Florida Keys Hotels

Florida keys hotels

Hotels in the Florida Keys are often required for tourists who need a place to stay. Some may want to stay at large or small hotels. Some may want to stay at old or new hotels. Some may want to stay at hotels that have good reputation. Some may want to stay at hotels in the urban or rural areas of the Florida Keys. Some may want to stay at hotels that have access to scenery and parking facilities.

Hotels in the Florida Keys are often needed for tourists who need a place to stay,

The Florida Keys are an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern tip of Key West is just 94 miles from Cuba.

The Florida Keys are the exposed portions of an ancient coral reef. The northernmost island arising from the ancient reef formation is Elliott Key, in Biscayne National Park. North of Elliott Key are several small transitional keys, composed of sand built up around small areas of exposed ancient reef. Further north, Key Biscayne and places north are barrier islands, built up of sand.

The Florida Keys have taken their present form as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamonian Stage raised sea levels to approximately 25 feet above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida plateau, stretching south and then west from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry Tortugas. This reef formed the Key Largo limestone that is exposed on the surface from Soldier Key (midway between Key Biscayne and Elliott Key) to the southeast portion of Big Pine Key and the Newfound Harbor Keys. The types of coral that formed Key Largo limestone can be identified on the exposed surface of these keys.

The Upper Keys islands are remnants of large coral reefs, which became fossilized and exposed as sea level declined. The Lower Keys are composed of sandy-type accumulations of limestone grains produced by plants and marine organisms. The natural habitats of the Keys are upland forests, inland wetlands and shoreline zones. Soil ranges from sand to marl to rich, decomposed leaf litter. In some places, caprock (the eroded surface of coral formations) covers the ground. Rain falling through leaf debris becomes acidic and dissolves holes in the limestone, where soil accumulates and tree roots find purchase.

Upper keys

Keys in Biscayne National Park (accessible only by boat) in Miami-Dade County

Transitional keys
Soldier Key
Ragged Keys
Boca Chita Key
Sands Key

True Florida keys, exposed ancient coral reefs
Elliott Key
Adams Key
Reid Key
Rubicon Keys
Totten Key
Old Rhodes Key

Keys in Monroe County

Key Largo
Plantation Key
Windley Key
Upper Matecumbe Key
Lignumvitae Key
Lower Matecumbe Key

(Plantation Key through Lower Matecumbe Key are incorporated as Islamorada, Village of Islands. The "towns" of Key Largo, North Key Largo and Tavernier, all on the island of Key Largo, are not incorporated.)

Middle keys

Craig Key
Fiesta Key
Long Key (formerly known as Rattlesnake Key)
Conch Key
Duck Key
Grassy Key
Crawl Key
Long Point Key
Fat Deer Key
Key Vaca
Boot Key
Knight's Key
Pigeon Key

(Key Vaca, Boot Key, Fat Deer Key, Long Point Key, Crawl Key and Grassy Key are incorporated in the city of Marathon)

Lower keys

Little Duck Key
Missouri Key
Ohio Key (also known as Sunshine Key)
Bahia Honda Key
Spanish Harbor Keys
West Summerland Key
No Name Key
Big Pine Key
Little Torch Key
Middle Torch Key
Big Torch Key
Ramrod Key
Summerland Key
Knockemdown Key
Cudjoe Key
Sugarloaf Key
Park Key
Lower Sugarloaf Key
Saddlebunch Keys
Shark Key
Geiger Key
Big Coppitt Key
East Rockland Key
Rockland Key
Boca Chica Key
Key Haven (Raccoon Key)
Stock Island
Key West
Sigsbee Park
Fleming Key