Flights from Miami to Key Largo

Key Largo is a little under 44 nautical miles south of Miami, almost all of it water. A seaplane covers it in about sixteen minutes in the air. For a small plane, a helicopter or a jet the time depends on the aircraft and the field you leave from, and it comes back with the quote.

By road it is an hour to an hour and a quarter without traffic, on one of two roads out of Florida City, so on a day trip most parties spend far longer on the island than in the air.

It depends on where you want to end up and what you carry. A seaplane puts you on the water on the bay side or the ocean side, agreed for your date.

A small plane lands at Ocean Reef with permission or at Homestead about half an hour away by road, and a jet lands at Marathon with a car for the last leg; both handle more weight and rougher water.

Where the helicopter sets down is settled with the operator when you book. We quote the options side by side so you can compare. Driving from Miami works too, but the Eighteen Mile Stretch has no way around anything once it backs up.

No. The whole route stays inside Florida, so your party fills in nothing and carries nothing beyond its bags. We take the headcount and the names once when you enquire, and the flight plan, the slot and the car at the far end sit on our side. The baggage guidance lists what may travel and what needs to be mentioned in advance. Nothing has to be printed or carried.

Not a public one. The only runway on the island is Ocean Reef Club Airport at the north end, a private-use field of about 4,400 feet that serves the club, its members and their guests, so permission to land is needed first.

The nearest public field is Miami Homestead on the mainland, about half an hour by road, and a jet uses Marathon further down the chain. A seaplane needs no runway and comes down on the water instead. Which of these suits your day is the first thing we answer when you send your dates and your party size.

That depends on the aircraft. A seaplane lands on the water rather than at an airport, on the bay side or the ocean side, agreed for your date.

A small plane lands at Ocean Reef or at Homestead, a jet at Marathon about 48 miles down the Overseas Highway, and the car for the last leg is booked with the flight. Where the helicopter sets down is settled with the operator when you book, and it comes back to you with the quote.

Yes, and it is the most common way this route is flown. On a charter the aircraft waits for you, so the return is set by you and not by a timetable. Out in the morning, back in the evening.

A seaplane lands from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset, and a return after dark lands on a lit runway instead of on water, so the latest useful departure comes with your date. If you would rather stay a night, tell us when you enquire and the return is planned for that day.

It is a question of weight, not of the number of bags, and it differs by aircraft. Floats carry less than wheels, and a jet carries the most. Say what is coming when you enquire, including rods, dive gear and anything with a battery, and the answer comes back with the quote rather than at the aircraft.

Dive gear and rods are the usual request on this island, and they are rarely a problem once we know how many. If the load decides it, the aircraft is chosen around what you bring, not the other way round.

It suits families well for a day out of Miami. The flight is short, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park puts the reef within reach of a snorkel trip, and the island carries family resorts and marina hotels along both shores between mile marker 107 and 91.

Sunrise and the reef are on the ocean side, sunset and flat water on the bay side. On a charter there is no terminal and no queue, which is usually what makes the difference with small children.

Yes. Key Largo is the first island in the chain rather than the last, and the same aircraft can carry on to Islamorada, Marathon and Key West, or come back up to Miami. Tell us the shape of the whole trip when you enquire and it is quoted as one booking. A trip that ends somewhere other than where it started is one movement, not two charters.

Every aircraft handles weather differently. A seaplane needs calm enough water to land, a small plane and a jet use the runway and a jet can climb above much of it.

If conditions are below what is safe, the crew moves or cancels the flight and the weather and delays policy says what that means for your booking. That call is always the crew's, and because summer afternoons move more flights than mornings, an early departure is the safer plan.

No, and it is not meant to be. A scheduled seat is cheaper because someone else picked the time and you share the aircraft. A charter buys you the aircraft: your departure, your return, your party only. On a day trip that usually means several more hours on the island, and no waiting in a terminal at either end, which is the comparison worth making.

We send the price for the whole aircraft, so you can split it across your party and compare fairly. Tell us what matters most, the time on the island, the landing point or the budget, and we suggest the aircraft that fits it best.

Yes, pets travel in the cabin with you. The one thing we ask is that you tell us at the enquiry, with the type of animal and its weight, so the seating and the load plan are right from the start.