In Florida, you can go at any time of the year, because there is always a season: the parrots sit down on their hands, Cuban salsa sounds, juicy oranges fall from the trees. Enjoying the sea wind and citrus fruits with the highest vitamin content in the world, you will understand why this state ranks first in life expectancy among other American states. What is this Florida - a resort under a star-striped sky?
Quarter of bohemia.
One of the laws of the United States says: the coastal zone of the country should be only in the property of the state. This means that a private person does not have the right to buy a piece of beach and let him exclusively "his own". Of course, on the beach can be umbrellas and sun loungers hotel, which is nearby. But immediately, anyone who just drove by by car can settle down. And, most remarkable, in America, no one is allowed to take money for using a public beach. Another thing is if the beach is not on the outer coast, but inside the country, on the shore of the bay, river or lake. For example, the island of Fisher Island in the city of Miami is a separate area with its school, police and ambulance, with golf courses, tennis courts and swimming pools. Once in three years from the Bahamas, white snow quartz sand is brought here and palm trees are changed every five years. Without the invitation of a local resident to Fisher Island you will not be allowed to entertain, and it is useless to resent it: private property in America is inviolable. But nearby, on the beach of Miami Beach, you can easily be at least 24 hours a day. This is a classic American beach. Rescuers in Miami Beach are watching to ensure that a powerful undercurrent does not blow the bathers into the open ocean. The busiest part of Miami Beach - South Beach - is adjacent to the bohemian quarter of Art Deco. Here's the Madonna's restaurant, here's the de Niro mansion, here's the Stallone gym, and the News cafe where Versace was shot. Therefore, South Beach - a place of rave and restless: then part of the beach will turn into a set, then build a podium and rock a rock concert. It is much calmer to sunbathe in half-empty recreation areas in the northern part of Miami, where the service is higher, and hotels are cheaper than in Art Deco. Here on the top of each lantern sits a huge pelican. Birds calmly clean their feathers, not paying attention to the ringing of instruments, music and the whistles of the ship-palace, leaving into neutral waters.
The sun after the hurricane.
The Atlantic coast of the USA is often called "golden", but this epithet is difficult to attribute to the beach of Daytona Beach, which is in Central Florida. The matter is that the main city route passes between a line of hotels and a place of mass bathing. Workers in orange vests carry road signs during the tide, when waves roll on the highway, and put in their original place as soon as the water drifts back. For those who want to relax in an ecologically clean and peaceful place, one can advise the beautiful beach of Titusville near Cape Canaveral. Semi-empty parking and the absence of loud music - just overgrown with grass sand dunes and measured noise of the sea wave. Titusville has the status of a nature reserve, rare offspring of turtle breed here. Tortoise masonry covered with fabric nets, next to each of them stuck a flag and a sign with the inscription: "Please do not get close." From time to time on quad bikes with thick wheels along the edge of the water rides the coast guard - monitors the safety of turtle clutches and the rest of the holidaymakers. Only two factors can disturb the serenity of rest on the beach of Titustvill: the launch of a space rocket from Cape Canaveral and a sudden hurricane. But the launch of the rocket is even interesting to see with your own eyes, and to the vagaries of the weather in Florida you need to be calm. If two or three trees are felled, the roof of the car was crumpled and for a few hours the light was turned off - this is not a hurricane. A real storm is a much more serious matter. The element sweeps everything in its path: it breaks houses, sinks ships, crushes bridges and cuts off wires. In Florida, for many years now operates a center for the study of hurricanes. Going on vacation, you can always call there and find out the weather forecast for the next few days. In general, when you receive information about the impending weather, all vacationers are sent to the shelter - in a shelter prepared for the case of a hurricane, where there are supplies of food, food and everything necessary. Even the most severe hurricane lasts no more than three days, but then permanently good weather is established for a long time.
Leave corals alone.
To get to the southernmost point of the US - the town of Ki-West, you need to move along the islands of the archipelago of Florida Keys, stretched for a length of 250 miles. The road is extraordinarily beautiful: on the right is the tranquil Mexican Gulf, on the left is the turbulent Atlantic. On the entire surface of the ocean are scattered multicolored balls, denoting the places where the nets for catching sea animals - shrimp, lobster, squid are arranged. Each owner of the network has a special coloring of the floats, registered in the local maritime administration. Large brown spots are coral formations grown on the bottom. Pirate ships that have stumbled upon these reefs lie at the bottom of the islands. Perhaps that's why the most popular type of diving in the Florida Keys archipelago is called "river diving" (from the word wreck - wreck) - diving on wrecks. Diving among ancient cannons and rusty anchors, you should know that from here you can not take anything away from memory. It is also forbidden to touch corals. They grow only a few millimeters a year, that is, to reach an average size, they need centuries. That's why a small broken branch in Florida can be awarded a serious penalty. Twenty years ago, when the scuba diving was launched, a special red and white sign appeared on the islands of Florida Keys, marking the most interesting places of the underwater kingdom. And in the Emerald Lagoon, off the coast of the island of Ki-Largo, the underwater hotel "Jules" (in honor of the science fiction writer Jules Verne) was built, which was especially liked by the newlyweds. At 10-meter depth, you can make a wedding ceremony and spend the wedding night in the sea depths. For accommodation in this hotel, you must show a certificate of immersion and permission from the doctor. And, of course, you should have some amount of money, because one night in this hotel is "just" $ 395. On land, you can find a drier and cheaper hotel, for example, Cheeca Lodge on the island of Islamorada. "Cheeca!" - an enthusiastic exclamation of Latinos, like our "oh!". It is this cry involuntarily escapes from the tourist at the sight of the beach, which looks like a picture from the advertisement of "Bounty". Foam wave polish white sand, strewn with fruits of coconut trees. True, it's dangerous to walk there. Coconuts are very heavy and can cause serious injury if dropped.
The Maritime Police.
Knowledgeable people argue that there is no such sunset, as on Key West, anywhere else in the world. Thousands of people come here only to see the purple ball dissolving in silver water. They say that someone who sees a green ray in the halo of the setting sun, will soon be lucky. That's why the room at the hotel, overlooking the sunset, in Key West is paid much more expensive than for the same number on the other islands of Florida Keys. By the evening, along the whole embankment, the lights come on, musicians, clowns, jugglers, swallows of fire appear. Everything is filled with the public, and in the cult stew "Nerayha Joe", where he sat up until the morning Hemingway, reigns a formidable pandemonium.
In Key West it is impossible to return from fishing without a catch. The newcomer can rent a boat equipped with echo sounders and radars "Makisi-5" with an ultra-modern navigation system and all kinds of devices for hunting for marine life. However, it is not necessary to catch fish. It's enough just to fall apart in a striped chaise longue, sipping a cocktail and enjoying the sea. Managing the motor boat independently, do not break the rules of sea traffic. Guardians of the water police cut the water area on huge boats with powerful engines of 600 horsepower. They have a habit of appearing suddenly, immediately they cut a siren and start flashing with multi-colored searchlights. The reason for the increased vigilance is easy to understand: Ki-West is only 90 miles from Cuba and is washed by the border waters.
"High Season" in Ki-West lasts from December to June, the rest of the year is called "low season". However, for Florida, "peak" and "decline" - the concepts are relative. The sun is here a lot all year round, and often people want not the heat, but the winter coolness and a light breeze. So visitors are unlikely to immediately notice the difference between the seasons. And they will be glad to any of them.
Without sharks and jellyfish.
Having set off from the early morning, you can cross Florida in only half a day. The road passes through the Everglades reserve, where the swamp used to be, but now exotic plants bloom and pink flamingos walk. Do not be surprised to see the networks stretched along the road. This is a barrier for crocodiles, so they do not get out on the roadway. Especially for tailed predators under the highway tunnels were dug. They are used to them and know that this is their own highway. On the island of Marco Island, you can immediately see that the Atlantic coast of Florida is significantly different from the Mexican. The Atlantic is unpredictable, it's an open ocean with all the surprises that come from here - sudden storms, surf waves, jellyfish swimming on beaches. Therefore, for all its prestige, rest in Miami has disadvantages. On the beach are stones and seaweed, sand is very hot, the probability of the appearance of sharks is not ruled out. Surfers here do not envy. Compared to all this, the Mexican coast is just a paradise. Due to the shallow depth the bay warms up rather quickly, so the water in it is often 5-6 degrees warmer than in the Atlantic Ocean. The smallest quartz sand, weak wave, silky bottom - all this reminds our Black Sea. Water in the Gulf of Mexico due to constant tidal exchange is always clean and transparent, the underwater world is unusually beautiful. As for sharks, they are not found in the Gulf of Mexico - they prefer deeper and cooler water.
In the shops of the island of Marco Island, everything you need for a holiday holiday is sold: all kinds of tan spray and inflatable toys, masks and tubes, sunglasses and towels. All this is inexpensive and attracts attention. Here you can buy an elegant seashell as a souvenir, but it's better not to hurry with it, given that on the beach just so lie exactly the same. Whatever you say, it's great to devote the day to the sea, and in the evening to get together with the whole family at the table!