Lifestyles

We were not going to see a Florida Keys sunset.

After driving my wife, four kids and mother-in-law 1,500 miles -- about as far south as one can go without wheel pontoons -- I would not get to stand spellbound as a mellow orange orb sizzled into the lazy waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

We'd missed one the first evening, exhausted from a long drive and figuring it could wait a day. We'd missed another at Key West when dinner took much longer than anticipated.

This had been our last chance. I grimaced, took a deep breath, and looked for the first-aid cream.

Like life, traveling includes disappointments. You can dwell on them, or you can accentuate the positive.

On Bahia Honda Key, there's a lot of positives. Even the hermit crabs are fascinating, provided you stay wary.

Most visitors to the chain of low-lying islands stretched off Florida's southern tip don't stop until they reach Key West.

Papa Hemingway's spirit still dominates his old haunt, which is heavy on boats and bars. Except for a day trip on a catamaran out of Key West harbor, we opted instead for Bahia Honda, an unspoiled spot in the Middle Keys.

The two-mile coral island, shaped like a melting violin, is a state park. So Bahia Honda's beaches, easily the best in the rocky Keys and contenders for tops in the state, are protected from the high-rises that consume much of Florida's coastline.

We spent our nights on the beach there the only way possible -- in a tent.

Camp sites in the secluded hardwood hammock on the island's Atlantic coast are for tents exclusively. The park also has a larger RV camping area, and air-conditioned cabins for rent, which sit on stilts around a deep channel where swimming is prohibited.

Our site -- one of eleven opening directly onto the beach -- stood on a slight rise, shaded by a huge tree. A private path led down to the shore, where gently rolling aquamarine stretched to the horizon and Cuba beyond.

In the shallow water, fish coast over sea grass beds and rocks sheltering crabs, soft coral and seahorses. Within minutes of donning their facemasks, our children were cautiously tracking a stingray as it slowly glided along the bottom.

The park rents kayaks for leisurely exploration of the great mangrove lagoon in the island's middle. Trails offer a chance to spot the Miami blue butterfly, which lives only on Bahia Honda.

For more adventurous snorkeling, we took a daily charter out of the small harbor to Looe Key, a federally protected section of the continuous reef that lies a few miles off the islands' windward side.

Among its inhabitants, the guide said as we chugged out, are a small colony of bull sharks. He reassured us that they leave swimmers alone.

Still, seeing the shadowy shapes cruising 15 feet below put lead in my stomach and caused my 7-year-old to shrink into a ball and squeeze my hand in panic. As it turned out, she had much more to fear from a hermit crab.

When oil tycoon Henry Flagler built his ambitious railroad to Key West a century ago, Bahia Honda posed the greatest engineering obstacle.

The ocean is mostly shallow in the Keys, and while the feat required prodigious amounts of concrete and time, setting the pilings was straightforward work. But Bahia Honda -- Spanish for "deep bay" -- is named for a 35-foot-deep channel between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico known for its powerful current and strong tidal surges.

You can still walk out onto a road built atop Flagler's railroad truss, which survived a 1935 hurricane, although much of the line didn't. When new bridges were built through the islands, this one, like many of the originals, had a section cut out and now serves as a fishing pier with panoramic views.

The Keys' most celebrated span, Seven Mile Bridge, provides a grand approach to Bahia Honda. Unfortunately, there's no place to pull over and take pictures once you're driving on it.

But the old bridge alongside is a popular place for strolling or biking, and a prime locale for sunset watchers, or so I'm told.

Park rangers hold Friday night campfires for overnight guests at Bahia Honda, with educational programs about local wildlife, such as the miniature Key deer.

The diminutive creatures, less than 3 feet tall, live in a refuge on the next island over, Big Pine Key. They evolved from stranded whitetails and were almost wiped out by hunters until a conservation push in the 1940s saved them.

Herons and egrets flourish in the more tranquil Keys, and sometimes strode along our beach. At Tavernier, closer to the mainland, the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center offers closer looks at various waterfowl, plus owls and ospreys, that are recovering from encounters with power cables or fishing lines. Scheduled feedings in the afternoons are a feathered frenzy not to be missed.

East of Bahia Honda is Marathon, the busiest town before Key West. A motel there has converted its swimming pool into a Turtle Hospital, where visitors can see loggerheads injured by boat propellers whiling away their days in safe retirement.

For such a sleepy, overlooked stretch of islands, Bahia Honda and its neighbors have much to offer. Even for those who fail to catch a sunset.

In the tent, for instance, I found the predawn glow stirring me awake each morning. Then I would nudge my wife, and while the kids and their grandma slumbered, we would steal quietly down to the beach.

Those Florida Keys sunrises, they're glorious.

If you go

When to go: The Florida Keys are slightly cooler than the mainland in summer, and slightly warmer in the winter, which is near-perfect. Low season is September to mid-November.

Getting there: Air service is available to Key West and Marathon, but otherwise access is via the 110-mile Overseas Highway. Bahia Honda is 75 miles from the mainland and passing lanes are scarce, so don't set out on Friday night or Saturday morning.

Bahia Honda Key camping: $26 a night plus tax covers as many as 8 people. Reservations are through reserveamerica.com or by calling 800-326-3521. Sandspur sites 64-72 are the best waterfront spots for tents.

Activities: Bahia Honda Key has nature trails, kayak rentals by the hour or day, and snorkel gear for sale or rent. A charter that spends 90 minutes at Looe Key is $29 for adults, $24 for kids, with gear for $6 extra.

Fishing: Tarpon, enormous fighters but terrible eating, thrive in the channel at Bahia Honda. Marathon's charter captains will comb the flats for the elusive bonefish or head to sea for marlin or mahi mahi. Rates vary, with private trips running about $800 per day for four to six people.

Sailing: Sebago in Key West has the best deal. A full day "Island Ting" cruise on a catamaran, including snorkeling, sea kayaking and a cannonball contest plus breakfast, lunch, a snack and all the Yuengling, sangria or soft drinks you want is $77 for adults, $42.50 for children. Plus they throw in a free sunset cruise the next day. (We skipped it so we could catch hermit crabs at our camp.)

Food: If you're not cooking the day's catch -- or beans and franks -- on your camp stove, you must leave Bahia Honda for dinner. Marathon has many choices, from Pizza Hut to the acclaimed and pricey Barracuda Grill. Vegetarian pitas can be had at Good Food Conspiracy on Big Pine Key.

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