Travel - Florida Keys

Soon we will be taking our first trip to the Florida Keys. I love to travel and I'm pretty organized. I like to break the trip down into a few different things:

Transportation - How am I going to get there?

Lodging - Where am I going to stay?

Activities - What am I going to do when I get there?

Food & Drink - What/where am I going to eat/drink?

Gear - What do I need to bring?

After I answer these questions, things start to fall into place. So here I will take you through my planning. I would love to hear any tips you might have for travel to the Keys, or things that we simply must do.

Also to keep in mind, we are traveling with 6 families that have children. There are 28 of us in our group! Each family is renting their own house.

Transportation

We are going to fly to the keys. I booked our flights on Southwest which is going to come in handy because I have a feeling we will be packing somewhat heavy. Since this will be a pretty water-centric trip we are going to need to bring our snorkeling gear, beach towels, and lots of sunscreen! I also always bring my running gear wherever I go. Ok, flight secure.

We are flying into Fort Lauderdale and then driving down to the Keys. It's about a 3 hour drive. We are going to need to rent a car. Fort Lauderdale is a busy airport. It is important to know which rental car companies are in the terminal in order to save time and hassle which for me is a priority:
Rental Car Companies Fort Lauderdale In Terminal

In terminal rental car is secure. I booked through priceline after using Kayak.com to weed out the different alternatives.

Lodging

We are going to do something different and stay in a trailer community. I am mostly a hotel or a vrbo kind of girl but I am pretty adventurous and open to trying new things. One of our friends has been to this place and he told me it's not what I think it is. After some online digging, I think it's going to be a really solid option.

The units are located on canals. You can rent a boat for the week and park it right in front of your place. You can wake up, take two steps out your door and the water will be right there. I chose a unit that has bikes and sea kayaks. Air conditioning is a must in Florida in the summer. We have a washer/dryer and all of the appliances that we need. Most importantly we have wifi! Here are just a few pictures of the community that I got from the (www.ventureoutresortnet.com) site. I want to post my own pics during my trip reporting so want to save some of the surprise:

Activities

We are going to be surrounded by water all week so having a boat is a must! We have rented a boat for the week. It's a 22' Angler with bimini top. We rented it from Keys Boat Rental. They will deliver it and pick it up for us for an extra $200. Our plan for the week is to be on the boat every day as much as possible. I bought each person in our family Cressi snorkels and masks and we are hoping to get out to lots of reefs in the ocean to explore. We have also hired a captain for a day to take the men in our group fishing. When we aren't on the boat we will most likely be swimming in the canals outside of our rental house or at the pool. We would also like to go to a nearby beach called Bahia Honda. Last but not least, a day trip in to Key West to eat, drink, do some shopping, and take our picture at the furthest point south in the United States.

Food & Drink

Since we are staying in a house with a fully equipped kitchen, we will mostly be cooking. We are traveling with a number of different families as I mentioned and we are hoping to all host a meal at our house. We are also really hoping that our fishermen bring us home lots of fish to eat. We will also plan on eating in Key West one evening but I'm not going to plan where. We will do a big grocery shopping trip just after we check in to our place. There will be a Winn Dixie about 8 miles from our place. We are also planning on stopping on our way down at the famous Robbie's to have lunch and feed tarpon.

Gear

Our gear needs will mainly be centered around swimming and snorkeling. I bought each of us a Cressi mask and snorkel.

I bought the girls in our family these Cressi Neoprene Mask Covers to protect our hair

I bought the kids in our family O'Neill rash guards

Grand Trunk Parasheet Beach Blanket (I never leave home without it)

I'm not posting links to this stuff because I'm not trying to sell it to you. I got all of this stuff on Amazon though and if you can't find it and want a link just post in the comments.

Other items that I am bringing:
Beach towels
North Face backpack (used as carry on and then to take out on the boat)
Mountainsmith fanny pack
GoPro with floating/water attachments
Cell phone waterproof case cover
Brooks running shoes
Crocs Cleo sandals are my go to in the water shoe
Sunscreen (lots of it)