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Florida and Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are not actually part of the Caribbean (neither are The Bahamas), although they are sometimes referred to as the ‘American Caribbean' rest assured that the ambiance and pace of life in the Keys culminate in a unique blend of Caribbean-American flavor. We felt that Florida and it's Keys just had to be included in a Caribbean diving site, the diving, fishing and sailing (whether motor boat or yacht) offered for your Florida holidays is superb. For very good reasons and not just the size, very few people visit the Florida Keys just once. Probably after getting one of the thousands of cheap flights to Miami, you start at Key Largo and drive your Florida car hire down the Overseas Highway (U.S. 1) west-southwest for 120 miles all the way to Key West, driving over 42 bridges including the world famous seven mile bridge, the drive through the Florida Keys is a visual delight.

FloridaWith the Atlantic on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other, the journey is not just about ‘getting there’ one passes the most prolific sport and big game fishing waters in the world. The Florida Keys have produced more world record catches than any other place on earth a good enough reason to include it; one should also take into account the number of boats and fishermen on the Florida coast, in Miami and Fort Lauderdale in particular. With the vast variety and sheer quantity of marine life, you know the diving in Florida will be exceptional. So good in fact, that at any given time, you are rarely more than a few hundred yards from a Florida dive shop, (rather like banks in the Cayman Islands). Likewise, the accommodation you choose for your holiday in Florida will never be more than a short boat ride from a good dive or snorkel site.

On April 23, 1982 in response to a blockade of the Keys by U.S. Government agencies, the Mayor of Key West announced secession from The Union. War was declared, followed immediately by surrender, followed immediately by a request for foreign aid. Washington never responded but the blockade did come down. Today, the independence of the “ Conch Republic ” is celebrated each April. While this episode of semi-recent history may provide a bit of humor, it does give an insight as to how the locals (Conch's) perceive the uniqueness of the Florida Keys . Lying at the end of The Overseas Highway is Key West , where palm-lined streets are bordered by tin-roofed conch houses and elegant gingerbread mansions. Included among these beautiful homes are the historic residences of that great writer and fisherman Ernest Hemingway and John Audubon.

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Key West has built itself a reputation of being the place to eat, drink and be merry. Key West has great fishing and diving like the rest of the Keys, but with hundreds of excellent and unique eating and drinking establishments, you just have to try them and once you’ve tried one the temptation is there to try some more. Located 90 miles north of Havana, the warm and humid air of Key West has a magical quality that brings out the party mood in even the most conservative of visitors. If you don’t have a good time in Key West, you don’t know how to have a good time! At day's end, visitors gather at Mallory Square for the traditional "sunset celebration". As the sun sets slowly in the west, mimes, jugglers, musicians and various other street performers entertain an ever growing festive crowd. As if on cue, all activity comes to an abrupt halt to applaud the last sliver of the sun setting below the horizon. The daily happening then continues until dark when the crowd filters back to Duval Street to begin the nights' party in earnest. Florida diving is not just about the Keys by its very shape, nature and climate Florida offers many hundreds of miles of coastline in which to enjoy the sea in whichever form you desire both on and in the water.

Whilst on the subject of boats, there is a huge variety of sailing in Florida , almost every strip of seafront has its marina where one can negotiate yacht charter in Florida whether for the purpose of day trips or for an idyllic week of sailing it's easy to find a wide choice of Florida yacht charter companies. The fishing in Florida is world renown and the client looking for a boat and skipper for hire in the Florida boat charter world is spoilt for choice. Florida beach

For those looking to diversify their holidays in Florida or maybe have a two week holiday with one week diving in Florida and a second week playing golf in Florida there are innumerable (although not on the Keys, not enough space) golf courses in Florida. With its wonderful climate and abundance of sunshine it’s easy, no matter what your handicap, to find a Florida golf course to suit your abilities. Golf courses in Florida rely on visitors to help to finance their golf and as with so many things in ‘Holiday Florida’ (and the rest of America) they know what it takes to make the customers return.

Accommodation in Florida, where on earth do we start to describe the variety of Florida accommodation available? Hotels in Florida have been catering to the tourist industry for a long time and there isn’t much that anyone can teach a good Florida hotel about the hotel trade, whether it’s a top of the range 5 star hotel in Florida or a more modest establishment, they know their business. The facilities available in the modern resorts in Florida border on the extreme, the market research that goes into a project to discover just what clients require from a Florida resort is incredibly thorough.

As is so often the case while on holiday in a warm climate many people begin to dream of living in a sunny place all year round and so this often leads to a stroll to the nearest real estate agents in Florida for a peek in the window to see what Florida property is like and of course whether they can afford their own property in Florida. The incredible range of available Florida properties is so huge that the internet is a wise choice in helping to reduce the amount of available property in Florida to a more manageable level by being able to search by many different categories thereby looking only at the Florida property that one is interested in.

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