Key West sits at the southern tip of the Florida Keys, surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. Its Gulf-facing beaches stay largely protected from the Atlantic sargassum that affects South Florida's east coast.
Key West is the southernmost point of the continental US, surrounded by water on all sides. Its main beaches face south and southeast — the Gulf side stays calmer than the Atlantic side of the Keys.
Key West generally sees less sargassum than Florida's Atlantic coast. Its position at the tip of the Keys, with Gulf water on one side and the Florida Straits on the other, gives it different exposure dynamics. Water clarity is typically good, though it doesn't match the turquoise clarity of the Bahamas or Turks & Caicos.
Key West was once the wealthiest city per capita in the United States — not from tourism, but from 'wrecking': the licensed, competitive salvage of ships that ran aground on the treacherous Florida Reef. Professional wreckers would race their boats to reach a stricken ship first, claiming the legal right to its cargo — a business that made Key West fortunes in the 19th century and funded the ornate Victorian mansions still standing on its streets. Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West through the 1930s, writing 'A Farewell to Arms' and 'To Have and Have Not' while deep-sea fishing these waters — his cats' descendants (with the famous six toes) still roam his home, now a museum.
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