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Text Version Web Directory & Introduction To Key West Florida
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Welcome To Key West!

Key West, Florida is probably the best-known small town on the planet. Though tiny enough it is rumored, to fit into New York's Central Park, Key West, Florida has managed, through its rich history, its remote location and its ravishing natural beauty to earn a notation in every national and international map. With its rich diversity of hotels, resorts, fishing, museums, theaters, and its natives, Key West has become a relaxation haven.

Key West, Florida sits like a jewel in the middle of the sea, just off the coast of America. Its air quality is second to no other city. The average annual temperature of 77 degrees rarely varies more than 10 degrees in either direction, with a record low of 41 degrees and a record high of 97 degrees. It has never seen frost or snow. Perennially sunny, the island average only 39 inches of rain per year. If its good weather you need on your vacations or fishing trips, this is the place!

Although Key West, Florida is, in fact, the westernmost of the Florida Keys, its name was corrupted from the Spanish Cayo Hueso or "Island of Bones," dubbed such when Spanish explorers set foot on a landscape littered with the human bones of Calusa Indians and unfortunate seafarers. Of late, it has also been nicknamed "The Conch Republic" and "Margaritaville," (as much a state of mind as it is a comment on one of the daily rituals). You'll find conch shells on the beaches, but no bones!

There's no up-town or down-town in Key West, Florida, no dress codes even for the finest of restaurants. Tolerance is the rule and differences are to be celebrated. Even daily life in Key West, Florida includes a certain off-beat sense of celebration. Each day's setting sun is celebrated and sometimes even applauded at Mallory Square , while artisans, musicians, and street performers pack the city pier with visitors as the famed and often glorious Key West, Florida sunsets shimmer over the Gulf of Mexico. Later in the evening you can enjoy quality entertainment at the local theaters.

Key West, Florida is a city which celebrates itself, its history, its diversity and its various reputations in many ways. Festivals and parties punctuate the tourist season. The social calendar, fishing tournaments and art festivals, literary seminars and world premiere plays, house and garden tours, international power boat and yacht races, and a lighted boat parade goes on 365 days a year. Most notable perhaps is Fantasy Fest, the Key West, Florida answer to Mardi Gras. Visitors from around the world descend on a ten-day event in October that culminates with a parade through Old Town that draws an estimated 50,000 celebrants. So no matter what your vacations demand in terms of staying busy or staying relaxed, we have the program for you.

Key West, Florida is for many the greatest city in America. Its population is a patchwork quilt of the most culturally diverse elements imaginable, stitched together with the sturdy threads of acceptance and the desire to celebrate life.

Go To : About Key West Florida For More . . .

Key West, Florida, Fishing

Come and fish in the waters of the Florida Keys & Key West, Florida where fishing legends were born. Ernest Hemingway fished the waters of the Florida Straights between Cuba and Key West, Florida fishing for giant blue marlin. Zane Grey applied his fishing and writing skills to the in-shore and backcountry of the Florida Keys, landing sailfish and giant tarpon. Just a few of the 225 species of gamefish that prowl the crystal, clear waters of the Florida Keys. If fishing is your intention, then Key West has the results.

But you don't have to be a legend or a writer to enjoy the thrill of big game fishing year round in the Florida Keys, just bring your boat on down or charter one of ours. Charter boats and guides are available to introduce you to one or more of our natives that bite. Deep sea fishing experienced captains are waiting to take you fishing into the Gulfstream just minutes away from the dock where you can test your fishing skills against the sailfish and marlin.

Backcountry guides have staked out the flats where tarpon and bonefish await the anglers preferring to use light spin or fly tackle or perhaps a party boat that offers a day or night fishing trip to the pristine coral reefs for snapper or grouper.

Remember you don't have to be a legend or a writer to enjoy big game fishing in the Florida Keys, but you may run the risk of becoming a legend in your own time.

For More Details, Go To : Boating & Fishing

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Scuba Diving in Key West, Florida,

The underwater splendor of the Florida Keys makes it one of the most popular and beautiful Scuba dive locations in the world. Coral reefs and wrecks line the waters from John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo to the Western Dry Rocks located off the coast of Key West, Florida. The abundance of spectacular Scuba dive sites attract underwater enthusiasts from all over the globe. The reef at Sand Key, marked by a weathered lighthouse, is one of the more popular Scuba dive sites off Key West, Florida. Advanced Scuba divers, as well as those just snorkeling, enjoy the diverse fish and coral populations located just beneath these turquoise waters. Named after a sunken British ship, Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary is known for large Elkhorn coral, abundant purple sea fans, and a variety of marine sponges.

Local dive shops can outfit you with all the necessary gear needed to make your marine adventure a truly unforgettable experience.

For More Information: Diving & Snorkeling

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The People of Key West, Florida

Key West, Florida can boast of the most unusual and eclectic population of any American city. "Key West, Florida isn't Florida," says a young boy in Joy Williams' short story, "The Blue Men." And it's true. With its cosmopolitan and well-educated population, its something of a cultural Noah's Ark adrift in the Gulf of Mexico-sending out white doves which always seem to loop back and nest in the branches of its own sturdy Banyan trees. Visitors always seem amazed at how many Key West Floridaers they encounter who inform them, "I came down for a weekend six years ago..... and I'm still here." Something indefinable - a balance of exotic remoteness, cultural marginality, and artistic intellect - beckons many to Key West Florida, where, until recently, the Sunday New York Times often arrived on Monday and local phone numbers contained only five digits.

The native population, those born on the island, refer to themselves as "Conchs" and represent a unique mix of Bahamian, Cuban, and New England seafaring heritage. Many well-known Conch families have been here for seven or more generations. Some confess to having never been off the island.

It has also attracted generations of artists and writers who popularized the mythology of the island. Key West, Florida has been home to Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, John Ciardi, John Hersey, Richard Wilbur, Philip Caputo, Alison Lurie, James Merrill, and Thomas McGuane, among many others. More Pulitzer Prize winners have lived in Key West, Florida per capita than in any other city.

Island mythology also crosses into popular culture. Novels, movies and television programs set in Key West, Florida have introduced many to the island indirectly. Pop star Jimmy Buffett's lament of being "Wasted away again Margaritaville," has become a landmark goal of many visitors.

Key West, Florida is also known for its sizable, accepted, and openly gay population which has contributed greatly to the island's burgeoning tourism and business community.

Despite its reputation for being "laid-back," Key West Floridaers are hard-working people. They have to be. Virtually everything on the island has to be imported on a one-way truck. Add to that the desirability of island property and it is easy to understand why the cost of living is the highest in the state. With tourism as its only true economic base, and relatively low-paying tourism related jobs as the most common denominator, it is clear why many members of the working population hold two or more jobs in order to live in, what they consider paradise.

Go To : Discover: Key West, Florida