The difference among the various keys is like the differences among different countries as you travel.
Por Favor -
Key Largo is nearly 100% tourism and diving. It's at the top of the keys. That's where Flipper was filmed (if you've ever seen this program on Nickelodeon). Great place for an aquatic interactive family vacation. Lots of group dive boats/ diving instruction/ etc. Close to Miami International Airport. Been through town >100 times and probably stopped 5 times never longer then an hour or so.
Islamorada has awesome fishing infrastructure. Top rate marinas and condos for die-hard fishing people in islamorada and they can accomodate any size fishing boat you have. Holiday Isle is a pretty cool place in islamorada. I've been there maybe a dozen times but never lived there.
Key Vaca (marathon) has great services. It's about in the middle of the keys (mile marker 50). It has two distinct classes of people. First there is a class like a bunch of hillbillies who don't use (and maybe are not capable of using) clocks. I lived there full time for about 6 months circa 1992 and met plenty of these fun folks; it really was fun and I'm not putting these people down. But regardless you have to stop at Porky's whether by boat or car for a meal. The other class of people are snowbirds (winter residents) and middle/ upper class people who buy a second home there; owning the waterfront homes. Behind the airport is pertty cool and also convenient if you're one to fly in and out regularly; it's gulf side. I had a gulf front second home there for about 5 years in the mid 90's and enjoyed it quite a bit but never stayed for more then about 2 weeks at a time. Just too busy in my life at the time. Only minutes from the 7 mile bridge. Fishing is fair. Lobstering is incredible. Great tarpon fishing a couple times per year at the 7 mile bridge. Watch out for the hammerheads eating your catch though as is common in passes. "Big Moe" is a 24' hammerhead who has quite a reputation down there. Each pass has a local big hammerhead who rears his head during tarpon runs. Diving on Sombrero reef can be nice on a flat sunny day but the wind there is often not accomodating. Been there 100+ times.
Big Pine Key is pretty laid back if you want serinity in the keys. Enough there to enjoy the good life without the bustle of much activity. Wildlife (key deer) etc. I've drivin through and stopped there but never lived/ stayed there. Met some locals who seem very content to be there.
Key West is very unique. Very heavy in tourism and in culture/ character. Very big gay community there. Plenty of marinas, fishing, a Naval Air Station and LOTS of bars. Great place to visit for the superbowl, etc and get very drunk, but not so sure I could enjoy living there. Been there maybe 20 times mostly to take friends who want to see what it's like.
Can't speak for bandwidth anywhere in the keys; never traded from there. Water there is an issue. There's only one pipe coming down US1 and when it's broken or undergoing matinenance, the water goes off. It costs more then power. Can only imagine same for fibre optic line and to this day I don't know if Key West is hooked up or not. If Key West is, the rest of the keys are. Another issue is that "single line" whereas fiber optic is looped pretty much everywhere such that when a problem occurs, the traffic is rerouted. I would imagine outtages could be extended down there, and the farther you go, the greater the chance of a problem just like with the water. In Costa Rica a branch falls on a power line 50 miles away and power is out for 15 hours or more. Be careful how remote you get if you want to depend on a single line of anything. With trading I would imagine you could do a cellular wireless broadband connection. Sprint has the best system down here as they have had for what seems like 10 years now (probably been 8 or so). It's "almost as fast as dsl" is how we locals describe it. Makes a fine storm backup but would not want to depend on it for everyday data.
Depending on your budget and desires, I recommend Boca Raton/ Deerfield Beach. I kept my 28' center console there for 5 years fishing out of Boca Inlet. Right in the inlet is free live bait (goggle eyes/ threadfin herring) caught on sabiki rigs as fast as you can load them into the livewell. Sailfish & Wahoo plentiful 1 mile out of the inlet and Blue Marlin 5 miles out of the inlet. Dolphin (Mahi) all inbetween. I will take to my grave my remembrence of that huge blue marlin in that purple water leaping higher then the boat. Best fishing on the planet I know of and I have been around and put in more time than most fishing the Atlantic in ME, Nantucket, Ocean City MD, Cape Hattaras, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, all through the Keys, 10,000 Islands, Naples/ Marco, Sanibel Captiva, Boca Grande, Sarasota, Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, Carribbean Coast of Costa Rica and numerous other places which slip my mind at the present. I mainly fish big game/ salt water but have fished for little fishes at times. Boca Raton is higher rent and Deerfield Beach is nice yet much cheaper then Boca Raton. I can't speak from experience but it HAS to have great fiber optic there. Boca Raton is a major financial center. Rent before you buy so you can see what the place is like. It's a buyer's market for boats right now. Spend $175k on a nice $300k house and another $75k for a $150k boat. There's a great dry dock inside of Boca Inlet at the US1 Bridge in Deerfield Beach. Cross that bridge and you're in Boca Raton.
Whatever you do, have fun! Best weather on the planet 360 days per year.
Por Favor -
Key Largo is nearly 100% tourism and diving. It's at the top of the keys. That's where Flipper was filmed (if you've ever seen this program on Nickelodeon). Great place for an aquatic interactive family vacation. Lots of group dive boats/ diving instruction/ etc. Close to Miami International Airport. Been through town >100 times and probably stopped 5 times never longer then an hour or so.
Islamorada has awesome fishing infrastructure. Top rate marinas and condos for die-hard fishing people in islamorada and they can accomodate any size fishing boat you have. Holiday Isle is a pretty cool place in islamorada. I've been there maybe a dozen times but never lived there.
Key Vaca (marathon) has great services. It's about in the middle of the keys (mile marker 50). It has two distinct classes of people. First there is a class like a bunch of hillbillies who don't use (and maybe are not capable of using) clocks. I lived there full time for about 6 months circa 1992 and met plenty of these fun folks; it really was fun and I'm not putting these people down. But regardless you have to stop at Porky's whether by boat or car for a meal. The other class of people are snowbirds (winter residents) and middle/ upper class people who buy a second home there; owning the waterfront homes. Behind the airport is pertty cool and also convenient if you're one to fly in and out regularly; it's gulf side. I had a gulf front second home there for about 5 years in the mid 90's and enjoyed it quite a bit but never stayed for more then about 2 weeks at a time. Just too busy in my life at the time. Only minutes from the 7 mile bridge. Fishing is fair. Lobstering is incredible. Great tarpon fishing a couple times per year at the 7 mile bridge. Watch out for the hammerheads eating your catch though as is common in passes. "Big Moe" is a 24' hammerhead who has quite a reputation down there. Each pass has a local big hammerhead who rears his head during tarpon runs. Diving on Sombrero reef can be nice on a flat sunny day but the wind there is often not accomodating. Been there 100+ times.
Big Pine Key is pretty laid back if you want serinity in the keys. Enough there to enjoy the good life without the bustle of much activity. Wildlife (key deer) etc. I've drivin through and stopped there but never lived/ stayed there. Met some locals who seem very content to be there.
Key West is very unique. Very heavy in tourism and in culture/ character. Very big gay community there. Plenty of marinas, fishing, a Naval Air Station and LOTS of bars. Great place to visit for the superbowl, etc and get very drunk, but not so sure I could enjoy living there. Been there maybe 20 times mostly to take friends who want to see what it's like.
Can't speak for bandwidth anywhere in the keys; never traded from there. Water there is an issue. There's only one pipe coming down US1 and when it's broken or undergoing matinenance, the water goes off. It costs more then power. Can only imagine same for fibre optic line and to this day I don't know if Key West is hooked up or not. If Key West is, the rest of the keys are. Another issue is that "single line" whereas fiber optic is looped pretty much everywhere such that when a problem occurs, the traffic is rerouted. I would imagine outtages could be extended down there, and the farther you go, the greater the chance of a problem just like with the water. In Costa Rica a branch falls on a power line 50 miles away and power is out for 15 hours or more. Be careful how remote you get if you want to depend on a single line of anything. With trading I would imagine you could do a cellular wireless broadband connection. Sprint has the best system down here as they have had for what seems like 10 years now (probably been 8 or so). It's "almost as fast as dsl" is how we locals describe it. Makes a fine storm backup but would not want to depend on it for everyday data.
Depending on your budget and desires, I recommend Boca Raton/ Deerfield Beach. I kept my 28' center console there for 5 years fishing out of Boca Inlet. Right in the inlet is free live bait (goggle eyes/ threadfin herring) caught on sabiki rigs as fast as you can load them into the livewell. Sailfish & Wahoo plentiful 1 mile out of the inlet and Blue Marlin 5 miles out of the inlet. Dolphin (Mahi) all inbetween. I will take to my grave my remembrence of that huge blue marlin in that purple water leaping higher then the boat. Best fishing on the planet I know of and I have been around and put in more time than most fishing the Atlantic in ME, Nantucket, Ocean City MD, Cape Hattaras, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, all through the Keys, 10,000 Islands, Naples/ Marco, Sanibel Captiva, Boca Grande, Sarasota, Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, Carribbean Coast of Costa Rica and numerous other places which slip my mind at the present. I mainly fish big game/ salt water but have fished for little fishes at times. Boca Raton is higher rent and Deerfield Beach is nice yet much cheaper then Boca Raton. I can't speak from experience but it HAS to have great fiber optic there. Boca Raton is a major financial center. Rent before you buy so you can see what the place is like. It's a buyer's market for boats right now. Spend $175k on a nice $300k house and another $75k for a $150k boat. There's a great dry dock inside of Boca Inlet at the US1 Bridge in Deerfield Beach. Cross that bridge and you're in Boca Raton.
Whatever you do, have fun! Best weather on the planet 360 days per year.