October 2022: The Florida Keys & Key West are welcoming autumn with enhanced resorts offering spacious new villa-style accommodations and new 'Aqua Lodges' for overnight stays at marinas. In the Middle Keys, a colourful 60-passenger tram is transporting passengers across the Old Seven Mile Bridge to historic Pigeon Key.

Significant upcoming heritage anniversaries also are planned. In early December, Everglades National Park will celebrate its 75th anniversary at the Flamingo area in mainland Monroe County.

Additionally, Key West celebrations in June 2023 are to mark the 20th anniversary of Gilbert Baker's creation and unfurling of the island city's 1.25-mile-long sea-to-sea rainbow flag, billed as the world's longest rainbow flag.

Among what's new:

Keys Transportation

FlixBus, the European intercity mobility company offering bus and rail services in 36 countries, has added two new Keys stops: in Key Largo and on Big Pine Key. In Key Largo, buses stop at 99501 Overseas Highway for southbound trips and at 99551 Overseas Highway for northbound trips. On Big Pine Key southbound trips stop at the U.S. Post Office parking lot at 29959 Overseas Highway, while northbound trips depart from a pullover spot at 30026 Overseas Highway.

In the Middle Keys, a new 60-passenger tram, sporting a locomotive front and two 30-passenger coaches, is now transporting visitors along a 2.2-mile span of the historic Old Seven Mile Bridge to Pigeon Key. The bridge, nicknamed 'Old Seven,' was originally the centrepiece of railroad magnate Henry Flagler's Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad, which debuted in 1912 and connected the Keys with each other and mainland Florida for the first time. Pigeon Key, a five-acre island nestled beneath the bridge, was once home to about 400 workers constructing the railroad.

Key West International Airport is beginning construction on its two-year, $100 million Concourse A terminal expansion, with targeted completion in late 2024. The new 48,000-square-foot, second-level concourse is to include a spacious departure and additional baggage areas, seven passenger boarding jet bridges, an expanded security checkpoint to support up to four security lanes and an extended passenger bridge connecting the existing terminal building with the new concourse. Currently, six carriers – Allegiant, American, Delta, Jet Blue, Silver, and United – serve the airport with daily nonstop flights. For international travellers, services from Miami International Airport can easily connect to Key West.

Keys Accommodations

New 'Aqua Lodges' – 38 waterfront two-bedroom, one-bath tiny house–style accommodations – are offered at marinas in Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine Key and Key West. Each lodge has a full kitchen, flat screen TV and air conditioning and is about 350 square feet, accommodating a maximum four adults and two children. In Islamorada Treasure Harbor Marina has six lodges. In Marathon Coconut Cay RV Park and Marina has 10, with Key Colony Marina offering two. On Big Pine Key there are 13 lodges at the Old Wooden Bridge and Hurricane Hole Marina on Stock Island has seven.

In Islamorada the 27-acre Cheeca Lodge & Spa has 43 new luxury oceanfront suites, each featuring more than 550 square feet, to open this autumn. Each suite has floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening to an expansive private lanai with open-air spa tubs. The Casitas at Cheeca Lodge villas have personalised butler service and feature one- and two-bedroom units from 750 to 2,100 square feet, large furnished porches, and full kitchens.

Also, in Islamorada Chesapeake Beach Resort has unveiled eight new oceanfront villas. An additional five new villas are to be open during the upcoming winter holiday season. There are various villa types and each features a kitchenette. The resort's lobby has also been fully renovated. The property currently offers 60 units rooms and suites with balconies, two pools, a beach bar and beach venue for weddings, events, family reunions and corporate retreats of up to 100. Kayaks and fishing rods can be rented.

In Layton on Long Key, Lime Tree Bay Resort has added a third oceanfront pool located 10 feet from Florida Bay. New landscaping and lighting enhance the property's quarter-mile-long beach, where guests can enjoy hammocks and sunset viewing. The upgrades are part of a $10 million renovation over the past five years that includes a new dockside guest building; 10 new 1,600-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bath townhouses with full kitchens; upgraded amenities such as daily complimentary breakfast and use of bicycles, paddleboards, kayaks, barbecue grills and twice-weekly beach yoga classes. The 67 rooms and suites have access to hammocks, barbecue grills and seclusion among more than 100 palm trees.

In the Lower Keys on Sugarloaf Key at the 14-acre Sugarloaf Key/Key West KOA Holiday campground, new holiday rental units in two buildings can be reserved for stays starting May 2023. The rentals feature a queen bedroom, living space with sofa bed and private bathroom, plus kitchen and balconies. Campground amenities include a pool, air-conditioned café, pub with live music, private beach, marina, and watersports rentals.

Noble House Hotels & Resorts has acquired fifty percent ownership of Key West's Marquesa Hotel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its 80-seat Café Marquesa in a partnership with local owners Carol Wightman and Erik and Derek DeBoer. The acquisition is Noble House Hotels & Resort's third Keys property; it fully manages, owns, and operates Ocean Key Resort & Spa in Key West and Little Palm Island Resort & Spa on Little Torch Key. The Marquesa Hotel features 44 rooms in restored Victorian-style properties that include Marquesa 4-1-4, three pools and lush garden settings.

La Te Da Hotel, a 15-room all-welcome adult-only property on Duval Street in Key West, has fully renovated its outdoor bar and seating areas. The property features well-appointed guest rooms, a pool, two full-service bars and multiple entertainment venues with live entertainment.

In Key West at Parrot Key Hotel & Villas, a native Florida Keys plants display in the guest lobby showcases the benefits of indigenous plants to Keys ecosystems. Books from Books & Books at The Studios of Key West, artists' prints of native species and decorative butterfly boxes from the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory are displayed for sale. The resort has also added on-site scavenger hunts for kids as an educational experience for learning about Keys ecosystems.

Keys Parks

Everglades National Park, the continental United States' third-largest national park covering 2,400 square miles in South Florida, is scheduled to celebrate its 75th anniversary on 3 December at Flamingo in mainland Monroe County – a 50-minute drive from the park's entrance. The anniversary celebration is to include a ceremony, open house at the new Guy Bradley Visitor Center and tour of the 24-unit Flamingo Lodge & Restaurant scheduled to open in 2023. Camping in the Flamingo campground and furnished eco tents is currently available. The park also is hosting the Everglades Iron Ranger Challenge, highlighting 75 miles for 75 years, where participants can earn a patch and certificate for recording 75 miles of activity.

In the Lower Keys on Big Pine Key the new Pine Channel Nature Park offers a scenic viewing area with a 9,500-square-foot boardwalk and 11-foot raised deck, bike racks, restrooms, a kayak and canoe launch area, Tiki huts and picnic areas with barbecue grills. Swimming at one's own risk is allowed. Located at the former Big Pine Swimming Hole, the renovation was funded by the Florida Keys tourism council and the Florida Department of Transportation. The park is home to a historic Henry Flagler concrete mile marker more than a century old and believed to be one of only three remaining. Flagler conceived and built the Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad that was launched in 1912, connecting the Keys with each other and mainland Florida for the first time.

Keys Heritage

The Key West Business Guild is planning a 20th anniversary celebration to commemorate the island city's famed 1.25-mile-long sea-to-sea rainbow flag, billed as the world's longest rainbow flag, with events to take place during the guild-produced Pride festivities set for 7-11 June 2023. The flag was sewn in Key West in 2003 by original rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker to mark the 25th anniversary of his original banner's debut. Baker spent three months in Key West while he and helpers sewed approximately 17,600 linear yards of fabric weighing more than 3 tons.

Keys Attractions

Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium's third land-based Keys coral nursery has opened at Reefhouse Resort & Marina, expanding the Upper Keys' resilience-focused coral restoration efforts. Mote – raising brain, star, and branching corals both onshore and offshore – outplants coral along the entirety of the Florida Keys reef tract. A separate Mote satellite land-based coral nursery is at Bud 'N Mary's Marina in Islamorada and public tours are available each Tuesday at 2 p.m. Reservations can be made at mote.org/Islamorada. At the Keys' Mote Marine Laboratory base on Summerland Key, Mote offers public tours Tuesdays at 10 a.m. with reservations.

In Key West's Truman Waterfront Park, the all-new Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center is to open to the public in November. The state-of-the-art, family-friendly attraction features contemporary new exhibits including one that introduces visitors to Keys mangrove habitats and allows interaction with life-size mangrove branches. Exhibits include a colourful light-filled aquarium showcasing coral restoration, an interactive paddleboard experience and shipwrecks of the Florida Keys Shipwreck Trail. A freestanding main exhibit focuses on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary through multiple videos and hands-on interactive activities.

Marathon Mermaid Charters offers new Middle Keys boating excursions on the Marathon Mermaid, a 53-foot custom-designed vessel that offers sunset cruises around the Seven Mile Bridge. Other tours offered include a sandbar experience and reef snorkel tours in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary at the famous Sombrero Reef. The boat also can be booked for private charters.

Keys Apps

A new Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary app is now available, providing information about enjoying the sanctuary's 3,800 square miles of waters surrounding the Keys. The Marine Sanctuary Explorer app describes the sanctuary's more than 50 marine zones with easy-to-read guidelines about allowed activities. GPS-enabled technology alerts users when approaching the sanctuary's no-wake and other managed zones and delivers real-time information about rules and regulations. The app is free to download for Apple and Android devices.