Key Largo vs. Key West

[mike_s]

ah.... Key West in the "heat of July".


the smell of beer, urine, garbage, and vomit on Duval Street would only be worse on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that time of year.



Lots of good diving heading east back towards Key Largo. Looe Key national marine sanctuary, Thunderbolt, Alligator Reef, The Eagle. You can stay anywhere and dive any of these.

but making a daily run to Key Largo from Key West is kinda crazy. Especially if there's a wreck. It for the most part is a two lane road and no side roads to get around wrecks.

If you're gonna stay in Key West, dive the Vandenberg for sure. Check to see if [user]Wookie[/user] might have some sort of day trips that week you're there. A ferry trip to Ft Jefferson is nice (non diving) also.

 

[Rich Keller]

My wife and I are novice divers, we have about 25 dives each. We are planning a "family vacation" (extended family) in July 2013 but we are the only divers in the family. Most of the family people seem to want to go to Key West, but I sense that the diving there is not so good -- though we are new divers we pretty much enjoy it any time we make bubbles. Should we push to go to Key Largo? Are there a variety of non-diving activities there for kids and older, more sedentary adults?

This is my first post on scubaboard, so glad to find it and I hope I am in the right place!

Thanks,

Bill

I have dove each location once but in my research into both trips I found that Key Largo had more diving options then Key West. Key West is more of a party town then anything else so it might not be better suited to the kids and older adults.

 

[Rhumbline]

I used to spend a week in Key West racing sailboats every year. With 3,000 sailors in town it was a great place to go to bars at night and race all day. One year my wife and I stayed a few days after race week. The first day we did the lighthouse, Hemingway's house, a museum and Mel Fisher's. After that there was nothing to do but drink for two days. I suspect both the divers and non-divers will end up covering several of the keys. If you really want fun night life stay in Key West. If not, make Key West a day trip and stay just long enough for the sunset. Either way, driving an hour or more to a different part of the Keys is really no hardship. The drive itself can be great.

 

[sportxlh]

Rhumbline, Mike S and richkeller point out that Key West is a 'party' town, and they are correct. However, last Feb when my wife and I spent several days in Key West, we found plenty of benign things to do.... and while we both enjoy an occasional beverage, neither of us really parties. So I'll share a little more nuanced perspective.

Aside from the points of interest that Rhumbline points out, you can also get charters for snorkeling or sightseeing: which is something non-divers usually enjoy. You can rent jet skis, take parasailing rides and that sort of thing too. Additionally, you can tour the Truman Whitehouse, a couple of the churches, eat lots of Key Lime pie at various restaurants, walk along the harbor(s), hang out at one of the few sand beaches in the Keys, visit the Maritime museum, visit the aquarium, visit art galleries, etc. If you stay at a decent place, it will probably have a pool for the kids. Mallory Square can be really crazy at certain times of the year (in and around the various festivals) but at other times of the year it is simply an energetic and fun place to watch the sun set: there are jugglers, guitar players, accordion players and other street performers: the same sort of thing you'll see in London or San Francisco or many other places. People will be drinking but we found the crowd was not very rowdy and all people in the square seemed really nice and generally low key (at least on Sunday and Monday nights: Saturday night was a little wilder but still not out of control). Even Duvall St. on Monday night seemed kind of tame to me. Saturday night was crazy and not a place for young kids (like Mike S suggests, you'll see plenty of drunk folks puking on the weekend), but Sunday and Monday it seemed like any other place in Florida with lots of bars and restaurants such Atlantic Ave in Delray or Clematis St. in WPB: just maybe not quite as classy.

We also did not stay on Duvall Street: so we could escape to our condo rental if needed and spend some quiet time away from the action. Any place on Key West is a short drive or bicycle ride so getting around is not difficult. For reference, we stayed at the Coconut Mallory which is on the east side of Key West. Next time we go, we'll probably stay at the Southern most hotel or possibly at the Coconut Mallory again. While Key West will never be mistaken for Disney World, done right, at the right time of year, with a little bit of planning for kid's activities, Key West can be a decent family vacation for 3 or 4 days. But if you don't plan carefully enough, you might have a rotten time with young ones.

With all that being said, when I go to the Keys (2-3 times a year), I usually spend my time in the upper Keys and occasionally the middle keys since that is where you'll find the best diving, imho.