What To Do in KeyWest

Key West is different than most other Florida vacation destinations. There are no “worlds” that take days to see nor are there miles of sandy beaches packed with travelers looking to go home with a tan. Instead activities are generally short lived and offered “al a carte” so to say. That by no means there are not a lot of things to do, as a matter of fact there are so many varied entertaining activities that there is even a knock-off of Key West in one of the “worlds” up in Orlando! While this might tempt one to create an itinerary carefully budgeting all of their time during their short visit we suggest that this might not be the best approach for a couple of reasons. First is the concept of island time, simply put schedules and timeframes are always treated as suggestions rather than deadlines. The local culture is based on enjoying life, one is free to do whatever strikes them in the moment as long as it doesn’t impose upon others. So a very nice day or a particularly abundant run of fish are treated as valid reasons to reschedule whatever else was on the docket for any given day, and we have plenty of both.

Secondly the sheer number and variety of “shiny things” that one passes exploring the streets and waterfront of the less then square mile that is Old Town will surely throw a wrench into even the best laid plans. A better approach and the one most often taken by our visitors that wind up with the biggest smiles at the end of the day might be to identify some of the must do’s for your visit and leave some time for the unexpected gem that catches your eye or the unplanned late night celebrating on Duval Street. Given that advice we will try to lay out some options for any interest from foodie to partier to historian to aquanuts to whatever, there is surely a number of unique and entertaining things to fill more days then you have in paradise.

Key West has a lot of different types of activities from partying the night away on Duval St. to hundreds of eateries ranging from food trucks to fine dining along with dozens of studios and galleries that showcase both local and world renowned artist in all mediums as well as numerous historical sites and museums that illustrate a history reaching back to Ponce Deleon’s fabled search for the fountain of youth. Most of these activities take less than a couple of hours to enjoy and are located in the historic section at the end of the island called “Old Town”. Old Town covers less than a square mile so biking or exploring on foot are the most common ways visitors use to get from one thing to do to the next, often discovering unexpected gems along the way.

This virtual buffet of unique and entertaining things to do only listed our shore based activities but being an island over a hundred miles from the mainland surrounded by calm azure waters there is also a smorgasbord of things to do in, on or under the tranquil seas that surround this little piece of paradise. Laze away a day at one of the local beaches, cross some exciting watersports like parasailing or jet skiing off your bucket list, experience your own Jacque Cousteau moment snorkeling North America’s only living barrier reef, dive a chain of wrecks that reaches all the way to the mainland or wressel a tarpon on the flats or maybe a marlin in the deep sea there is something to do for everyone and for those who prefer a less active time on the water you can take in a beautiful sunset, beverage in hand relaxing on anything from a traditional schooner, to a state of the art catamaran or even your own private floating Tiki! Probably the most common response by visitors when asked how their stay was when sadly leaving paradise, regardless of whether they’ve stayed a few days or a few weeks, is an emphatic “Too Short!”.

A common term used to describe various facets of Key West is "fusion" you'll hear it used to describe everything from our delicious cuisine to unique art and even our culture as a whole. Simply put it means to start with something good and making it great by using some unconventional combinations. As a tribute to this way of doing things we've taken the same approach on the KeyWest2do website. We've combined local tips, advice and information with largely visitor shared youTube®(no affiliation) videos and pics we've taken around town. We hope this blend or "fusion" helps answer some of the common questions about Key West and things to do while here.