What should I pack for Key West?

Key West runs on tank tops and flip-flops. The dress code at most Duval Street restaurants peaks at clean shorts and a collared shirt. Even a nicer spot like Cafe Sole on Southard Street won't turn you away in smart sandals. Pack 3-4 quick-dry or linen-blend shirts, 2 pairs of lightweight shorts, and one pair of linen pants for evening drinks at Santiago's Bodega in Bahama Village. Leave the cotton at home. With humidity around 80% year-round, a cotton tee stays damp and clingy against your skin for hours after you step outside. Synthetic blends dry in 20 minutes on a balcony railing in the afternoon heat. Bring one light long-sleeve layer for air conditioning. Walking into the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum from the 32°C street feels like stepping into a walk-in cooler.

Sunscreen is the single most important item in your bag. Key West sits at 24.5°N, closer to Havana than to Miami, and the UV index hits 11+ between 10 AM and 3 PM from April through October. Bring reef-safe SPF 50 without oxybenzone or octinoxate. The Florida Keys reef tract is the third-largest barrier reef system in the world, and most snorkel charters from the Historic Seaport at Key West Bight check your bottle before boarding. You will burn faster than you expect. A full afternoon at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park means reapplying every 80 minutes if you're in and out of the water. Bring water shoes for that beach specifically. The entry from sand to ocean crosses a shelf of fossilized coral and broken shell that will cut bare feet. Secure-strap sandals beat flip-flops for the rest of the island. The 2-block approach to the Southernmost Point buoy draws a photo line 20-30 people deep most afternoons, and loose flip-flops slip on the smooth concrete when the crowd shifts.

If you're visiting between June and November, a packable rain shell is the item you'll regret forgetting. Afternoon storms sweep in from the Gulf of Mexico side, drop 20-30 minutes of heavy warm rain, and disappear. The temperature barely moves. A cheap poncho from a Duval Street gift shop won't breathe in 80% humidity. You end up soaked from sweat underneath it instead. Bring a real shell with pit zips or back venting. A 10L dry bag keeps your phone alive during a surprise squall on a sunset catamaran or a kayak trip through the mangroves off Stock Island, where salt spray and rain combine into a fine mist that kills unprotected electronics. December through March, swap the rain shell for a light windbreaker. Evenings can drop to 18°C when a north wind pushes across the Atlantic side, and the Mallory Square sunset crowd stands still for 45 minutes in that breeze.

Skip packing beach towels. Every hotel and guesthouse provides them. Leave the snorkel gear too. Outfitters along the Historic Seaport rent full mask-and-fin sets for $15-25 per day, and the fit matters more than the brand when you're floating above the reef at Sand Key, 6 miles offshore. Aloe vera costs half as much at the Publix on North Roosevelt Boulevard as anything you'd carry from home. Reef-safe sunscreen is the one exception to the buy-local rule. Tourist shops on Duval Street charge $18-22 for a 3oz tube that runs $9 on Amazon.