NDR- Key West solo

Oh wise Liners…

I am looking at vacation ideas for this summer. The past few summers I have taken a cruise (I love to cruise) but I was thinking about mixing it up this year. I have never visited Key West before and thought that might be a fun way to get my “island” fix. I don’t know if I can handle the crowds at Disney in the summer combined with the heat.

Most likely this will be a solo trip but I am not new to solo travel. I would prefer to travel with friends or family but most of my family and friends have very limited time off and we dont always have the same “taste” in vacation choices.

I love to snorkel, lounge on the beach, shop, and like eating at local places if possible (and occasional adult beverage of course :open_mouth: ). For the most part I keep things low key but I still like to get out and explore.

When I visit WDW and cruise solo there are tons of things to keep me busy and entertained. I just started researching Key West but it looks like a fun place and beautiful to visit.

Any thoughts on Key West (especially solo travelers if you are out there)? I would welcome any feedback. In particular, would you fly into Miami and drive the 3+ hours? Is the drive fairly scenic?

Many thanks!

My husband and I just returned on Wednesday from a week in the Keys. The drive down is amazing, especially from Islamorada to Key West. Don’t miss the drive, it was so beautiful! Key West has tons of stuff to do, I would recommend staying near the marina area as it is so close to all the boats (for snorkeling, sunset sails), plus you are really close to Duvall Street, but away from the noise that is Duvall Street. We stayed at the Marker Resort, which just opened in December and is very, very nice. 3 pools, restaurant onsite, overlooks the marina. Was the perfect location for us, plus they have underground parking which is unheard of in Key West. It was very windy last week so harder to get out on the water. We did go on a dolphin watch/snorkel trip and also a sunset sail. There is a company there, think it is called Clearly Unique, they have clear kayaks. We tried to go out with them for a kayak/snorkel trip, but it didn’t work out (times conflicted with other activities). The Keys are simply beautiful, and I think you would have a great time. It was a very relaxing trip for us, and we ate seafood every day. The seafood is so fresh, and there are so many wonderful restaurants to choose from. Hope this helps you decide. Also, our hotel did not have a beach, which wasn’t important to us (we had a great beach at our resort in Islamorada, plus February isn’t great beach weather). If that is important, there are several resorts with beaches. Check out trip advisor.

Here are a few pictures from our trip. The first is typical of what you will see on the drive down the Keys


This is the view from our balcony at the Marker. So easy to get to all the boats at the marina, plus a million restaurants.

Sunset sail

THANKS!

WOW those pictures are amazing (you could make a post card out of the sailboat photo)! Just looked up the Marker Resort… very nice :heart_eyes: I need to check out Islamorada :smile:

Did you fly in to Miami? Or did you drive from another location?

Great feedback! Thanks again

We went as a couple 7 years ago. The drive from Miami was beautiful, but it seemed to take a long time (we stopped overnight en route). Key west was beautiful, but in spite of our planning, our carefully booked food and tour reservations ended up being a completely mixed bag of mindbogglingly awesome and simply atrocious, a casualty of such a booming and busy tourism industry. Our hotel (Simonton Court) was expensive but a great oasis/getaway from the hubbub. We did the usual - walked around, went on a boat tour, saw Hemingway’s house. I think a solo trip would have potential to be great fun, but it would be important to figure out before going a plan for being places with other social people, if that’s partly your thing.

If I was with friends I might try the “social scene” lol but that is not really important to me :slight_smile:

Hmm… I am going to look into places to stay along the way.

Man some warm weather sounds nice around now.

The Sea Dell Motel is this motel-8-like little motel that is clean with nice staff, about halfway down the keys from Miami to Key West. It is most remarkable for the fact that the staff can direct you to a restaurant that is almost impossible to find in the middle of nowhere in a swamp that has the Most Incredible Food we had on our entire trip. (Seirously, it was a poorly-marked side road that took us through a trailer park then had us walking down a dark dirt road in a swamp past lots of parked cars… to this totally hopping classic Keys spot with a large deck, tons of people, high ceilings, and incredible food.) Will see if I can find the name. :wink:

Only because I had to find it, it’s the Castaway Waterfront Restaurant and Sushi Bar. Fantastic. On google maps looks much more built up now. :wink:

We flew in to Ft Lauderdale since Southwest flies there and not Miami. We got in late the first night so stayed near the airport. Drove to Islamorada the next day and stayed at the Islander Resort. Again, a fabulous place to stay. Beautiful beach, the rooms are very cute, I will post some pictures. We were there a few nights and then drove to Key West. Drove all the way back to Ft Lauderdale on last day, left Key West about 2 pm, stopped in Marathon for a late lunch, it took about 4 hours total driving time. Traffic was heavy around Miami and north, so flying from there might be better than from Ft. Lauderdale.

It was super windy, so no one on the beach even though it was a beautiful day. The Islander has 2 pools and a hot tub, an onsite watersports rental place, a great swimming beach, and a fishing pier. Check it out online, we loved it and will definitely be returning.



1 Like

Fantastic information!!!

I cant believe I have never visited the Keys before. It almost feels like a different country : )

Looks incredibly beautiful!!

1 Like