tell me about the beaches

Never been to KW and am heading there in June with a bunch of girls I went to college with.

Am very excited. We are staying at Pier House.

What are the beaches like in Key West? What about at Pier House?

Thanks!!

tell me about the beaches

The keys are coral and all the beaches there are man-made. The beach at the Pier House is about as good as you%26#39;ll find at a Key West hotel...also man-made and probably LOTS smaller than any natural beach you%26#39;ve ever seen. But it%26#39;s plenty big for sunbathing and there%26#39;s a nice roped off area in the water with a raft for swimming.

Frankly, I think you%26#39;re going to LOVE the Pier House and Key West! I can pretty well guarantee you that Key West isn%26#39;t like any other place you%26#39;ve been...that%26#39;s the reason we%26#39;re all so addicted to it!

tell me about the beaches

Beaches on Key West ate not the best. They tend to be pebbly or even rocky. The Pier House has a nice small man made beach and a nice big pool. It%26#39;s a very nice resort and has a great restaurant. The best public beach is Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. There are some really nice half and full day sails that will take you to the reef and a few small desert islands for snorkeling, swimming and sunning. Sebago, Fury, Sunny Days, and Floridays are some of the better operators.

The reason that Key West lacks natural beaches is because of the barrrier reef approximately six miles off shore. You%26#39;ll find near shore waters tend to be very tranquil because the waves break on the reefs. Without the natural wave action at the shoreline, beaches aren%26#39;t formed. FYI.

There%26#39;s more to the lack of beaches in the keys than the presence of the barrier reef. Ambergris Caye Belize has a reef half a mile off shore, no waves, but does have a ribbon of sand all along the Caribbean coast. There is sea grass in the water, but there is also beautiful soft white sand along the shore.

Perhaps our beaches were stolen? :-)

Actually, Key West, unlike Belize, is made primarily from limestone and coral which do not provide the best base material for sand. As an example, the Navy, between 1943 and 1972, used the %26#39;Marl%26#39; that was dredged out to make the deep water base at Truman Waterfront to fill in the wetlands that lay to the east forming %26#39;New Town%26#39;. They found that once it dried, it set like concrete. Key West grew by 2/3. Even with that, according to the peope at the Key West Aquarium, the lack of wave action is the primary reason for no beachs. Just as an aside, they also say that Parrot fish are responsible for about 1/4 of the sand that is here. (They eat coral and expell sand.)

Look for yourself...

babette.smugmug.com/gallery/588958#P-1-15

Page 2 contains photos of the gardens at the Pier House that surround the pool.

Look at the 2nd photo on page 3. Last photo on page 5. First two photos on page 6 8-). Last photo on page 7.

After this you will start to recognize things.

Pjk

So THAT%26#39;S why it%26#39;s called Parrotfish Poop Point......I was wonderin%26#39;.....lol

I believe this page will help clear this ';matter'; up a ';tiny bit,';

...and it has photos.

www.jhu.edu/eps/news/flkeys/node15.html