Florida Keys

KelleyBean

We're thinking of taking a family vacation there at the end of the summer. DS will be a year old. Anyone been? Are there family friendly things to do or is it mostly nightlife?

ringer10

I was there pre-baby. I would recommend going to Bahia Honda Beach, I think it is near Big Pine Key... it is a national park and the beaches are BEAUTIFUL.  Not much else to do in that area, it is about an hour from Key West.

now I seriously want to be there.

Jacquiemark

Which part are you going to? I lived there for 5 years in Marathon and then mostly Islamorada. Honestly there is not much for young kids to do. If you're going to Key West there are a few tours. Mostly there are diving and snorkeling trips and bars, bars, bars.In Marathon and Key Largo, there are dolphin placed to swim and feed them. It's kind of pricey though.

KelleyBean

We were thinking of Key West but from what I can find it's not super kid friendly.

Jacquiemark

KelleyBean:

We were thinking of Key West but from what I can find it's not super kid friendly.

No not really.

Islamorada is also very beautiful. It's mostly big on fishing there. But at least it's not bar after bar after bar. Living there, I think I went to Key West less than a dozen times and that was mostly when there was a festival or some other stupid drinking extravaganza. The snorkling, diving, and fishing is just as great and a little less expensive in the Upper Keys.

Long Key State park is also very nice to walk around. There are no real beaches in the upper keys unless you go to one of the resorts where they threw down sand. There is a place called Anne's Beach south of Islamorada. Some days, you can basically walk out about half a mile in the water which is pretty nice. 

Kids seem to like feeding the fish at Robbie's Marina. Not sure about 1 year olds but it's pretty cool to see all the huge ass tarpon swimming at the docks. You pay about $3 for a bucket of bait and you toss it in the water and watch them come up. 

If you guys do decide to go, I can tell you all the awesome places to eat that are a must.  

HisKathy

we went to Key Largo a couple years ago in February and it was beautiful!  We did the snorkeling trip (which would have been fun had I not gotten seasick), the dolphin encounter (Dolphin Cove maybe?) which was a total highlight and we also did tandem parasailing which was awesome even though I'm afraid of heights.  There is also the coral reef to explore, lots of beach stuff.  I don't know how much there is to do for the little ones since we took the vacation as a last hoorah before having kids but it was such a great break from the midwest winter!