Florida Keys’ Islamorada: Sea Trove of Activity

You’re on top of a serene blue world on the high white bridge just south of Lower Matecumbe Island in the Florida Keys.

Depending on which way you turn, the waters gleam azure or sapphire: Toward mainland Florida the warm, shallow bay is an opalescent aquamarine; across the deep Atlantic your eyes skim electric shades of blue as far as the Gulf Stream, a river of indigo pushing north at seven knots.

This unbound, living sea is the main reason to visit the Keys. Here, the sun rises out of the Atlantic and sinks into Florida Bay, and you can witness both events the same day simply by crossing the Overseas Highway.

Many travelers think of the Keys only as anchors for Highway 1’s 115 miles and 42 bridges from the mainland to Key West. But there are hundreds of keys in Florida Bay, and the long chain connected by the road is divided into the Upper, Middle and Lower Keys, all with their own attractions. Green mile markers along the highway (often used as addresses) start at zero in Key West and end at 126 just below Florida City on the mainland.

The Islamorada group of islands in the Upper Keys, beginning at Plantation Key (Mile Marker 90) and stretching south to Long Key (MM 68), calls itself the “sport fishing capital of the world.”

The town of Islamorada on Upper Matecumbe Key has the largest concentration of charter fishing boats in the entire chain of islands, with several large marinas furnishing charter trips or rental boats so you can fish for tuna, amberjack or blue marlin, or sail into Florida Bay, part of Everglades National Park, to watch for endangered crocodiles, manatees and roseate spoonbills.

Fishing reports are always available if you can scan your way through the ubiquitous Cuban salsa on the car radio to chatty WCTH, 100.3 FM. This local station also tells you where the local captains are and who has chartered them.

But fishing is only one reason to stop over on this 20-mile stretch of the Keys. Many nearby attractions, including the continental United States’ only living coral reef, superior hotels and the best restaurants outside of Key West, make Islamorada an attractive final destination in Florida.

Pronounced EYE-la-mor-AH-da, this island group was named “Purple Isles” for the wild morning glories covering Upper Matecumbe Island, according to “Conch” (native) historian John Ovitt.

“One story goes that the Spanish named the islands for violet snail shells on the beaches,” he said, “but the area wasn’t known as Islamorada until early in this century when the wife of an engineer constructing Flagler’s Overseas Railroad admired the flowers.”

Although the Keys are no longer the pristine paradise that greeted 16th-Century Spanish explorers, or the sparsely populated islands that Henry Flagler and his railroaders encountered in 1905, the Islamorada area has many relatively unspoiled sites.

Newest of the area’s four state parks is the San Pedro Underwater Archeological Preserve, opened last year a mile south of Indian Key. Ovitt and others, working with the Florida Department of Natural Resources, have enhanced the site where the 287-ton, Dutch-built galleon San Pedro sank. They replaced the anchor, which had been removed years ago, and added cannon replicas cast from artillery on her sister ship San Jose , also sunk in the area.

“Twenty-one ships loaded with treasure left Havana on Friday the 13th in 1733,” Ovitt says, “and only one survived a great hurricane. Eleven wrecks lie in our waters, but the San Pedro is the most interesting. The site is 18 feet deep and easy for snorkelers and divers to explore.” Ovitt also says that night diving, here and at natural reefs, is becoming popular. “Many corals blossom at night and you can watch sleepy parrot fish.”

Ten-acre, uninhabited Indian Key, a mile off Lower Matecumbe, is rich in above-ground archeological sites such as circular cisterns and foundations. This tiny island is indebted for its colorful past to Capt. Jacob Housman, a famous “wrecker” who set up headquarters here in the 1830s.

In deep water only four miles from Alligator Reef, Indian Key provided an ideal location for Housman to watch for the hundreds of ships being wrecked. Business was a resounding success, and he built Florida’s first resort, the Tropical Hotel, with a bowling alley and billiard room. Indian Key became a busy port and the seat for Dade County in 1840. (The seat is now Miami.)

The island attracted John James Audubon, who visited in 1832 and recorded birds he had never seen before, and Dr. Henry Perrine, a botanist who cultivated agave, tea, coffee and bananas.

But when the Second Seminole War broke out in 1835, Chief Chekika heard Housman was negotiating with the government for a contract to kill Indians at $200 a head. The chief and a hundred warriors attacked the island in 1840, killing Perrine and forcing Housman to flee.

On April 13 and 14, 1991, the 13th annual Indian Key Festival will re-enact the 1840 attack with authentic costume, weapons, encampments and tours of the island. The defunct post office is even reactivated to issue first-day covers.

The Park Service also offers a trip to Lignumvitae Key State Botanical Site, just opposite Indian Key on the bay side of Lower Matecumbe. This 280-acre island is a rare example of a virgin sub-tropical hardwood forest, once common in the Upper Keys. The 1919 coral-rock Matheson House, too, is unchanged.

Thursday through Monday there are two-hour tours, in 24-passenger boats, of Indian Key and Lignumvitae Key. You must have reservations, and fees are $6 for adults and $3 for children under 12.

For nature walks, visit Long Key State Recreational Area at MM 67.5 and see wading birds in the mangrove-lined lagoons and a vista of the tropical hardwood forest from an observation tower. One nature trail is called the Golden Orb, after the red and gold spider that weaves a huge web. There are ranger-led programs, picnicking and camping. Everyone tells you there’s a beach at Long Key, but it’s a very narrow strip of sand lined with Australian pines.

For information on parks, tours and festivals, contact the Park Manager, c/o Long Key State Recreation Area, P.O. Box 776, Long Key, Fa. 33001, (305) 664-4815.

One of the Keys’ tourist leaflets states, “The beaches here are distinctive.” Yes, they are. Where they exist at all in the Upper Keys they are slim and rocky, with limestone sand laced with sharp coral. But you can’t have everything, and the Keys’ lack of beaches has surely cut down on exploitation.

At MM 102.5 on Key Largo, not strictly in the Islamorada area but an easy drive, is the Keys’ most popular attraction, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Park boats can take you diving or snorkeling, and the glass-bottomed “Discovery” makes the fairyland reef accessible to everyone. The nation’s first underwater state park is very crowded on weekends.

Back in Islamorada at Theater of the Sea (MM 84), the world’s second oldest marine park, you can sail in a “bottomless” boat with a perimeter for passengers and a center for Atlantic bottlenose dolphins to jump into. The dolphin lagoon is an old excavation of the Overseas Railroad, which was pushed through to Key West in 1912 and destroyed by a hurricane in 1935 that also took 423 lives.

Theater of the Sea is big on audience participation, and small enough to make the fun feel personal. Children can perform with the seals and ride a boat towed by dolphins. Good swimmers 13 and up can swim with a dolphin for 30 minutes for $65.

Colorful jobs abound here. Four times a day employees step into a pool of nurse sharks, picking one up for visitors to “pet.” In another pool, Mark Giro feeds giant stingrays as dozens of pelicans waddle noisily on shelter roofs and hover overhead, hoping for a free bite.

“The most dangerous animals here are these pelicans,” he says, as a big brown specimen divebombs him for a mouthful of fish intended for a turtle.

The Islamorada Chamber of Commerce lists 41 hotels, motels, resorts and condominiums in the area. Nightly winter rates range from the Cheeca Lodge listed at $195 to $325 to the Key Lantern Motel at $37-$50.

Apart from Key West, the Islamorada area has more good restaurants than any other area in the Keys. You’ll find three things on every menu: conch fritters, key lime pie and dolphin. (Dolphin served as “catch of the day” is no relation to the porpoise you swam with. It’s simply mahi-mahi.)

A mermaid beckons you into Lorelei, MM82, where fishing guides, including those specializing in the back country, hang out. Lorelei is open from 7 a.m. until it closes. You can sit outside and be eyed by an egret studying your $5.25 Key Largo fish sandwich. The key lime pie served here with gobs of whipped cream is very good.

After waiting for a table and glancing at the menu at popular Ziggie’s Conch, MM83, you wonder what all the fuss is about.

The uninspired bill of fare is straight out of the ‘50s, offering fried shrimp, fish du jour and advising “all entrees served with chopped lettuce salad.” But then Ziggie stops by your table mumbling a long verbal menu, with specials like yellowtail served “rangoon” or delectable softshell crab, and on and on.

Entrees run about $17, and the children’s menu starts at $5.25 for a hamburger. Don’t miss the conch fritter appetizer with a dip of soy, honey, mustard and a mystery ingredient. Ziggie says, “I was married once and I learned not to tell everything.” He knows how to charge for a small slice of key lime pie at $3.

Manny & Isa’s Kitchen, MM 81.6, may try your patience with its noisy, cramped dining room, but the Cuban specialties are worth it. For $6.75 you can have picadillo , a pork chop or palomilla steak with rice, black beans, salad and bread. Fish of the day goes for $12.95, or if you want to eat cheap for a week, invest $15 in a gallon of black bean soup to take back to your motel. Great key lime pie is a bargain at $1.95.

The Green Turtle Inn, MM 81.3, one of the Keys’ most famous and popular restaurants, has been in business since 1947 with walls covered by old newspapers and photos. But it’s dark and too smoky, with a menu on the ordinary side. Full-course dinners featuring dolphin “a la Roxie” or alligator steak start at $14.50. Children can eat for $2.50, and key lime pie is $2.75.

Marker 88, on Plantation Key, is reputed to be the best restaurant in the Keys. The menu is ambitious and extensive (ditto the wine list), with dishes like rice colonial Bombay and fish Algerian. As a change from fish, chef Andre Mueller includes a variety of steak and veal dishes from $16 and up, and a children’s menu starts with spaghetti at $2.95 with fish, shrimp and scallops going for $8.45. The interior is slightly on the dreary side, but the food is very good.

If you’re on a budget or have to feed a group, consider the huge Coral Grill, MM 83.5, for a casual buffet with quantities of roast beef and steamed shrimp.

The Atlantic’s Edge Restaurant at the Cheeca Lodge serves a fine dinner in an elegant room with an ocean view. Families are welcomed, with reduced portions of many items half-price for children 12 and under, and the “fish you caught today” can be prepared for $14 per person.

Conch fritters are great, if not cheap, served in a spicy tomato-basil sauce for $6. Fresh vegetables and herbs abound in dishes like broiled grouper with garlic and black bean sauce for $18, or steamed dolphin with tomatoes, fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar for $16.75. Lamb chops with fried zucchini spaghetti will run you $27, and out-pricing even Ziggie’s, key lime pie is $4.

For the Islamorada Visitors Guide, contact the Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 915, Islamorada, Fla. 33036, (800) 322-5397.