Three Great Florida Yachting Destinations
For Florida yacht brokers and yachting enthusiasts, the Florida Keys offer a variety of exciting destinations with beautiful scenery, outdoor activities, and exotic adventures. It’s the perfect place to set sail with family and friends on a memorable yachting excursion.
Key Largo
Key Largo stretches for 33 miles in the northern part of the upper Florida Keys. You can explore Key Largo, North Key Largo, and Tavernier, three popular towns located on the island. Key Largo, romanticized by numerous Hollywood movies, is a yachting destination that offers natural beauty and exotic adventures.
Often called the diving capital of the world, Key Largo has an amazing natural coral reef surrounded by all kinds of colorful fish and sea creatures, as well as the world’s largest artificial reef, a 510-foot sunken Navy ship called the USS Spiegel Grove. From Key Largo, you can head west to the Everglades National Park, a natural ecosystem with over a million acres where nature lovers can enjoy bird watching, nature tours, swimming, fishing and camping.
Stiltsville
Stiltsville is located in Biscayne National Park about one mile south of Key Biscayne. It’s a unique village of homes built on wood and concrete pilings about 10 feet above sea level. During the 1930s, Stiltsville started with just a few houses that belonged to local fishermen and grew into a unique water community of about 27 homes by the 1960s. Over the last 60 years, many Stiltsville houses have been lost to hurricanes. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew left only seven houses standing. In 1999, the National Park Service issued a mandatory removal of all Stiltsville structures, but after 75,000 people signed petitions to save the homes, the Park Service reversed its decision and made Stiltsville part of Biscayne National Park.
The Islands of Marathon
Marathon, often called the boating destination of the Florida Keys is located in the middle Keys. The New York Times named the Islands of Marathon the “Family Destination of the Year” because of its outdoor activities including swimming, snorkeling, and water sports, and its island amenities including beautiful white beaches, designer shops, and world-class restaurants.
The Islands of Marathon offer numerous family attractions including the Dolphin Research Center and the Turtle Hospital, as well as annual special events like the Original Seafood Festival in March and the Conchtober Festival in September. When yachting to Marathon, you can easily dock at the City Marina, centrally located in Boot Key Harbor. It hosts 226 mooring balls that can accommodate boats up to 60 feet long.
