Mindful of the damage caused further north in the state, the Florida Keys reports that is back in business after sustaining some impact from devastating Hurricane Ian at the end of the September.

Destination representative Ashley Serrate told Travel Industry Today during a Toronto stop this week that Key West suffered minimal wind and rain damage, and other low-lying areas in the Keys saw some flooding, but that infrastructure in the South Florida region is generally back to normal – and that popular events and festivals like Fantasy Fest and the recently concluded Hemmingway Days are also taking place in person again.

And just in time for the annual winter visitation surge from Canada, which is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels with travel restrictions now removed.

“Canada has always been our No. 1 market and we’re starting to see Canadians coming back,” Serrate says.

And when they do, Canadians visitors will see an obvious focus on sustainability says Serrate – a not unlikely path for the 200-km-long island chain, which includes two national parks (including the Everglades) and 10 state parks amongst its attributes.

“We want to make sure our visitors leave a fingerprint, not a footprint,” she says.

One new option for environmentally minded visitors is “coral fragging” – a process of growing coral to be replanted in the ocean to help restore coral reefs.

The Keys are also welcoming fall with enhanced resorts offering 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.

In November, ground will be broken on an upgrade to Key West airport, expected to be completed in 2024 – at which point Serrate hopes the expanded facility will welcome direct flights from Canada (currently, the closest international airports are Miami and Fort Lauderdale).

Amongst the latest news:

A new Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary app is now available, providing information about the sanctuary’s 9,800 sq. km 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.

Attractions

• A five-year project to rehabilitate the iconic Old Seven Mile Bridge in the Middle Keys was completed saw the bridge section reopened to the public in January. A new 60-passenger tram, sporting a locomotive front and two 30-passenger coaches, is also now transporting visitors along the 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.

• Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium’s third land-based Keys coral nursery has opened at Reefhouse Resort & Marina at 103800 Overseas Highway, 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.

• In Key West’s Truman Waterfront Park the all-new Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center will 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.

• Marathon Mermaid Charters offers new Middle Keys boating excursions on the Marathon Mermaid, a 16-m. 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. It’s located at 1688 Overseas Highway.

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.

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 accommodates 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. The Aqua Lodges can be booked through various booking sites; an 800-reservation line is soon to be available.

• Set on a 6-hectare nature sanctuary, Baker’s Cay Resort Key Largo, a Curio Collection by Hilton, has unveiled Ooh la la at The Cay, the resort’s new wellness salon. The 200-room property also offers nature-based activities such as outdoor yoga, walking trails and watersports.

• In Islamorada, the 11-hectare Cheeca Lodge & Spa has unveiled 43 new luxury oceanfront suites – each with floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening to an expansive private lanai with open-air spa tubs. The Casitas at Cheeca Lodge villas have personalized butler service and feature one- and two-bedroom units, large furnished porches, full kitchens and washer and dryer.

• Also in Islamorada, Chesapeake Beach Resort has unveiled eight new oceanfront villas. An additional five new villas and a boat ramp and dock are to be opened during the upcoming winter holiday season. Villa types, each with kitchenette, include an ocean king villa, one-bedroom ocean view, a two-bedroom king and ADA-king efficiencies, and standard king units. 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.

• The Islamorada Resort Collection – Amara Cay Resort, La Siesta Resort & Villas, Pelican Cove Resort & Marina, and Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina – offers newly added watersports with guided jet ski tours and rentals. Spray Watersports at Pelican Cove leads 50-km guided jet ski tours through mangroves and past state parks, wildlife preserves and Alligator Reef Lighthouse (weather permitting), with a stop at an Islamorada sandbar. Additional boat and powered sandbar catamaran rentals and paddlesports are to be added later this year. The collection offers seven restaurants and bars, five pools, four beaches, four marinas and Islamorada Dive Center. All four properties are oceanfront in Islamorada.

• In Layton on Long Key, Lime Tree Bay Resort has added a third oceanfront pool and new landscaping and lighting along the beach, where guests can enjoy hammocks and sunset viewing. The upgrades are part of a $10-million renovation over the past five years.

• Noble House Hotels & Resorts has acquired 50% ownership of Key West’s Marquesa Hotel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 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 hotel features 44 rooms in restored Victorian-style properties that include Marquesa 4-1-4, three pools and lush garden settings.

Parks

• Everglades National Park, the continental United States’ third-largest national park is scheduled to celebrate its 75th anniversary on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Flamingo in mainland Monroe County – a 50-minute drive from the park’s entrance. The anniversary celebration will 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.

• In the Lower Keys on Big Pine Key the new Pine Channel Nature Park at mile marker 29 offers a scenic viewing area with boardwalk and 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.

Heritage

The Key West Business Guild is planning a 20th anniversary celebration to commemorate the island city’s famed 2-km-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 June 7-11, 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.