Why A Road Trip Through The Florida Keys Is A Perfect Replacement For A Cruise

After an entire year of being stuck at home, I felt like I had a giant “sun needed” sign on me. At this point of 2021, cruising was nowhere on the horizon, so it was time to start thinking outside the box. But not outside the US. I wanted different, I wanted tropical, I wanted a hot beach. I had always thought a road trip through the Florida Keys sounded like fun and this sounded like the perfect time to try it!

Exactly a week after our second shot of the vaccine, we piled ourselves and way too much stuff into the car and started the very long drive to the Florida Keys.

So why is a road trip through the Florida Keys the prefect replacement for a cruise?

Number 1: It starts in Miami, Florida

All the best cruises seem to start in Miami and this road trip was no exception. We did drive to south Florida, but we did start our adventures in the greater Miami area with a trip to the Everglades. We have driven past the Everglades on the way to a cruise before, but we have never had time to visit. Some alligators are always a great way to start any vacation, right?

Many people also choose to fly to Miami to rent a car for this road trip through the Florida Keys.

Check out our post on how to spend one day in the Everglades

Alligator in Everglades National Park in Florida

Number 2: The Keys is hot and tropical year-round.

We went in the spring and were worried it would be too hot, but it really wasn’t. Sure, we got hot sometimes, but apparently that’s what I like on vacation.

Number 3: Plenty of beaches!

No lack of beaches here. I know people like to say that the Keys is not the place to go for beaches and no it does not have miles of white sand beaches, but the beaches it has are still beautiful. And more important they have character. I enjoy miles of white sandy beaches, but the mangroves and the sandbars and coral were very intriguing.

Mangroves in the Florida Keys - Anne's Beach

Number 4: A Road Trip Through the Florida Keys means Island-hopping

You will spend your time island-hopping. Now, admittedly you have to drive yourself from one island to the next and you won’t just wake up on a new island every day. You could choose to check into a different hotel (or resort) every night on you way down and back up again. Or you could choose to stay at one home base for a couple of days and then move on to the next home base. (That’s what we did.) Either way, you will definitely see plenty of islands.

Number 5: Time in Key West

This is one thing that is better about going on a road trip through the Keys instead of a cruise. You will finally have more time than just 7:00am-2:00pm to explore Key West. I know not all cruise lines give you that short a time, but we had been to Key West three times before this trip and had never stayed later than 2pm. Which is a shame because Key West is a great place for a sunset!

Number 6: Water Sports

The Keys is a perfect place for water sports. There is no end to the places you can book a snorkeling tour, rent a boat for fishing, rent a kayak, a paddleboard, you name it. I spent many hours on my paddleboard at a couple of different parks along the Keys, but most places we went also had paddleboards and kayaks to rent. There were also plenty of places as we drove along US 1 advertising boat rentals and fishing.

Is a road trip the same thing as a cruise? Of course not! There is all the packing and unpacking, getting yourself from one place to the next and actually having to pick a restaurant. But from Miami to Key West had a lot of the things I had been missing!