Key Largo

Before Europeans arrived, the Florida Keys were used by Indigenous peoples, among them the Tequesta and Calusa, who fished and gathered shellfish along the reefs and mangrove shores. Spanish sailors named the island Cayo Largo, the "long key", and for centuries the shallow reef offshore was a hazard for ships sailing the Florida Straits; salvagers, or wreckers, made a living from the cargoes. Bahamians visited the Keys from the 18th century to catch turtles, cut timber and salvage wrecks, and in the late 19th century small settlements grew up on the island, with a post office from 1870.

The island's isolation ended with Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad, which crossed Key Largo on its way to Key West in the early 20th century. The Labor Day hurricane of 1935 destroyed much of the line in the Upper Keys, and the Overseas Highway was opened along its route in 1938, bringing cars, fishing camps and later tourists. The 1948 film Key Largo, with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, made the name famous, and the local community of Rock Harbor later adopted it.

In the early 1960s the reef offshore became John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the first undersea park in the United States, and Key Largo grew into one of the world's best-known diving destinations. Hurricanes remain the island's great threat — Hurricane Irma caused heavy damage across the Keys in 2017 — and warming seas and coral bleaching are now a serious concern for the reef that sustains the local economy.

Key Largo's identity is tied to the water. Dive and snorkel shops, charter boats and marinas line the highway, and many residents work on the reef, as instructors, captains, guides or scientists. The island calls itself the diving capital of the world, and coral restoration — growing corals in underwater nurseries and replanting them on the reef — has become a local cause.

Life is informal and outdoors, in the easy-going style of the wider Keys, where locals are known as Conchs and Key West's tongue-in-cheek 1982 secession as the Conch Republic has come to stand for the whole island chain. Sunsets on the bayside are a nightly gathering point, fishing is part of everyday life, and Hollywood still lends the island some glamour: one of the two boats used in the 1951 film The African Queen is kept at Key Largo.

The island also has a strong conservation streak. Much of North Key Largo is protected as state park and wildlife refuge land, sheltering American crocodiles and rare animals such as the Key Largo woodrat, and residents tend to be protective of the reef, the mangroves and the clear water that draw visitors.

About 12,000 people live in the Key Largo census area, with more in Tavernier and North Key Largo, part of Monroe County, whose seat is Key West. Many homes sit on canals dug so that each house has its own boat access, and much of the housing is single-storey or raised on stilts against storm surges. A number of homes are second residences, and the population swells in winter when visitors and seasonal residents arrive from the north.

Tourism, diving, fishing and boating dominate the economy, alongside construction and services. The cost of housing is a constant issue: workers often struggle to find affordable places to live, and many commute from the mainland. Insurance costs, hurricane preparation and rising sea levels shape daily decisions, from how houses are built to which roads flood at high tide.

The rhythm of the day follows the weather and the water. Boats leave early, before the afternoon storms build in summer, and the evening centres on the bayside sunset. Supermarkets, schools and services are spread along the highway, and trips to the mainland for larger shopping are routine.

Seafood is at the heart of the menu. Yellowtail snapper, grouper and mahi-mahi are caught locally and served grilled, blackened or fried, often in fish sandwiches or tacos. Florida spiny lobster is a Keys speciality, caught in season, and stone crab claws, taken from the crab and served cold, appear from autumn to spring.

Conch, a large sea snail, gives the Keys their nickname and their best-known snack, conch fritters — deep-fried balls of chopped conch in batter. Conch chowder is common too. Because the queen conch is protected in Florida waters, the conch served today is imported, mostly from the Caribbean.

Key lime pie is the signature dessert: a filling of Key lime juice, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk in a pastry or graham-cracker crust, usually topped with whipped cream or meringue. Key limes are smaller, rounder and more aromatic than ordinary limes. Drinks are typical of the Keys — cold beer, rum punch and fruity cocktails served at open-air bars over the water.