Living There
Planning a week long Summer Vacation in the Florida Keys but still undecided where to stay?
If you imagine relaxing in your own home away from home, on a quiet island, removed from the hustle bustle of the Overseas Highway, but close to all the amenities of Marathon, you might find Key Colony Beach fits the bill perfectly!
The picturesque island city of Key Colony Beach, often referred to as the “Gem of the Florida Keys,” is the perfect destination for your Summer Vacation. Located in the Middle Florida Keys, about 50 miles driving distance to Key West and about an hour and a half away from the mainland, Key Colony Beach offers a tranquil and stunning setting for your getaway.
KCB, as the locals call it, is the perfect vacation destination to discover the fantasticarchipelago with its nearly 1700 different islands. The nearby beautiful coral reef, the island’s direct access to both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean makethis a perfect vacation destination.
The city has numerous private residences available as vacation rentals for this Summer Vacation, and most are located on canals with quick access to the Gulf or Atlantic Ocean. This makes the city an ideal destination for boating activities and fishing during the summer season. There are also several restaurants and bars as well as stores, boat rentals and a dive and tackle shop. And it’s only a hop, skip and a jump to shopping and restaurants in Marathon and to the visitor attractions of the middle Florida Keys.
Summer Vacation Attractions in the Middle Florida Keys
Bahia Honda State Park
Most visitors want to spend their Summer Vacation relaxing on a sunswept sandy beach and swimming in the warm waters of the Atlantic. KCB has a beach club, Sombrero and Cocoplum are nearby, but one of the top ten beaches for a memorable Summer Vacation, on many lists, is a few miles down the road: Bahia Honda. There are several lovely beaches as well as a fascinating piece of Florida Keys history: steel truss railway bridge. The park, one of island chain’s most popular destinations, offers some of the best snorkeling and swimming experiences as well as breathtaking sunsets. Hire kayaks or go on a boat trip to the reef of nearby Looe Key; Bahia Honda has attractions to please the entire family. More on Bahia Honda’s beaches and facilities.
Swim with a Dolphin
An absolute highlight of your Summer Vacation in the Florida Keys is to swim with a dolphin. On nearby Grassy Key, a must-visit destination during your summer getaway, is the Dolphin Research Centerhttp://www.dolphins.org/. This non-profit education and research facility offers you the incredible opportunity to experience these fascinating marine mammals in an up close and personal way, making your summer vacation an unforgettable adventure. You can observe dolphins and sea lions performing and learning new things as well as get insightful information about the animal family. All animal care and education staff are happy to explain their natural behaviors.
There are several programs to choose from such as the Dolphin Encounter, where you will interact with the dolphin (dolphin kiss, hand shake and more), the Dolphin Dip, a small group activity, where you along with other participants can ask your dolphin for an interactive behavior through a hand signal or the Dolphin Explorer, where you can play learning games with the dolphins and participate in research-related activities. Other programs like “trainer for a day”, “Play with the Dolphin” and “Hug a Sea Lion” are also very popular and definitely a unique lifetime experience.
Meet a Turtle on this Summer Vacation
A great way to meet these fascinating underwater creatures is to visit the Marathon’s Turtle
Hospital http://www.turtlehospital.org/, the only state-certified veterinary hospital in the world for sea turtles. There, injured or sick turtles are treated and released back to local waters. You can take a guided educational tour of the hospital facilities and the sea turtle rehabilitation area. Meet current patients and some of the longer residents, which you can even feed at the end of each 90 minute educational experience.
Snorkel the Coral Reef
One of the most famous attractions in the Florida Keys is to explore the third largest barrier reef in the world with its colorful coral and fascinating underwater life. Several local dives shops offer group snorkeling trips to Sombrero Lighthouse and other nearby reefs. All the local charters are great for first time snorkelers.
Go Big Game Sport Fishing
The Florida Keys are not only close to the deep water of the Gulfstream and the Summer Vacation vibes, but are also surrounded by miles of shallow sand and grass flats, cut by channels of deep water, making the local waters world renowned for big game sport fishing. Species like bonefish, tarpon, permit, redfish are caught on the flats and in back country channels; in deep water, anglers target marlin, sailfish, dolphin (the fish, not the mammal), tuna, wahoo, mackerel, snapper, grouper and so many more! Key Colony Beach is on the deep water side – the Atlantic – but has great access to the Gulf and backcountry waters. Six world record catches have been made there.
Unforgettable Summer Vacation: Explore Crane Point Museum and Trails
For a relaxing and informative look at the natural history of the Florida Keys visit the Crane Point Museums & Nature Center http://www.cranepoint.net/. Its beautiful hardwood hammock trails offer a unique learning experience to identify the hammock trees, native flowers and plants, insects and Golden Orb and Crab spiders. Explore the Crane Point Museum with its 600-year-old dugout canoe, remnants of pirate ships(kids love the interactive “Pirate Experience”) and a simulated coral reef cave. You can learn about the local history, including the lifestyle of early Native American inhabitants, as well as various local Atlantic Ocean fish, during your Summer Vacation. Crane Point is also home to The Marathon Wild Bird Center, where countless birds are rescued, rehabilitated, and released whenever possible.
Golf & Tennis
One of the many amenities of Key Colony Beach is the 9 hole golf course at the Golf & Tennis facility http://www.keycolonybeach.net/recreation.html. Club rentals and pull carts are available, as well as annual passes for families, a favorite for seasonal snowbird visitors. The tennis courts are free to use and are open daily to the public from 7:30 am to dusk.
There are great walking and jogging courses throughout the island city, designated as pedestrian areas. Cyclists share other city walking paths along Sadowski Causeway, East Ocean, and West Ocean Drives. Other recreational facilities including a basketball court and a children’s playground with sliding boards, swings, a swinging bridge and much more offerheaps of fun not only for the little ones. And of course, there is Sunset Park, a favorite gathering place for locals and visitors to catch the famous nightly Solar Show!
