What’s New in the Florida Keys & Key West Autumn 2024

Keys Accommodation    

Islamorada’s 15-acre, 214-room Three Waters Resort & Marina, a Tribute Portfolio Resort, Marriott Bonvoy's collection of independent hotels, is to open 3 October as the brand's first in the Keys. The resort features The Cove, an adult-centric resort-within-a-resort with island-inspired rooms and king suites, a private beach lagoon, and the Wave Motion Studio, a beachfront fitness centre. A rum library offers tastings upon check-in. With 80,000 square feet of indoor and alfresco event spaces, the property offers nine dining concepts including Islamorada Pizza Co., a signature venue featuring wood-fired fare, and an outdoor Central American food hall. Also featured are two retail units, a water taxi, full-service marina and renovated Tiki bar. Activities include fly-casting, kayaking, offshore and backcountry fishing, and ocean adventures by Spray Watersports with a 26-mile personal backcountry watercraft tour. Nearby are sister Islamorada Resort Collection properties: the 110-room Amara Cay Resort and the 55-unit La Siesta Resort & Villas.    

Islander Resort Islamorada is unveiling new dining options that include the renovated coastal casual Tides Beachside Bar & Grill, and Drift, a new beachside dining pavilion. The dining venues join Elements Restaurant and the resort’s Oasis oceanfront food truck, serving fresh local flavours in a laid-back setting amid swaying palms. Additional renovations to expand the resort's beachfront area and one of the main pools are to be unveiled later this year. The upgrades are among recently completed resort enhancements, including fully renovated oceanside rooms and suites and the nearby Bayside Villas at Islander Resort.    

The Middle Keys’ Faro Blanco Resort, known for its iconic 65-foot Faro Blanco Lighthouse that dates from the 1950s, recently completed $14 million in renovations. Enhancements include updates to both the Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club, a Curio Collection by Hilton, and sister property, the Courtyard by Marriott Faro Blanco Resort, located at 1996 Overseas Highway in Marathon. Together, the resorts offer a total of 250 guest rooms, four pools, four dining options, a white sand beach and various water sports. The site also features the historic Parrish House, a two-bedroom bungalow that is one of Marathon's oldest buildings. Additional renovations encompass 10 to 12 poolside cabanas, the Ocean Spa - a 3,200-square-foot spa and wellness centre - and a state-of-the-art fitness studio.   

In Key West, the downtown 160-room La Concha Key West, an Autograph Collection Hotel has unveiled its new Grand Dame Villas at the Rooftop. The property's seventh floor now offers seven rooftop villas with a concierge-level experience. Villas feature floor-to-ceiling windows, balconies and a dedicated concierge. They include the Hemingway Suite, the largest, with a sunroom and guest copy of "To Have and To Have Not," written by Hemingway and set primarily in Key West; and the Sunrise, Sunset, Havana, Hibiscus, Tortuga and Flagler villas. The property's public spaces, including the lobby and exterior façade, are undergoing a full restoration set for completion by year’s end. La Concha originally opened in 1926.    

Keys Attractions   

The Key West Wildlife Center is unveiling a new elevated avian clinic and a welcome centre, both targeted for completion in early 2025, within the seven-acre Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park. The clinic is to offer therapy baths and digital X-rays to better serve native and injured wildlife. The new $2.4 million facility is to feature a dedicated treatment area with additional interior space for patient care, more exterior space for rehabilitation and protected space for education and outreach. The wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility, with a 24-hour wildlife rescue line, also provides rehabilitation for non-avian species. Some 1,500 native wildlife patients were rescued in 2023.   

In Key West, the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is unveiling a comprehensive “Spirits of the Passage” exhibit that documents the history of the transatlantic slave trade, its legacy and Florida Keys heritage - including Key West’s 19th century role as headquarters for the U.S. Navy’s antislavery squadron. The exhibit’s centrepiece is an extensive collection of artifacts recovered from the English merchant slave ship Henrietta Marie, which sank 35 miles west of Key West in 1700 after unloading enslaved Africans in Jamaica. Exhibit modules place the transatlantic trade in the context of its time, re-creating portions of the Henrietta Marie as well as depicting captured Africans’ homeland, the Jamaican plantation experience and Florida Keys elements ranging from Key West’s African Cemetery to the Cuban slave shipwreck Guerrero discovered off Key Largo. Plans call for the exhibit’s soft opening in October and a grand opening in mid to late November.    

Keys Environment   

In the Lower Keys, the Plant a Million Corals restoration organisation has successfully cultivated 40,000 corals at its land-based nursery in Summerland Key. PAMC, with goals of cultivating 100,000 corals by the end of 2024, was founded in 2019 by Dave Vaughan, a Keys coral reef scientist known globally for pioneering the micro-fragmentation method of growing corals. Each of the 100,000 corals can be fragmented into 10 pieces, with PAMC targeting a goal of cultivating a million corals by year-end 2025. The organisation also is growing mangroves in partnership with Key West–based Coastlove to help restore Keys coastlines. Visitors can book a tour of the Summerland Farms facility.    

Mote Marine Laboratory on Summerland Key has deployed a SeapHOx sensor at Looe Key in the Lower Keys to monitor pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity and temperature, to assess coastal acidification. High-resolution data collected by the sensor tracks subtle changes in the reef environment, offering early warning signs of stress conditions. Complimentary public tours are conducted Tuesdays at 10 a.m.    

Keys Transportation   

Conch Connect, a new on-demand, door-to-door rideshare service between Key West and neighbouring Stock Island, has been launched by Monroe County. Conch Connect operates daily from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. with all-electric Teslas. Rides are $2 per person, per ride, with payments made via the Freebee app. Users can download the app by searching "Ride Freebee" on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.    

Key West’s Walk on White kicks off 17 October from 6-9 p.m. and is set for the third Thursday evening of each month. Strollers can sip complimentary drinks and explore an array of arts-focused venues with works by painters, photographers, sculptors, ceramic and mixed media artists and artisan jewellers. Arts lovers can enjoy creative demonstrations and musical and literary performances. WOW, launched in 1999 to promote and showcase the island’s midtown artists, now features more than 25 businesses in the White Street Gallery District.    

For more information on the Florida Keys & Key West, visit www.fla-keys.co.uk