Florida Travel Guide

Florida is defined by water below the surface as much as above it — the Keys' barrier reef, the Everglades' sawgrass wilderness, and freshwater springs clear enough to see fifty feet in every direction. It's one of the few places in the continental US where the diving is as much a headline as the beaches.

Miami International is the main gateway for South Florida; the Keys run southwest from there by a single highway, all the way to Key West.

Winter and spring (December–April) are the driest months with the best visibility. Manatees aggregate in warm springs (Crystal River especially) November–March. Hurricane season runs June–November.

Winter pairs the calmest water and best reef visibility with manatee season, when the springs are the reliable place to see them up close.

Stone crab claws (in season October–May), Key lime pie, fresh grouper, and Miami's Cuban sandwiches and café cubano are the state's defining dishes.

Manatees gather in warm spring water through the winter, American alligators are a constant presence in the Everglades, sea turtles nest on Gulf and Atlantic beaches alike, and the reef tract supports the classic run of Caribbean-style reef fish.

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary protects the third-largest barrier reef system in the world, and a deliberate program of sunken ships has turned parts of the coast into an artificial-reef wreck-diving destination. Inland, Florida's freshwater springs (Ginnie Springs among them) offer some of the clearest cave and cavern diving in the country, and swimming with manatees at Crystal River is one of the only legal, regulated encounters of its kind anywhere.