Keys Sanctuary 25 Years of Marine Preservation National Parks Turn 100 Offbeat Keys Names Florida Keys Sunsets

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Keys Sanctuary 25 Years of Marine Preservation National Parks Turn 100 Offbeat Keys Names Florida Keys Sunsets Keys TravelerThe Magazine Keys Sanctuary 25 Years of Marine Preservation National Parks Turn 100 Offbeat Keys Names Florida Keys Sunsets fla-keys.com Decompresssing at Bahia Honda State Park near Big Pine Key in the Lower Florida Keys. ANDY NEWMAN MARIA NEWMAN Keys Traveler 12 The Magazine Editor Andy Newman Managing Editor 8 4 Carol Shaughnessy ROB O’NEAL ROB Copy Editor Buck Banks Writers Julie Botteri We do! Briana Ciraulo Chloe Lykes TIM GROLLIMUND “Keys Traveler” is published by the Monroe County Tourist Development Contents Council, the official visitor marketing agency for the Florida Keys & Key West. 4 Sanctuary Protects Keys Marine Resources Director 8 Outdoor Art Enriches the Florida Keys Harold Wheeler 9 Epic Keys: Kiteboarding and Wakeboarding Director of Sales Stacey Mitchell 10 That Florida Keys Sunset! Florida Keys & Key West 12 Keys National Parks Join Centennial Celebration Visitor Information www.fla-keys.com 14 Florida Bay is a Must-Do Angling Experience www.fla-keys.co.uk 16 Race Over Water During Key Largo Bridge Run www.fla-keys.de www.fla-keys.it 17 What’s in a Name? In Marathon, Plenty! www.fla-keys.ie 18 Visit Indian and Lignumvitae Keys Splash or Relax at Keys Beaches www.fla-keys.fr New Arts District Enlivens Key West ach of the Florida Keys’ regions, from Key Largo Bahia Honda State Park, located in the Lower Keys www.fla-keys.nl www.fla-keys.be Stroll Back in Time at Crane Point to Key West, features sandy beaches for relaxing, between MMs 36 and 37. The beaches of Bahia Honda Toll-Free in the U.S. and Canada 19 Walk on a ‘Rainbow’ in Key West Esunning and swimming in warm turquoise waters. repeatedly have been named among the top 10 in the 1-800-FLA-KEYS Key Largo is home to John Pennekamp Coral Reef United States by numerous travel surveys. For the free monthly 20 Traveling Tips to the Florida Keys State Park, with its main entrance at mile marker (MM) Bahia Honda was voted the USA’s best beach in “Keys Traveler” 102.6. Known worldwide as America’s first underwater 1992 by Dr. Beach himself, Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, electronic newsletter, preserve, the park also boasts upland areas including a professor at Florida International University who has subscribe at 10 the popular Cannon Beach and Far Beach. Guests can been rating America’s beaches since 1989. www.fla-keys.com/keystraveler rent kayaks, paddleboards and snorkel gear to explore Leatherman lauded the park for its facilities including ©2015-’16 Monroe County Tourist the park’s waters. boat slips, cabins and amenities for camping in tents Development Council Islamorada’s Anne’s Beach, located at MM 80, or RVs. The on-site concession offers a complete gift Printed in the U.S.A. attracts waders and kiteboarders cruising along the shop, snack bar, kayak rentals and daily snorkeling By Original Impressions facebook.com/floridakeysandkeywest shallows off Islamorada. Great views and scenic tours to nearby Looe Key. walkways please passersby and visiting families, and Several Bahia Honda beaches, including one with the shallow water typically means no breaking waves. a view of the uniquely historic Florida Keys Over-Sea Sombrero Beach, located at MM 50 oceanside in Railroad trestle bridge, round out offerings. @thefloridakeys Marathon, is a well-maintained Middle Keys gem. The In Key West, guests can enjoy the temperate waters free-access public park and beach features a kayak of Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, swimming launch, volleyball courts, children’s playground, shady and snorkeling among colorful tropical fish, and youtube.com/FloridaKeysTV picnic pavilions equipped with cooking grills, freshwater exploring a National Historic Landmark. The 54-acre Insta showers, restroom facilities and handicap access. park features picnic tables and grills, nature trails, ROB O’NEAL Marathon also features a 1,200-foot beach at Curry fishing areas and the opportunity to tour the iconic keysvoices.com @thefloridakeys Hammock State Park. Civil War–era fort. The Keys’ best-known beach area can be found at — Chloe Lykes Cover photo of Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park by Rob O’Neal CARLOS ESTAPE ANDY NEWMAN By Cammy Clark Golden grunts gather on a reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo. Sanctuary Protects Keys Marine Resources Snipes Keys in the Lower Keys are part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. he Florida Keys National anywhere else in the Caribbean or Marine Sanctuary is Gulf of Mexico,” said Sean Morton, It all began in 1989 when three Tcelebrating its 25th year of the sanctuary’s superintendent. “We large freighters ran aground just 17 protecting the 2,900 nautical miles will continue to try to make this days apart on the coral reef. of waters that surround the island 2YEARS5 special place even better to sustain The groundings came only chain. “If you come to the Florida a healthy marine ecosystem for our months after the devastating Exxon It’s a big job to preserve a marine Keys you can see more fish and children and our children’s children Valdez oil spill in Alaska and just world that features a spectacular diversity of fish that is tough to find to enjoy.” days following hearings held in Key and unique ecosystem with shallow West about oil drilling in the Gulf of seagrass beds, mangrove-fringed Mexico. islands and the world’s third-largest “It was the perfect storm,” said barrier coral reef that collectively leading underwater photographer support more than 6,000 species, Stephen Frink of Key Largo. as well as being the final resting There had been talk at the time of spot of culturally important slightly expanding the boundaries of shipwrecks — some that date back already existing protected waters centuries. in the Keys, but the alarming It’s a mission that can be groundings led federal lawmakers challenging because the same immediately to begin pushing a turquoise and blue waters also are bill through the U.S. Congress a vital cog in the Keys’ economic that would protect all waters engine. surrounding the islands. The island chain’s residents and “The nation recognizes that the visitors use the subtropical waters coral reef in the Keys is one of the year-round for recreational and natural wonders of the world,” then- commercial activities: boating, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, a co- diving, snorkeling, swimming, author, said at the time. deep-sea and backcountry fishing, President George H.W. Bush dolphin-watching, paddleboarding, made it official, signing the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and kiteboarding, kayaking and just ANDY NEWMAN STEPHEN FRINK relaxing. Protection Act on Nov. 16, 1990. KatieThe newBajrak lobby shows at off the a beautifulAmara Cay yellowtail Resort. snapper destined for the dinner table. A diver explores the artificial reef Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg seven miles south of Key West. 4 fla-keys.com • fla-keys.co.uk • fla-keys.it • fla-keys.de • fla-keys.ie • fla-keys.fr • fla-keys.nl • fla-keys.be Keys Traveler Keys Traveler fla-keys.com • fla-keys.co.uk • fla-keys.it • fla-keys.de • fla-keys.ie • fla-keys.fr • fla-keys.nl • fla-keys.be 5 ROB O’NEAL Justin Rea casts his fly rod while catch-and-release fishing in the sanctuary. ROB O’NEAL don’t have to drop anchors that might damage corals. The sanctuary encompasses the Florida Keys Wreck Trek that features nine shipwrecks, including the USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg off Key West and USS Spiegel Grove off Key Largo. They are the second- and third-largest vessels in the world to be intentionally sunk as artificial reefs. Keys waters also are an internationally renowned fishing destination — for deep-sea angling in the Atlantic Ocean, backcountry fishing in Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico and even bridge fishing off the old railroad bridges that parallel the Florida Keys Overseas Highway. More saltwater world fishing records have been established in the Keys than any other angling Observing wild dolphins is a popular visitor activity in the Florida Keys sanctuary. destination on the globe, according Administered by the National water and great visibility mean to the International Game Fish Oceanic and Atmospheric underwater explorers can see the Association. Administration, the new sanctuary’s vibrant colors of sea fans, corals The sanctuary has put in place boundaries stretched from Biscayne and a wide array of tropical fish. no-take zones, covering a small National Park near Miami to the Sea turtles, moray eels and rays percentage of the waters, which are Dry Tortugas (70 miles west of also are regulars at reefs. designed to allow important species Key West) and absorbed the Fort The sanctuary has implemented of fish an opportunity to spawn Jefferson National Monument and the Blue Star program with and grow to help improve size and the existing Looe Key and Key commercial operators to promote populations. Largo marine sanctuaries. responsible diving and snorkeling With support from the Keys “The most important thing the at the reef, with emphasis on not tourism council, the sanctuary sanctuary did was instigate a touching or removing corals. The built the Florida Keys Eco- mindset of conservation,” Frink number of mooring buoys has more Discovery Center in Key West to said. than doubled to 470 so that boats enable visitors to learn about the The Keys’ waters make the ROB O’NEAL island chain an extremely popular destination for visitors, with world- class diving and snorkeling at the reef and on shipwrecks. The warm ecosystem without getting wet. life topics. “We have done our best to put in Kayaking and paddleboarding, Pioneering work on coral management tools to protect the also popular in Keys waters, are restoration has been accomplished environment,” Morton said.
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