Your Key West CME conference.

Key West after your study day

Study days finish at 2:00 PM Key West time. Mallory Square, at 400 Wall Street in the historic district, hosts the Sunset Celebration, a nightly gathering where people watch the sun set into the Gulf of Mexico among magicians, jugglers, musicians, artists and food vendors. The square’s own site lists nearby attractions: the Key West Aquarium, built in 1932 as the island’s first attraction, Mel Fisher’s Maritime Museum, with artifacts from a 1622 treasure fleet, and the Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House. Check each museum’s open days against your 2:00 PM finish, and leave extra time on sunset evenings for the crowd. Mallory Square also has an air-conditioned shopping building with gift shops, art galleries and coffee shops, and Old Town Trolley Tours runs a narrated tour with 12 stops, a way to see the island without a car.

Travel, lodging and attraction entry are arranged separately from your study day. Choose one outing per afternoon rather than trying to cover the whole island.

Old Town, Duval Street and the Hemingway Home

Visit the Florida Keys names the Southernmost Point and the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum among the stops in Key West, and it mentions live music on Duval Street. The Hemingway Home has gardens, a museum shop and a living room wall display of the Pilar with photos from his fishing trips. The museum’s cats descend from Snow White, a white six-toed cat that a ship’s captain gave Hemingway. Check its site for any special closures on the day you plan to go.

Choose Old Town if you want historic streets to wander. The tourism board’s lodging listings include a bed and breakfast in Old Town, and its Key West page mentions Victorian B&Bs.

Four museums, one society

The Key West Art & Historical Society operates four historic sites that each serve as a museum: the Custom House, the Key West Lighthouse and Keeper’s Quarters, Fort East Martello and the Tennessee Williams Museum. Its site links a Lighthouse Sunset Experience as one of its offerings. The society’s page does not give open days, so check its ticketing page before you plan around a particular site.

On and under the water

Visit the Florida Keys describes diving on the Vandenberg wreck, reefs with coral gardens and colorful fish, and fishing charters that target tarpon, sailfish and snapper. Mallory Square’s attraction list includes Fury Water Adventures, which it connects with snorkeling, sunset cruises and parasailing. Ask each operator about departure times before you commit, and compare them with your 2:00 PM finish.

A day at Dry Tortugas National Park

Dry Tortugas National Park lies almost 70 miles west of Key West, according to the National Park Service. The park covers about 100 square miles, mostly open water around seven small islands, and it can be reached only by boat or seaplane. Fort Jefferson on Garden Key is built from more than 16 million bricks. The park also has snorkeling and diving among more than 300 sunken ships, including the Windjammer Wreck, and brown noddies nest seasonally on Bush Key.

Operators named on the park’s planning page include the Yankee Freedom high-speed catamaran and Key West Seaplane Charters, which lists morning, afternoon and full-day tours. Visitors must bring their own food, water and supplies, and the park warns of rough seas and primitive conditions. Treat it as a day outside your study schedule.

When to visit Key West

Visit the Florida Keys gives average winter highs of 75–76 degrees Fahrenheit and says it almost never rains in those months. Highs climb from 79 degrees in March to 85 in May, and the first thundershowers appear by late May but rarely last long. Summer highs average 88–89 degrees, and the board notes that the surrounding ocean waters keep the air a few degrees cooler than on the mainland. In fall, highs fall from 88 degrees in September to 80 in November. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, with the highest storm potential between August 15 and October 15, so check the forecast before a late-summer trip. Water temperatures follow the seasons too, averaging 69–72 degrees in winter, up to 86–87 degrees in summer and 76 degrees by November.

Getting to Key West and your study setting

Key West International Airport (EYW) is at the southeast end of Key West, at 3491 South Roosevelt Boulevard. By road, Visit the Florida Keys describes the Overseas Highway as a 113-mile route with 42 bridges. Choose accommodation with your afternoon plans in mind.

The map shows straight-line distances from Shift’s designated center. These are orientation distances, not driving distances or travel-time estimates. Check your exact address against the conference’s check-in area before booking.