Amara Cay Resort

The Resort That Hands You a Paddleboard

Most Keys resorts sell the water back to you an hour at a time. Amara Cay includes it. The property runs along the ocean at the northern edge of Islamorada, a low white building set behind palms, with a pool looking straight out to the Alligator Reef lighthouse and a beach where the kayaks and paddleboards are lined up for guests rather than rented by the hour. Bicycles too. The effect is a resort that empties in the morning and fills again at six, which is the correct rhythm for this island and rarer than it should be.

Why It Works

Two reasons. The first is that inclusive kit, which changes what a day here looks like: a paddle out at dawn costs nothing but the effort, and the bikes make the restaurants along the highway reachable without a car. The second is the collection behind it. Guests can use the beaches, pools, marina and dining of two sister resorts nearby, with a water taxi between them, which gives a 110 room property the range of a much larger one while keeping its own beach quiet. The finish is contemporary and unfussy, the service straightforward.

Why This Location

80001 Overseas Highway sits at the top of Upper Matecumbe, where Islamorada begins. The Alligator Reef lighthouse stands offshore on the horizon, one of the best snorkelling and diving marks in the Keys, and the flats and mangrove channels of Florida Bay open a few minutes west. On land, the galleries, fish houses and tackle shops of Islamorada run south along the highway, Founders Park is close by for tennis and a swimming beach, and Theater of the Sea is just north. Key Largo is half an hour up the road, Miami about ninety minutes.

Fast Facts

• Price: upper end for Islamorada, premium in the winter season

• Vibe: contemporary beach resort, active, easy, family friendly

• Rooms: 110 rooms and suites, from standard kings to lanai rooms and ocean suites

• Best For: active travellers, families, divers and paddlers, dog owners

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the kayaks and paddleboards included with the room, and the lighthouse to aim at once you are on the water

• Dining: ReelCatch restaurant, poolside tiki bar, in room dining, plus the restaurants of the two sister resorts

• Amenities: oceanfront pool, private beach, kayaks, paddleboards and bicycles included, fishing excursions, fitness room, water taxi and access to sister property beaches and marina, dogs welcome

• Attractions: Alligator Reef lighthouse, Founders Park, Theater of the Sea, the Islamorada sandbars

Rooms Facing the Reef

The accommodation is arranged so the best rooms look east across the water. Categories run from standard kings through partial ocean views to lanai rooms that open directly onto the grounds and ocean suites with room to spread out. The style is bright and contemporary, pale timber, white walls, blue textiles, deliberately unfussy, and the balconies and terraces are used more than the rooms themselves. For a family, the suites are the ones to book; for a couple, a lanai room with the beach a few steps away does the job.

ReelCatch, the Tiki Bar and Two More Resorts

Dining on site runs from the tiki bar by the pool, which is where most afternoons end, to ReelCatch for a proper dinner without leaving the property. Beyond that the collection opens up: guests can eat at the sister resorts along the same stretch of Islamorada and take the water taxi between them, which turns a single hotel booking into a choice of tables and beaches. Off property, the Islamorada fish houses are a short bike ride and will cook your own catch.

Everything Included, and What to Do With It

The kit is the argument for this address, so use it. Take a paddleboard out early while the water is flat, cycle to the tackle shops, book a fishing excursion or a dive on the reef, and finish in the pool watching the light go behind the mainland. Families get the most out of it because nobody has to negotiate a rental every morning, and the beach is calm enough for children. It is not the most designed hotel in the Keys, but it may be the easiest to spend a week in.