Six Weeks in Paradise: FL Keys

There are times Michael and I feel particularly thankful that we’re full-time RVing and spending the winter in the Florida Keys is certainly one of those times! We love the laid-back vibe and tropical atmosphere of the Keys and the state parks in the Keys are the things dreams are made of.

With limited daylight in January/February, we didn’t do much during the week after work other than walk around the campgrounds we were staying in. We started at Curry Hammock State Park, in the middle Keys near Marathon.

Curry Hammock is a small park, so when we wanted a longer walk, we drove to the Old 7 Mile Bridge. There is a 2-mile path on the north end and a fishing pier on the south end. On our walks at the bridge we saw dolphins, a spotted eagle ray, and a shark!

On a weekend day, we drove down to Key West. We enjoyed the free Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center.

We walked around some side streets in Old Town and went to the rum distillery for a pina colada.

Then, instead of watching the sunset from crowded Mallory Square, we watched it with the locals at the Truman Waterfront Park.

After two weeks, we moved north to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo.

The consensus among RVers is that John Pennekamp has the worst campground of the state parks in the Keys. And yes, it was a tight fit with the Brinkley and the no-see-ums were bad, but we liked having the full hookups. And it was a short walk from the campground to a boat that will take you 5 miles offshore for snorkeling adventures on the reef.

The most popular snorkeling spot at John Pennekamp is Dry Rocks, where the underwater Christ of the Abyss statue is located. The concessionaire doesn’t guarantee going there because the mooring balls are first come, first served.

We got lucky but it was also Super Bowl Sunday so maybe that helped.

Dry Rocks was shallow so we swam close to the plants and fish and took some great photos/videos.

Saving the best for last, our final stop was Bahia Honda State Park (site #7) in the lower Keys. This is the most difficult campsite reservation we’ve ever gotten. Once we explored the park, we understood the hype. Bahia Honda takes up an entire key without any other development and this area feels the most nature-centric of all the Keys.

If you are really lucky, you can stay in a waterfront campsite and enjoy a view like the one below. The Old Bahia Honda RR bridge is on the left and US-1 is on the right.

You can walk up onto the Old Bahia Honda Bridge for this awesome view of the park.

Bahia Honda is known for its 3 beaches, which are among the best in the Keys, Calusa, Loggerhead, and the ~1 mile-long Sandspur Beach.

Bahia Honda also has a boat concessionaire that makes snorkeling trips ~7 miles offshore to Looe Key. We had such a good time at John Pennekamp that we wanted to do this trip too. We spent the week watching the weather and hoping that the wind would die down by the weekend. Finally on Sunday morning, we found out that the boat would be going out in the afternoon. The water was still a little choppy, but there was 40 feet of visibility and we had another amazing day.

It was deeper here so my photos aren’t quite as good but we saw a sea turtle, around 20 different species of fish, and several schools of fish.

We also went to the National Key Deer Refuge on neighboring Big Pine Key to look for the federally endangered subspecies of the white tailed deer that only live in this part of the Keys. After only finding some gators, we drove around the residential areas and saw around a dozen of them eating the plants and grass in the yards. These adorable deer are small, about the size of a medium dog, and are not afraid of people.

Last, we had a great dinner with our neighbors at Irie Island Eats in Marathon. It was a food truck with an eating area in a tropical garden, and the mahi with mango salsa on coconut rice was amazing.

We loved being in the Keys so much that we’re booked again for next year!