(BLACK PR WIRE) -- How would you like to take an underwater stroll, meet the world’s tallest man and experience nearly two centuries of Afro-Caribbean life in one day? It’s all in the Florida Keys, a chain of islands off Florida’s southern coast. The major cities of the Keys are connected through a single highway. If you want a place to start, you can begin your trip at the northern point of the Keys, Key Largo.

Key Largo is renowned for its underwater scuba diving and snorkeling activities. The John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is known as “America’s First Undersea Park.” Visitors can explore one of the few living coral barrier reefs in the world in crystal-clear, shallow water. If you prefer to stay dry, there are glass bottom boat tours that give you the same close-up view of the Keys’ unique wildlife. As you travel south to Bahia Honda Key, you will come across Bahia Honda State Park. This is a more conventional park with opportunities for snorkeling, kayaking, fishing and swimming.

Key West is not only the final stop in your journey down the Keys, it is the southernmost point in the continental United States. In Key West, you can visit the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum. The Ripley’s franchise operates museums worldwide specializing in unusual facts, customs and people. You will meet an 8-foot-11-inch man, see a coin-covered car, and brave your way through a vortex tunnel. If you get hungry afterwards, Key West is the place to pick up some key lime pie and conch….anything! If you want conch fritters, conch salad or conch chowder, just name it and they’ve got it. Conch – both the meat and the shell – is practically the official symbol of the Florida Keys. Keys residents have nicknamed the region the “Conch Republic” and themselves as “Conchs.”

Many Key West residents are descendants of Bahamian immigrants. The predominantly black neighborhood of Bahama Village is named for the original Bahamian community. Today, it is a tourist attraction with shops, restaurants and the Lofton B. Sands African-Bahamian Museum. This museum chronicles Key West’s black community past and present with pictures, arts and crafts, and other memorabilia. Whichever point you start at, you can unlock a fantastic vacation in the Florida Keys.