Florida Keys

Folklore, films and fiction have given The Florida Keys - a hundred mile chain of islands that runs to within ninety miles of Cuba - an image of glamorous intrigue they don't really deserve; at least not now that the go-go days of the cocaine cowboys in the 1980s are long gone. Rather the Keys are an outdoor-lover's paradise, where fishing, snorkling, and diving dominate.

Terrific untainted natural areas include the Florida Reef, a great band of living coral just a few miles off the coast. But for many, the various keys are only stops on the way to Key West. Once the richest town in the USA, and the final dot of North America before a thousand miles of ocean, Key West has lush, Caribbean-style streets with plenty of convivial bars in wich to while away the hours, watching the spectacular sunsets.