Key Largo is the first of the Florida Keys, the one you reach after the long straight run down from Florida City, and it is also the biggest, stretching some thirty miles along the line of the old coral reef. The Overseas Highway, US 1, runs through its entire length, lined with dive shops, tackle stores, seafood shacks and motels. The town itself has about ten thousand people, and fuel, groceries and food are easy to find all along the road, which is marked by mile markers counted from Key West.
The island's name, Cayo Largo, means long key in Spanish, and its fame in popular culture comes from the 1948 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, though most of it was shot on a Hollywood set. The African Queen, the little steamboat from the film of the same name, is on display in town. More important is John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the first underwater park in the United States, established in 1960, which protects a long stretch of living reef where visitors snorkel and dive among parrotfish, barracuda and brain coral.
Riding here is straight and sunny, with the sea on both sides and the horizon flat. Speed limits are low, police are active, and the road is crowded with tourists in rental cars, so it is a ride of patience. The pleasure comes in the light and the colour, the turquoise of the shallows, the mangroves, and the sudden bridges. Wind can be strong, and afternoon thunderstorms in summer are sudden and heavy. A mosquito-proof evening is not guaranteed, particularly near the mangroves.
If you have the time, take the Card Sound Road, the older alternative route from the mainland, which runs through mangrove swamp and ends at a cheerfully weathered seafood restaurant and a toll bridge. Crocodiles live in the canals here, and the Everglades lie just to the west. The best months are December to April, with dry air and mild weather. Summer is hot and humid, and hurricane season runs to November. Book accommodation ahead for winter weekends, since the whole island fills up.