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United States United StatesFlorida KeysIsland

Key West

12.8 km² of land in the Gulf of Mexico.

When to go

Key West seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
Key West
N 1 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

12.8km²

Area

44km

Coastline

14m

Highest point

26,444

People

30°C

Warmest sea

August

88km

To the mainland

When to go to Key West

Best for the beach from February to April and from November to December.

The sea is warmest in August (30 °C) and coolest in February (23 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island in Monroe County, Florida, United States

Key West is an island in United States. It belongs to Florida Keys. It covers 12.8 km², with 44 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 14 m. About 26,444 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 88 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Key West International Airport (EYW)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at EYW airport (Key West)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • FerriesSunset Key Ferry, Key West - Dry Tortugas National Park, Key West - Ft. Myers Beach, Key West - Marco Island (seasonal)
  • 88 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From February to April and from November to Decemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Key West.

  • 24beachesSmathers Beach, Higgs Beach, Dog Beach and 21 more
  • 3viewpointsMile 0
  • 2ferry terminalsSunset Key Ferry, Key West Bight Ferry Terminal
  • 4marinasKey West Bight Marina, Galleon Marina, A & B Marina and 1 more
  • 1castles and fortsFort Zachary Taylor
  • 3ruins and archaeological sitesBurnt Down Building, Battery 231, Battery Seminole
  • 3dive centresDivers Direct, Captain Hook, Lost Reef Adventures
  • 1waymarked walking routesEastern Continental Trail
  • 2campsitesNaval Air Station Key West Campground
  • 126hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 178restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Key West in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Key West, each with its own numbers.

  • 2beaches and covesCoastya
  • Beach with the warmest sea

    30.0°C

    Smathers Beach

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

2 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Smathers Beach30.0°C
  2. Higgs Beach30.0°C

Open Coastya ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 3 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 100 %0–50 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Key West13 km²
Capri10 km²
Manhattan54 km²

5 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Key West25,755 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)232324262729303029282624
Night low (°C)212223242628292928272423
Sea (°C)232324252728303030282624
Rain (mm)33342644961571271561771164939
Wet days756814232426241788
Sun h/day6.77.89.09.69.48.48.78.47.47.47.26.7
Wind (km/h)222021201916151616222322

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.7+0.8+0.5+1.8+0.3+0.5+0.8+0.2+0.6+0.7+0.7−0.2
2021−0.5+0.5+0.4+0.2+0.4−0.3−0.2+0.2+0.5+0.9+0.4+0.8
2022+1.2+0.1+1.2+0.5+0.7+0.5+0.8+0.3+0.9−0.2+1.2+1.1
2023+0.6+1.6+1.6+1.4+1.2+0.9+1.9+1.3+1.0+0.7+1.1+0.6
2024+0.2−0.3+0.7±0.0+1.7+1.0+0.9+0.8+1.1+0.5+0.7−0.7
2025−1.0+0.5+0.2+0.1+0.9+0.6+0.5+0.9+0.8+0.7+0.4+0.8

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

The Basilica School of Saint Mary Star of the Sea, Key West, Florida
Julian Lupyan · CC0
Sunset Key and Sailboats, Florida, 2025
Julian Lupyan · CC0
Red Royal Poinciana tree - Key West Florida May 2010
Matt Kieffer · CC BY-SA 2.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q1187170) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit