Florida keys for Diver/Non-Diver combo

[topher10]

My wife and I are considering a summer trip to the Keys, which in her mind means Key West. We live in Louisiana and would probably drive (we enjoy road trips), but we also could fly into Miami or Key West. I expect 3-4 nights at the location.

I enjoy diving, but my wife does not dive. She is fine with me diving in the mornings while she sleeps in, but doesn't want me to be gone the entire day or to dive every day. So I usually dive every other morning or so. Her priority is a quiet beach for reading, relaxing, and getting a tan.

Any suggestions for a location with a good beach and reasonable proximity to a dive operation somewhere in the keys? I have my own gear except I would rent tanks.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I’d recommend you pickup this gem of a book. It’ll help answer many, if not all, of your questions.

Reef Smart Guide - Florida Keys

 

[atxdiver]

Is this your first trip to the Keys? There's really no beach, per se, anywhere except at a couple of the resorts. My non-diving spouse and I were there in February after several years away and will head back in a month or so. She rarely has a problem finding a spot to hole up with a book while I'm out on the boat. We like to base in Key Largo and explore from there. If you fly, take a look at Ft Lauderdale (FLL) as a Miami option. I've found the flights cheaper and it's easy to get in/out with the rental car. Adds 30 minutes or less to the drive to Key Largo.

More diving in the Upper Keys, and Middle Keys are a reasonable drive. Key West gets pretty slammed with cruise ship folks. The book suggested by Divin' Pawpaw is very helpful. If this is your first trip I strongly suggest you pick out a couple of operators (lots of posts throughout Scubaboard about them) and call them to discuss dives and make reservations in advance.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[fred32176]

My wife and I went to the keys twice last year. I dive and my wife doesn't. We are planning our next trip to the keys.

If you drive, you might try arriving in Key Largo late and doing a morning dive, then driving to Key West after your dive. We've stayed at the Hampton Inn in Key Largo and it has a beach area. I believe a lot of hotels will have a man made beach area for you to use. In Key Largo your wife can hang out at the hotel's beach area, go to John Pennekamp state park or one of the numerous tourist traps in the area. My wife is partial to Shell World. You can do the reverse as well on your way back, drive from Key West and do an afternoon dive before leaving the keys. Mrs. Mac's kitchen is a good place to eat before leaving the keys.

On our last trip we stayed in Marathon and my wife went to Bahia Honda state park while I dove. Bahia Honda has a nice beach. Marathon has Sombrero Beach, which is man made and in my opinion pathetic.

This summer we will try to stay between Big Pine Key and Marathon or stay in Key West as I want to dive Looe Key. Looe Key is supposed to be one of the least damaged reefs in the keys. Bahia Honda is close where you get a dive boat for Looe Key.

If you stay in old Key West, you should be able to take the car and use it to get to dive boats as your wife would have no problem shopping on Duval street or grab a cuban coffee while you dive.

Enjoy your vacation.

 

[topher10]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. The lack of extensive beaches could be an issue, but in the end the primary reason for going to the Keys is simply that we have never been there. We are also considering the Jupiter area, but we have been there before.

Thanks again.

 

[FreqFlier]

+1 for upper keys.

Not difficult to find something like Amoray or a motel/hotel resort there with a "beach". There are very few decent beaches on the ocean side since it's quite shallow there.

We usually stay at Breezy Palms in Islamorada and dive with Key Dives and Conch Republic or Amoray/Azul del Mar in Key Largo and dive with Horizon, Amoray, others

Key West is totally different from upper keys. Much more cruise and party oriented, no beaches (one meh beach).

I'd probably stay in Islamorada/Marathon area and use one day to drive to Key West (about 2 hrs or so one way).

 

[Belzelbub]

There are some great beaches in the Keys, but most of those you need a boat to get to. Not accessible by land. Even then, not the typical white sand beaches that you often think of in other areas of Florida. Usually a bit more coarse.

Anyway, my wife does not dive. We go to the Keys each year. She's fine with being on the boat while I dive with one of my daughters or friends if they joined us. Over the past several years, we've been going renting a place at Venture Out. The places there are all individual units. We usually get one of the houses (manufactured home) with two bedrooms, two baths, full kitchen, etc. Depending on the unit, most also have bikes and kayaks to use. Also common areas for all guests and residents. There's a pool, hot tub, swimming area, marina store, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, pool table, ping pong, etc. A couple islands away is Ramrod Key which has charters to Looe Key Reef. We usually just snorkel that and save the tanks for deeper stuff, but many do dive here as well.

The Upper Keys can be pretty busy as lots of the Miami crowd comes down for a day. Going to the Middle or Lower Keys (excluding Key West) is a bit quieter. Cudjoe is a short drive to Key West, so we usually hit that each year on a day where it's just too windy to take the boat out. Big Pine Key is in the other direction and a good place to see the Key Deer.

 

[Rilelen]

I would second the recommendation to either stay at Amoray, or find a nice vacation rental with a “beach” in the Islamorada/Marathon area (check the photos first, to make sure it has a beach area/access that your wife would be happy with). I’ve had friends stay with me at vacation rentals in the middle keys while I go off in the morning to dive. Key Dives in Islamorada is great, although I think the wrecks in Key Largo are better dives (just a longer drive north to get to the boat ops).