Key West: Sunshine, key lime pie & scuba diving
After spending a few days in Miami my friend and I headed down to The Keys to enjoy some more sun and beach time. We started down to Key Largo which was about an hour and a half away from Miami for a few days and then down to Key West to end the trip.
Day 1
My friend had to work in the morning so we didn’t head down to the keys till the afternoon. But if I could do it right I’d pick the car up in the morning an start driving down to Key Largo. The drive was gorgeous! So much water and with a two lane highway, even one stretch of 7mile bridge with nothing but the bridge! Just one thing to keep in mind is there are gas stations along the road down the keys but they are limited so just be careful haha we got a little too close to comfort with the gas. If you think you need gas don’t pass it hoping it’s cheaper, they are all about the same cost and save yourself the stress. (seriously not worth it)
We checked in to the Courtyard by Marriott Key Largo nothing too fancy but two queen beds lots of space and a super convenient location. Really can’t go wrong and it was super clean!
Since we didn’t start our drive down to the keys till late all we had time for was some dinner where we headed to Fish House. Honestly the food was amazing!! It was so packed with people. But if you got in early I’m sure it’s easier to get a table and enjoy less busy.
Day 2
When I think of Florida I think of alligators and the everglades so knowing that we decided that a visit to the Everglades was a MUST. So up bright and early we made our way back towards Miami from Key Largo it was about an hour and a half but from Miami it was about 30 mins. This gave us the opportunity to enjoy those great views of the water again as well as all the iguanas we saw scattered chilling on the side of the roads. I wish I could have taken a picture because speaking to it honestly doesn’t do it any justice.
We booked our everglades tour through Everglades Holiday Park where you get a tour of the water seeing the plant life, birds & ideally a gator or more. Boarding the boats at the dock after check in was pretty easy and the hype was real! We were VERY excited to do this. The Everglades were sooo pretty and still minus the few birds and critters you saw, we were told history on the Everglades and other interesting facts about them and the animals that live there. The only thing was WE DIDN’T SEE any GATORS! I was so disappointed!! knowing that there are more gators that live in Florida than people I figured most lived in the GLADES!! But apparently the best time to see them is towards sunset/ golden hour time which is when it cools down. Would have been nice to know that haha, I think this might be the only time being a Morning person is a negative for us.
Well regardless of that it was really interesting and after getting off the boat they do a gator show. Which to be honest I didn’t love the idea of until they explained why these gators were here. Every single one of their gators was either found on someone’s property, golf course or interacted/ faced a human and defined as a pest. So when animal control is called they take the creatures and normally put them down so Everglade Holiday Park tries to rescue as many of the gators as possible and just keep them in there facility.
Apparently gators have great memories and if they remember being somewhere they will go back to it which is why they cant be released back into the wild and have to stay inside a rescue facility.
After about an hour we headed back to Key Largo for lunch & my dive course. We heard of this place called Key Largo Fisheries which has a cafe part as well as an actually fishery. Being on the keys we wanted to make the most of all the seafood as possible so we got some poke, grilled fish and key lime pie. I’m going to be honest I love key lime pie but this was seriously the best Key Lime Pie I’ve ever had. I don’t know what they did to it but it was ammmaazing!!!
Fully satisfied we headed back to hotel for me to grab my stuff and my friend went to the pool. But if you aren’t interested in doing that I’d say check out some of the beaches near by or just enjoy some good pool time.
After a couple hours of doing my Padi recertification course, I couldn’t believe I haven’t been diving in over 10 years!!! I highly recommend doing the full refresher if you are certified and haven’t done it in ages. It was not only interesting but informative plus getting a little practice dive in the pool after so long was necessary!! I actually worked with Key Largo Dive Center and they were honestly amazing!
Being so close to the beaches we couldn’t resist doing a little sunset beach hang so grabbed a beer and made our way to the beach to enjoy what was left of the early evening.
Back home to our hotel for a quick shower before heading over to dinner! Our hotel had a restaurant, Skippers, near by so we just ended up doing that so we didn’t have to drive or deal with any of that. However if that doesn’t suit your fancy there are other restaurants you can go to. [list below]
We enjoyed the food and a cocktail and decided to head in for an early night because we had an early start the next day.
Day 3
Honestly I couldn’t be more excited for today! Getting back on a boat and actually scuba diving again has been something I’ve been dying to do. So Steph and I went to the Key Largo Conch House quick to-go breakfast before heading over to our dive /snorkel morning. The Conch House was super cute inside and the food was delicious I almost wish we had a bit more time to enjoy sitting there but my heart was elsewhere. haha
We arrived at the dive shop, Key Largo Dive Center sadly not doing boat tours so we ended up going with Pirates Cove Water Sports and they were fantastic. Grabbed all the gear that I was renting and we boarded the boat, seriously so ready to hit the OCEAN. This was the first time in 9 years that I’d been on the ocean and diving so I was a bit nervous but thank god for the refresher the day before!
Had a blast diving and can’t wait to do it more! The fish and ocean wasn’t as pretty as I’ve been used, sadly I’m a tad spoiled because I grew up in Asia. I did struggle a little with bouncy but eventually figured it out and stopped feeling like I was sinking haha.
What a fun activity!! Once we got back to dry land we got back on the road to head down to Key West, which would be our final destination of the trip! We made a little stop for some food at Mrs Macs Kitchen before we drove down & honestly the food was AMAZING!!! We got some Lobster Mac, Lobster Roll & some conch fritters.
We continued the rest of the 2 and a half (ish) hour drive down to Key West after having a full stomach and a great morning. A couple things to be aware of in Key West is parking is hard! Most, if not all, hotels do not include parking so it is street parking only! I didn’t realize that when we booked our hotel but oh well. We stayed at the Kimpton Fitch Lodge it was SOO CUTE!!! It had only been open a few months when we got there and it was so cute and a great location. Upon check-in we were given a beer and our keys so we headed to our room to drop our stuff off and enjoy some pool time.
The place was seriously so cute and really quiet which was the best. We had dinner reservations at Little Pearl that evening so knew we had a little time to just relax. Dinner was absolutely amazing 4 courses and couldn’t tell you which dish was my favorite! It was also an easy 20 minute walk from our hotel so we enjoyed great food, wine and took in for an early night.
Day 4
Steph and I got up and grabbed a quick breakfast before headed to the beach for a few hours of sun before all the people go there. What we did realize was the beaches were a little covered with seaweed which made it annoying and hard to get to the water but regardless it was still so nice to just enjoy some quiet time. We headed over to Smathers Beach.
After spending a few hours there we decided to go for a walk and grab a snack before I went diving again. We went over to Kermits Key Lime Pie Cafe (right next to the main store) for, you guessed it some KEY LIME PIE!! Seriously soooo amazing and yummy.
I then decided to go diving so had to get there by 2 pm. I went diving with Captains Corner Dive Company and met them at the docks which was just across from Kermits Key Lime Pie shop.
We did two dive spots and since I was alone I ended up joining up with these two guys Nathan and Phil and they were GREAT! So we were buddies for the dive since we weren’t diving with an instructor or dive master which was something I’ve never done. I also dived without a wetsuit and I’m so glad I had my body glove shirt to wear under the BCD, seriously this shirt is a live savor for anyone who gets burned easily but also wants a little protection while diving/ snorkeling. A couple new things for me!
The two dive spots we did was Christ and Western Dry Rocks sadly the ocean was a bit murky and the fish weren’t as pretty as the reefs are in Asia. But I still had a blast! There was also a super strong current and we got a little lost when we were under the water so we had to head up to the surface to find the boat again before heading back under for a few more minutes and to swim closer to the boat.
Once getting back to dry land I met up with Steph at the hotel showered off and we got ready for drinks & dinner. Headed over to the Waterfront Brewery for a snack and some key west beer. After the brewery we went for a walk and suddenly it started raining!! So since we got caugh in the rain ended up having to bar hop to keep from getting wet. Not really much to complain about there haha!! We walked down the main street and popped in and out of bars drinking our most basic drink, vodka soda’s. Finally hungry enough we landed at El Meson de Pepe for some good music and cuban food. We probably ordered too much food but everything looked so good it was hard to choose!!
Day 5
All packed and ready to head back to Miami to catch our flight back to SF. We made a quick pit stop at the Hemingway House to see the exterior and grabbed breakfast at the Moondog Cafe & Bakery right next door.
If you have time I’d actually sit down and eat there but we sadly didn’t have that much time and had to get it to-go and ate it in the car before driving back to MIA.
The drive back to Miami wasn’t actually too bad it was about 4 hours. I still can’t get over how many iguanas were on the side of the road and how pretty drive is! Just following the ocean and enjoying the sunny skies, sometimes with a random rain storm that comes through.
Once back in Miami we headed to Little Havana to grab lunch and a much deserved beer at Mofongos Restaurant before heading to the airport and car rental return!
Seriously this was such an epic trip and couldn’t have asked for a more fun group of gals to explore with. Hopefully this article is helpful if you plan to do a Florida Keys trip!
Enjoy!
