According to the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce, Key Largo was first sighted by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon on May 15, 1513. He named it Cayo Largo, meaning the "long rock shoal." According to the Keys History website, the first indication of a settled community on the island was in 1870, with the establishment of a post office in the present Rock Harbor area. The census of 1870 listed the island's population as comprising 60 people. It wasn't until the Florida land boom of the 1920s that the island's land began being developed.
The island is the fossilized remains of a coral reef that became exposed and died when sea levels dropped. Key Largo's substrate is known as Key Largo Limestone, and the island is bereft of the white, sandy beaches found on the other keys. Inland, the island's flora is sustained by a rich soil made up of decomposed vegetation. The north of the island contains a protected area of hardwood hammocks that provides breeding grounds for the endangered American crocodile.
The John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to the east of Key Largo is a popular destination for scuba divers. It is the site of the only living coral reef in the U.S. and has given the island the predominantly self-styled moniker of being the "diving capital of the world." The abundance of marine life on the reef also makes the island a popular for sea-fishing enthusiasts. Key Largo is also a convenient base for exploring the Everglades National Park to the northwest of the island.
As the northernmost key to be connected by U.S. Highway 1 to Florida, Key Largo is relatively easy to reach by car, taking about an hour from Miami airport. Once free of the mainland, drivers pass through an 18-mile stretch of scenic mangrove and everglade-bordered road before they reach the island. Greyhound buses departing from downtown Miami serve Key Largo and all other destinations along U.S. Highway 1.
