base station for many water based trips including Snorkelling, Glass Bottom Boats, Diving, Fishing and Kayaking.
Enquire at the Ranger Station about program schedules current to the time of your visit.
www.pennekamppark.com
Mallory Square – Key West
The center of Key West's historic waterfront, Mallory Square stages the famous Key West sunset celebration.
Historic Mallory Square and the city of Key West both had their beginning along this deep harbor waterfront - the wrecking schooners, the frigates and warships
of the US Navy, the Cuban cigar makers tobacco warehouses, ship's chandlers and government offices combined to make Key West a bustling seaport out on the frontier of a young America. Today, Mallory Square is a Key West must see. You will find exciting attractions,unparalleled shopping, the Key West historic sculpture garden and of course, every evening, the famous sunset celebration.
www.mallorysquare.com
Theater of the Sea
Islamorada (MM 84.7 Oceanside). Phone: 305-664-2431
This facility is an educational and entertaining marine animal park where shows are up close and personal and the animals live in natural salt-water lagoons. The lagoons and lush, tropical gardens at the facility are home to Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions, sea turtles, and many fish and other fauna. In addition to their standard tours, they offer a range of ‘Special & Unique Opportunities’ including Internships, ‘Be a trainer for a day’, Birthday Parties, and Interactive Programmes with the animals – Dolphins, Sea Lions, Stingrays…
www.theaterofthesea.com
Coopertown ORIGINAL Airboat Tours
Coopertown is located 11 miles west of Florida's Turnpike on US-41 (Tamiami Trail).
Tel : 305 226 6048
Their guides will take you on a personalized, educational tour covering approximately 8 miles of the unique Everglades environment.
First you go into the vast open saw grass where you will see why the Everglades are called the "River of Grass" then you will travel through a Hardwood Hammock (a small island of solid ground in the "river of grass"), stopping at alligator holes and seeing the abundance of 'glades wildlife. See herons, grackles, turtles, raccoons and other Everglades residents!
This picturesque area has served as the backdrop for many movies and photography "shoots" - You will want to bring your camera too! The Everglades are a truly unique and vibrant environment that you can only experience first hand, and an airboat is the best way to see it!
www.coopertownairboats.com
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