Things to do in

Key West Shipwreck Museum

Start your day on an air-conditioned bus from Miami Beach to Key West with a 4-hour drive. Watch as your tour guide points out the famous 31 Caribbean Islands along the drive known as the Florida Keys. Cross 43 bridges as you travel through the Keys to Key West. See the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico while driving by the coastline. Key West is the most southern point of the USA and only 90 miles from Cuba. Once you arrive in Key West, get 6 hours to explore the island at a leisurely pace. You can enjoy water activities, go on a hop-on trolly, stroll the artistic streets, or sit at outdoor cafes. Key West is the home of Ernest Hemingway, and you can visit his former residence. Nearby the cruise port, you can visit Mallory square for shopping. You may also choose to add one of the most popular adventure activities such as hop on hop off tour or the Conch Tour Train, Key West Aquarium, Key West Shipwreck Museum, Sails to Rails Museum, or the Truman Little White House. Make your way back from Key West to Miami Beach at 5:00 PM.

Since the first Spanish galleons began to traverse the Florida Straits in the 16th century, ships have wrecked along the treacherous reefs of Key West and the Florida Keys. Now, you can learn all about the area’s maritime past with a trip to the Key West Shipwreck Treasures Museum. Wrecking and salvaging – the recovery of wrecked ships and their cargo – was the foundation of Key West’s economy during the 1800s. The economic boom it created meant that by the mid-1850s, Key West had become the richest city per capita in all of the United States of America. Learn the history of the region’s shipwrecking past at the Key West Shipwreck Treasures Museum, with two floors of genuine recovered artifacts. See pieces of wrecked Spanish fleets dating back to the 1600s and 1700s, as well as pieces from the Isaac Allerton, wrecked way back in 1856. Guests can even lift a silver bar, which was salvaged from the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Senora de las Maravillas. The museum itself is a recreation of the 19th century wrecker tycoon Asa Tift’s warehouse, and includes a 65-foot look-out tower. At the Historeum, you can also expect storytellers in period costumes and an array of audio visual displays that brings the history of Key West to life.

Start your journey at the famous Kino Sandals Plaza, where you will meet with your local guide. On your walk listen to stories about how Key West became one of the wealthiest cities in the mid-1800s. Learn about the island’s shipwrecking industry, sponge harvesting, and cigar manufacturing.  The end of the tour will end at a buoy showing the Southernmost Point of the continental U.S. Here, your guide will give you free maps so that you can continue to explore the various shops,  museums, and other points of interest along this section of the island.