Dan Eidsmoe

Ask Keys residents where to find the best cup of coffee, and you will get multiple answers. Unlike on the mainland, most will not include traditional coffee or coffee shops, such as Starbucks. Instead, locals will recommend Cuban colada or buchi served at small mom-and-pop stores or gas stations. With names like La Niña, DeLuna’s or La Guajira, these stores typically also sell groceries, pastries and Cuban sandwiches.

Although a beautiful dive during the day, the wreck of the freighter Benwood comes alive at night in a sort of circus show of underwater creatures. Schooling fish, sharks, eels, crustaceans and turtles rest here at night. Parrot fish sleep in a mucus bubble they create to protect against parasites. Lobsters and crabs shuffle along the rusting surface of the wreck. Small shrimp make snapping noises to deter predators.

Beachcombers, scuba divers and snorkelers typically avoid urchins. If you step on one or accidentally bump into it, your skin can be punctured by the creature’s needle-like spines. Once under the skin, the spines are difficult to remove. Florida Keys marine biologist Jim Brittsan, however, is excited by the round spiny creatures. As he explains, a healthy urchin population in the Caribbean is vital to the health of coral reefs.