Experience the best of Islamorada

Islamorada is spread across several islands, Plantation, Windley, Upper Matecumbe and Lower Matecumbe among them, strung along the Overseas Highway. The name is said to come from the Spanish for purple isles. Fishing is the town's identity: it calls itself the sport-fishing capital of the world, with charter boats for tarpon, bonefish and sailfish leaving from marinas on both the Atlantic and Florida Bay sides.

Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park preserves a quarry cut through ancient coral, and Indian Key Historic State Park holds the ruins of a wrecking town of the 1830s on a small island reached by boat. Lignumvitae Key has a virgin hardwood hammock, Anne's Beach has a boardwalk through the mangroves, and a memorial recalls those killed by the Labor Day hurricane of 1935.

Dolphinfish, yellowtail snapper, conch fritters and key lime pie are the staples, with stone crab claws in season from October to May. Winters are dry and mild, and the sea is warmest in late summer.