Tavernier

71 days to the Keys!

Tavernier is not an island, but rather another town on the island of Key Largo.  As you leave behind the strip malls and dive shops of Key Largo, the island turns more residential.  Tavernier is almost a "suburb" of Key Largo.

Around MM 92.5, on the left as you head down (Ocean Side), you'll see a turnoff for Harry Harris Park.  If you go down that road, Harry Harris Park is located in the area where the original town of Planter was located in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Planter was a stop on the railroad and was a community noted for growing pineapples and limes.  Two hurricanes pretty much wiped out the pineapple crop in Planter, and key limes were overtaken in popularity and availability by the larger Persian lime, essentially putting and end to farming in Key Largo.

Today, Tavernier is, by Keys standards, a sleepy little community of private homes, Bed & Breakfasts, and a few small shops.  The aforementioned Harry Harris park is a very nice, well-maintained park with a sandy stretch of beach on a small man-made lagoon and is a nice place to spend an afternoon if you're staying in the Key Largo area for a while.