Florida Keys Vacation info

michealprater

michealprater

Angelfish Nerd
Premium Member
Not sure if this is the right spot but I will try. I would like to vacation in Key West. What is the best place to stay? Where is the best snorkeling? What is the best place to fly into? Does anyone offer good vacation packages? Can you collect fish with a fishing license?

Thanks in advance.
 
You may (collect) fish with a rod (slurp gun might be a different story) fish from shore without a license, otherwise you'll have to get a permit, they have resident or visitor permits ranging from a day long to life time i believe and you can pick them up at any tackle store. I personally went to ft. jefferson to snorkel on the Fast cat which was great, but they have plenty of charter dives etc. We stayed at the casa marina which was amazing but a little expensive. Also if your not familiar I rented a GPS guided tour on these scooters which my buddy runs and it was pretty fun. You can get off where you choose and jump back on and head all over the island. Pretty comprehensive.

I normally stay by Key largo since im in Miami but the few times we've gone down to the bottom of the US we've had a great time. Duval street is pretty much where everything is but beware lots of drags and tranny's running around after 12:00 (its like clock work how everyone starts heading home and men start looking like women visa-versa after a certain hour.)
 
This is a good place to post it. We lived in military housing when we were stationed there for 3 years and we still stay at the base so I dont have any experience with places to stay. Others will chime in.
You can collect fish with a saltwater water fishing license but there are rules and regulations. You also need to think about how you will keep them and get them back home.
You can fly directly into KW. They have an airport. If by chance you fly yourself be sure not to mistake the NAS KW runway with the KW airport. Lots of GA planes have tried to land at NAS KW since it is way bigger than the KW airport. Big mistake.
Snorkling at the reef is great during low tide. Sometimes the top of the reef is out of the water.
 
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Lacy said:
You can collect fish with a saltwater water fishing license but there are rules and regulations. You also need to think about how you keep them and get them back home.
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Yes, these are just questions right now. Very early planning stages. Not sure if I would even collect. Is there a site that has rules, regulations and license pricing?
 
i would fly into miami or ft lauderdale and rent a car there. there are plenty of cool places to see driving down that you would miss flying into key west. one thing that comes to mind is hand feeding the tarpon at robbies marina
 
jimbo78 said:
this is wrong. you now need a SW license even to fish from shore.

http://forums.floridasportsman.com/node/113932
this is a link to lots of great keys info.


here is the rules regarding collecting fish. you will need to get a saltwater fishing license to do so.http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Saltwater_Regulations_recharvestmls.htm
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Great info. Non-resident 3 day permit is 17 bucks.

Do places rent slurp guns?

What are some of the resorts that are decent on a budget?
 
jimbo78 said:
i would fly into miami or ft lauderdale and rent a car there. there are plenty of cool places to see driving down that you would miss flying into key west. one thing that comes to mind is hand feeding the tarpon at robbies marina
Click to expand...

Yeah, I bet Highway 1 is pretty cool. How long of a drive is it from Miami to Key West?
 
Fly into Miami, don't bother with a flight to Key West, because (as they say on the island) the sign at Key West International Airport is bigger than the runway. I'd stay in Key West (personal preference) but Key Largo is said to be much better diving than reefs closer to Key West. Key West is my preference, due to the variety of hotels, restaurants, etc. While you're there, you HAVE to go to Jimmy Buffet's and have a cheeseburger in paradise. Definitely worth the money. I suggest going between November and January, because the number of tourists will be the lowest, as will the pricing. Hotels are very expensive during summer months, and very inexpensive in the off-season. You won't regret it. Take lots of photos. If you've never netted fish, I wouldn't waste your time trying. It's a very tricky business.

Diving in Key West

Florida Marine Life Collection Regulations
 
If you go, be sure to have your photo taken standing by the Southernmost Point and the Mile Zero sign on Hwy 1. Oh, yeah: as soon as you get there, take a bus tour of the island, which will take you on a tour, describing the island. It's really small, and you can learn a lot from a short bus tour. They'll take you to the highest point on the island... elevation 18' above sea-level. =)
 
Gasman paid $25 bucks for a hookah once , but he did not do any diving, matter of fact he never got out of his car !!!!! :inlove:
 
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Aimiel said:
90 miles. Once you get there, you'll be only 60 miles from Havana.
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MP, the above is wrong info. It is approx 160 miles from Miami to Key West will take you 3hrs and 19 minutes + - as per mapquest. When you are at the Southernmost point you will be approx 90 miles from Cuba. Aimiel had the best intentions but must of had too many pina coladas and daiquiris.

I would still rather go for a drive near water with Aimiel than with Ted Kennedy. Have a great time.:celeb3:
 
invertigator said:
Gasman paid a hookah $25 bucks once , but he did not do any diving, matter of fact he never got out of the car !!!!! :inlove:
Click to expand...

Took me a minute to get that. LOL.:hmm4:

I wish I could find a site that shows flight prices without putting departure and arrival dates in. I am just wanting to check prices, and you have to have a date, and flights do not go from STL to FTL every day. So you have to guess. Frustrating.
 
invertigator said:
MP, the above is wrong info. It is approx 160 miles from Miami to Key West will take you 3hrs and 19 minutes + - as per mapquest. When you are at the Southernmost point you will be approx 90 miles from Cuba. Aimiel had the best intentions but must of had too many pina coladas and daiquiris.

I would still rather go for a drive near a body of water with Aimiel than with Ted Kennedy. Have a great time.:celeb3:
Click to expand...


I mapquested it also, I just didnt want to say anything. :spin2:
 
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