Islamorada

Islamorada sits on warm, shallow water, but it is not a sandy-beach destination. The shoreline is mostly mangrove, rock and seagrass flats, and the few public beaches, such as Anne's Beach on Lower Matecumbe and the small parks along the Overseas Highway, are narrow strips where you wade a long way out before it gets deep. Seaweed washes up after windy spells. The water is above 28°C in summer and closer to 22°C in midwinter, warm enough for most people to swim through the main winter and spring season.

What people do instead is take a boat out to the sandbar off Whale Harbor, where locals and visitors anchor and stand waist-deep in clear water. Those who want a proper beach drive about an hour south to Bahia Honda, the best sand in the Keys, or to Sombrero Beach in Marathon, or go about half an hour north to the swimming areas at John Pennekamp in Key Largo.

Food here means fish. Snapper, grouper, mahi-mahi and hogfish come off the boats the same day, and many waterfront kitchens will cook what you caught on your charter. Conch fritters, stone crab claws in winter, smoked fish dip and key lime pie are the regional staples, eaten on open-air decks over the water at sunset. The casual end is the best of it: fish sandwiches, raw bars and a few local breweries.

Beyond that the range is narrow. There are a handful of more polished resort dining rooms and some decent Cuban and Caribbean cooking, but no market culture, no real café scene and little from other cuisines. Most places sit along the highway, and a week of eating means a lot of fried and grilled fish.

Islamorada's sights are few and small, but they tell a real story. The History of Diving Museum is the best of them. The 1935 Hurricane Monument recalls the Labor Day storm that killed hundreds of people, among them First World War veterans in federal relief camps who were building the Overseas Highway. The same storm wrecked the old Overseas Railroad. Offshore, Indian Key holds the ruins of a 19th-century wrecking settlement, and Lignumvitae Key keeps an old caretaker's house in a rare hardwood forest. You reach both by kayak or boat. Windley Key's fossil reef park shows the coral rock the islands are made of. That adds up to a pleasant half day or two, not a reason to come.

Evenings here revolve around sunset. Open-air tiki bars and dockside decks along the Overseas Highway fill up as the sun drops over Florida Bay, with rum drinks, local beer and fishing crews swapping stories. Weekends bring a livelier, louder crowd, especially among boaters. After that the islands go quiet early, because most visitors are on the water at dawn. There are no clubs, and anyone looking for late nights should save them for Key West.

This is the water at its richest. Islamorada calls itself a sportfishing capital, and with reason: the shallow backcountry flats of Florida Bay are among the most famous anywhere for bonefish, tarpon and permit, while the Gulf Stream offshore brings sailfish, mahi-mahi and tuna. On the Atlantic side, Alligator Reef and the rest of the Florida reef tract give clear-water snorkelling and diving, and John Pennekamp's underwater park in Key Largo is half an hour north.

Kayaking and paddleboarding through mangrove channels, past wading birds, rays and manatees, is easy from almost anywhere, and the bay side opens onto the Everglades backcountry by boat. What is missing is land: the keys are flat and low, so walking means the cycle path and short nature trails. Winter and spring bring the calmest, clearest conditions, and summer brings heat and storms.

Everything lies along the one highway. The obvious day out is Key West, about two hours south across the Seven Mile Bridge, with its old town, Hemingway's house and sunset gatherings. On the way, Marathon has the Turtle Hospital and Grassy Key a dolphin research centre, and the old railway bridges make good stops. North, Key Largo is about half an hour away, and Miami and Homestead are about two hours, traffic permitting. That is a short list, and the long drives in both directions make one outing in each direction the realistic plan.

Islamorada works well for families who like being on the water. The shallow, warm flats are easy for small children to paddle in, Theater of the Sea offers sea lion and dolphin shows, and feeding the huge tarpon at the docks is a reliable hit. Glass-bottom boat trips and reef snorkelling at Pennekamp suit older children, and resort pools fill the gaps. It is safe and unhurried.

The limits are clear, though. Beaches are small, there is little else made for children, and the islands are built around fishing charters and boat days that suit older children and teenagers better than toddlers. Summer heat and storms make winter and spring the easier time to bring young ones.

Islamorada stretches for about 30km along the Overseas Highway across several keys, and a car is the normal way to get around. Distances are short and the road is easy to drive, though it is the only one and slows to a crawl on busy weekends. The Overseas Heritage Trail gives cyclists a paved route alongside much of it, and some resorts lend bikes. Buses exist but run too rarely to rely on. Much of what you come for is reached by boat, so charters and rentals handle the rest.

Shopping here is a sideline. The big draw is fishing tackle and outdoor clothing, led by a large, long-established sporting outfitter that is a local landmark in its own right. Beyond that there are small art galleries with marine and tropical work, a roadside artisan village of craft studios, and the usual T-shirt and shell shops along the highway. Anyone looking for fashion or department stores needs to go to Miami.

Islamorada is expensive, especially in the winter and spring high season when most visitors come. Waterfront resorts and even simple motels charge high rates, eating out is at resort-coast levels, and the main activities, fishing charters, boat rentals and dive trips, add a lot to the bill. Casual fish shacks and self-catering rentals help a little, and summer is cheaper, but a budget stay is hard to put together.

There is almost no performing arts scene. Live music means a guitarist playing covers on a tiki bar deck at sunset, and the occasional community concert or festival. There is no theatre or concert hall, and anyone wanting a show will have to drive to Miami or Key West.

The restorative side of Islamorada comes from its pace rather than any bathing tradition. Days start early on the water and end with sunset, the islands are quiet, and a handful of waterfront resorts have full spas with massages and treatments in open-air cabanas, along with sunrise yoga on docks and beaches. There are no thermal baths, hammams or public bathing culture, so this is a place to unwind in a hammock or at a resort spa, not one to come to for the bathing.