KeysCompass field notes
Practical guides for the choices a map can't settle: which Key to sleep on, how to pace the drive, and when to book the scarce seats. Each one links to real directory listings you can check.
Start-here guides
Trip planning · 14 min read
Plan a first Florida Keys road trip southbound—nights per stretch from Key Largo (about MM 100) to Key West, which bases to sleep on, and the Overseas Highway traps that eat a driving day. Honest pacing, not a ranked itinerary.
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Lodging · 15 min read
Where should you stay in the Florida Keys? Pick two or three overnight bases—Key Largo or Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine or Key West—instead of one hotel for the week or a new island every night, matched to mile markers, groceries, parking and what each stretch is actually good for.
Read guideTrip timing · 11 min read
Pick a Keys window by what you actually want—calmer water and reef days, fewer crowds, camping availability, or hurricane-season risk—without pretending there is one perfect month.
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Seasonal · 9 min read
Plan a fall Keys week around quieter school-year demand, heat and marine-weather backups, and honest Atlantic hurricane-season logistics—without inventing crowd counts, storm odds or a “season is over” claim.
Read guideSeasonal · 12 min read
Plan a November Keys week around the last weeks of hurricane season, the first cold fronts and wind-driven water days, Thanksgiving-week demand, and the state-park campsites and Dry Tortugas seats to book first.
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Beaches · 12 min read
Decide which Key matches the job—swimming, a scenic photo stop, or kids and parking reality—without a “best beaches” ranking or treating directory listings as hours, fees or live status.
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Key West · 10 min read
Park once or walk off the ship—what a Key West half-day actually buys, without inventing garage fees or stacking Dry Tortugas onto a cruise window.
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Fishing · 10 min read
Build an honest Upper Keys fishing day—charter or self-launch—with ramp parking, a bait run and license checks, without treating directory listings as hours, prices or a ranking.
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Day plan · 10 min read
Use Marathon as a Mid-Keys hub—groceries, hospital, airport, marinas and Seven Mile access—to build an honest day and optional overnight, without treating directory listings as hours, prices or a ranking.
Read guideSnorkeling · 10 min read
Build an honest Key Largo reef day—Pennekamp day-use, a concession or dive-shop boat, and a land backup—without stacking Key West or treating directory listings as hours, fees or a ranking.
Read guideDay trip · 12 min read
Can you do Key West as a day trip from Miami? Honest Overseas Highway drive time, what a few hours in Old Town actually buys you, a same-day timeline if you go anyway, and when an overnight or a closer Key Largo, Islamorada or Marathon day is the better call.
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Island guide · 9 min read
Is Big Pine Key worth a stop or a base? How to see Key deer responsibly, provision before Bahia Honda or a Looe Key boat, pick a ramp or campsite, and use mile markers 29–33 as your Lower Keys hub.
Read guideTransportation · 15 min read
Can you visit the Florida Keys without a car? Key West works on foot. Route 301 and the Lower Keys Shuttle are schedule-first highway legs—confirm live timetables—and a rental is the honest plan when the pillow is not on a stop.
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Day trip · 13 min read
Plan a Dry Tortugas day trip from Key West—ferry vs seaplane time on Garden Key, packing for a remote island, a night before check-in, and the mistakes that sink a cruise or Miami stack. Honest ops, not a ticket ranking.
Read guideCamping · 18 min read
Florida Keys campgrounds and RV parks by region: public vs private, booking windows, Bahia Honda rig limits, and mile markers before you tow.
Read guideBoating · 12 min read
Public Florida Keys boat ramps by island: published fees, trailer parking, kayak vs larger boats, Key West launches, and a backup ramp before you tow.
Read guideCamping · 13 min read
Compare Buttonwood, Sandspur and Bayside at Bahia Honda State Park: water-and-electric vs primitive, Sandspur’s ~23-foot rig limit, Bayside’s ~6-foot-8 clearance, and Florida resident vs non-resident reservation windows. Honest camp-planning ops, not a ranking.
Read guideRoad trip · 10 min read
Plan gas stations and EV charging in the Florida Keys by region—Upper, Mid, Lower Keys and Key West—before long bridges and quieter stretches. Honest trip-planning ops, not a cheapest-station ranking.
Read guideSnorkeling · 9 min read
Where you can actually snorkel from the beach in the Florida Keys—Key Largo, Bahia Honda, Marathon and Key West—plus wind and visibility checks, divers-down flag rules and when a reef boat is the better plan. No invented fish counts, fees or rankings.
Read guidePaddling · 11 min read
Florida Keys kayaking launch by launch, north to south by mile marker: Pennekamp mangrove trails, Indian Key, Long Key, Curry Hammock, Bahia Honda and more.
Read guideDay trip · 8 min read
How to walk or bike the Old Seven Mile Bridge to Pigeon Key from Marathon, where the small free lot is, train vs walk-in visits, and how to drive the new Seven Mile Bridge without stopping where you shouldn’t. No invented hours, prices or photo-stop promises.
Read guideDining · 10 min read
An unranked map of Upper Keys restaurants already on KeysCompass, grouped by Key and by kind of meal (waterfront, boat-up, sunset, brunch, seafood counter, Cuban breakfast, pizza, barbecue, pub), so you can feed the day you actually planned without a best-of list.
Read guideDining · 10 min read
An unranked map of Middle Keys restaurants already on KeysCompass, grouped by Key and by kind of meal (waterfront, dock-and-dine, Cuban and Caribbean, seafood market, pizza, breakfast), so you can feed a Marathon hub day without a best-of list.
Read guideDining · 11 min read
An unranked map of Lower Keys restaurants already on KeysCompass, from Big Pine Key to Big Coppitt (about MM 33 to MM 9), grouped by Key and by situation (breakfast before the boat, fish-house dinner, takeout on the drive, family tables, the meal after a kayak or Bahia Honda day), so you can feed the day you planned without a best-of list.
Read guideDining · 13 min read
An unranked map of Key West and Stock Island restaurants already on KeysCompass, grouped by neighborhood and by kind of meal, with a brunch section and the waterfront rooms sorted by dock. Use it to feed the day you planned, not to chase a best-of list.
Read guideFishing · 11 min read
How to pick between a party boat, a shared trip and a private charter out of Key West and Stock Island, plus what a multi-day Dry Tortugas trip really involves. Unranked, and without prices or trip times.
Read guideBoating · 9 min read
A plain-language map of the marinas and boatyards on Stock Island, just east of Key West, and what each one is set up for: transient slips, fuel, haul-outs, charters, a meal at the dock or a ramp. Unranked, and anything we could not confirm is marked unknown.
Read guideFishing · 10 min read
How to choose a fishing charter between Big Pine Key and Geiger Key: a private boat or a scheduled seat, shallow flats and backcountry or the reef and open water, and which dock the captain actually uses. Unranked, with no prices or trip times.
Read guideBeaches · 7 min read
Six Upper Keys shoreline parks from Key Largo to Islamorada, with who runs each one, who pays and the house rules each operator publishes. Fee rules come from the operators' own pages, so confirm with them before you go.
Read guideFishing · 10 min read
How to choose a fishing trip out of Marathon, Key Colony Beach and Duck Key: a private boat or a party-boat seat, bridge tarpon or the reef, which dock the captain uses, and when you need your own Florida license. Unranked, with no prices or trip times.
Read guideKey West · 9 min read
How the Key West ghost tours differ: a covered trolley ride of about an hour, a 90-minute walk sold as family-friendly, and a two-hour evening inside the old firehouse. Plus the Historic Cemetery by daylight, Robert the Doll at Fort East Martello, and October booking, parking and rain notes. Unranked, with no prices or start times.
Read guideKey West · 9 min read
A first-timer's map of Key West attractions already on KeysCompass: the Conch Tour Train, the Old Town Trolley or your own feet, sunset at Mallory Square, the Whitehead Street houses and lighthouse, the Oldest House on Duval, the Historic Cemetery and Fort East Martello. Unranked, with no prices or hours.
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