Florida keys vacation questions

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2250 GCW ESP
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Florida keys vacation questions

#1 Post by 2250 GCW ESP » Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:48 am

I know there are a few people here from florida. My wife and I have no passports yet and we wanted to take an island vacation sometime this winter so we thought the florida keys would be a good getaway for a week or so.

where are some good places to stay and what is there to do if we wanted to spend a week in the area. I would like to do a guided fishing adventure on the ocean one day and was wondering if there was a reasonable service that would be recommended ect.

Any and all input welcome on the area.

Thanks in advance Bill
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margaritaman
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#2 Post by margaritaman » Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:01 am

There are so many good places to stay and fish in the keys to recommend any one of them in particular. I try and stay around the middle keys area like Marathon and stay away from Key West which is more expensive. The keys is about 100 miles long so being in the middle is ideal. Just google Florida keys and go thru the tons of information available. If this is your first trip drive down to Key West for the day and stay for sun set just for the experience. Snorkeling and diving is also great since the water is clear around the reefs.
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#3 Post by dockholiday » Mon Dec 27, 2010 10:50 am

Sort of sad. My trip to Key West was terrible. Guess we hit it at a bad time weather wise. No breeze like Panama City or Daytona. Walked out of the motel an the sunglasses fogged up in less than 10 secs. Just a different kind of heat. Like I said guess we just hit a bad weather time. Beach was nothing to write home about. Did go to Sloppy Joes an a few other bars, an caught the sunset. Ended up coming home two days early. Sure wasn't the tropical paradise I had envisioned. Key West itself is pretty small, so you might do like margaritaman suggest an stay near the center of the chain. Still wouldn't mind catching one of their fantasy fest though. Sorry for the bad report, but was sure happy to get on the road home. Funny thing it was early summer as I remember maybe even May, yep just checked with the wife she said it was May.
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Last edited by dockholiday on Tue Dec 28, 2010 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#4 Post by 2250 GCW ESP » Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:12 am

Thanks for the input,
One other question is what would be the best time to go weather wise and crowd wise I like nice weather and low crowds. between jan-may?
What are some of the must see attractions there also.
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#5 Post by margaritaman » Tue Dec 28, 2010 10:49 am

Spring and Fall is nice because Summers are extremely hot. Any museum and things to see are in Key West. The rest of the keys is for fishing, snorkeling, or diving. The upper keys has John Pennenkamp Park which has an under water park and reef. The best coral reefs are in Looe Key off Marathon. Key West has the conch train for sightseeing and the Mel Fisher museum of sunken treasures from the Atocha plus other tourist traps. Just a word of caution, Key West is the South East capital of the rainbow coalition :gay . If you can catch the Fantasy Fest in October around Haloween it is like Mardis Gras but a lot more risque with people walking around with just body paint..
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#6 Post by HandymanHerb » Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:02 pm

If you can catch the Fantasy Fest in October around Haloween it is like Mardis Gras but a lot more risque with people walking around with just body paint..

I don't think so, I rather be on a little floatee near BMR's toon during their party days, then If I see something I never can forget, as least I'll like it :drool :drool :drool
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margaritaman
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#7 Post by margaritaman » Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:19 pm

Me too! :lol:
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#8 Post by badmoonrising » Tue Dec 28, 2010 6:51 pm

There was a body painting booth at the last several Canal Days so women could walk around on shore and not get busted by the cops. Not that they would anyway...hell the local yokel cops pose with them :rofl
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MissUnderstood
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#9 Post by MissUnderstood » Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:18 pm

Islamorada, mile marker 80 vicinity, is considered fishing capitol of the world. (..?..)
Bud & Mary's marina is where I'd go for a charter. Not cheap. But then nothing's cheap in the key's. You could get Dolphin, King Mackerral, Tuna, Sail fins. You should go in winter(ish) months for best fishing.
After Feb. the spring breakers take over EVERYWHERE. Nice eye candy, but just a pain to deal with. They fill everything up well through March into April.

Key West..? you gotta see it at least once. The San Fransisco of the east. What a trip. Saint Paddy's day they have a pub crawl and the crazy's literally crawl on the streets. Me and a buddy f_____ed with the gay's so much we had to walk out backwards to duck the beer bottles and ash trays they threw at us. Course they all threw like girls so that wasn't so hard to do.

If the wife likes shopping, Duval Street is also good for that kind of thing. The gay's aren't so prolific during daylight hours. They're there- just not as bad as later in the day. She can walk up one side and back down the other and spend the whole day going in and out of little shops. For you, I'd recommend sitting on the wharf of (a hotel who's name I can't remember) down towards the southern/western end and sit and watch boats traveling the waters. Nice place. It's also the place where everyone wants to be to see the sunsets. Trust me, they're just sunsets. When the wife shows up with her goods, make like a tree and leave.

Years ago we were fishing and caught a roughly 30 pound tuna. I say roughly because all we reeled in was the head. You should have heard that line sing as it went out against the drag. After picking our jaws up from the deck I asked the captain what the heck took a bite out of that. We were all thinking shark but he insisted it had to be a bill fish. It never broke the water so nobody saw it. 30# tuna as bait, whoda thunk.

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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#10 Post by dockholiday » Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:26 pm

A neighbor told me he an two other couples charted a sailboat an went to the different islands for a week or so. Said the price wasn't bad if you can get a few other couples to join in. Said they really had a good time. I had planned to do that myself, but never got around to it. Not sure if the windjammer cruises are still operating but should be able to find some info on the net. It would be worth checking out.
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#11 Post by 2250 GCW ESP » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:44 am

Wife and I decided to get our passports and then plan a caribean cruise for a week or so instead after passports are in hand, gives us time to research which cruise line and which destinations we want to pick. going to limit it to a 7 day cruise that hits a different destination everyday for 5 days, so we get an idea of which area we like best for a specific vacation later.
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#12 Post by margaritaman » Sat Jan 08, 2011 1:29 pm

2250 GCW ESP wrote:Wife and I decided to get our passports and then plan a caribean cruise for a week or so instead after passports are in hand, gives us time to research which cruise line and which destinations we want to pick. going to limit it to a 7 day cruise that hits a different destination everyday for 5 days, so we get an idea of which area we like best for a specific vacation later.
If you want a Caribbean vacation and want 5 destinations on a 7 day cruise you need to start and end in Puerto Rico because the other countries are so close you do not spend too much time at sea. Every morning you are in a different country. Check the cruise lines that sail out of San Juan.
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#13 Post by 2250 GCW ESP » Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:09 pm

margaritaman wrote:
2250 GCW ESP wrote:Wife and I decided to get our passports and then plan a caribean cruise for a week or so instead after passports are in hand, gives us time to research which cruise line and which destinations we want to pick. going to limit it to a 7 day cruise that hits a different destination everyday for 5 days, so we get an idea of which area we like best for a specific vacation later.
If you want a Caribbean vacation and want 5 destinations on a 7 day cruise you need to start and end in Puerto Rico because the other countries are so close you do not spend too much time at sea. Every morning you are in a different country. Check the cruise lines that sail out of San Juan.

We have found a couple different cruises that Norwegian cruise lines IIRC hit 5 stops in 7 days that leave from both Miami and New Orleans.
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#14 Post by playcat » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:56 am

Last time I was in Key West was for the offshore powerboat races. LOTS of eye candy there and serious parties that were easy to crash. I went to a resort that used to be called the Pier House and rented a jet boat for a couple hours. We ran out to the reef four miles out(we were not supposed to but I knew the areas well) and ran back in, flying off the tops of the big waves that day. Later that evening we heard another boat was out the same time as we were had capsized.
No decent beaches in Key West. I recommend Bahia Honda park near Marathon.
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Re: Florida keys vacation questions

#15 Post by pagolf » Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:11 pm

Islamorada, mile marker 80 vicinity

X2

For me, this is a great getaway...

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