Florida Keys: Best stops on the Overseas Highway

The 180-kilometer- Florida Keys island chain connects Miami on the mainland. A lot of tourists want to pay a visit to Florida Keys, but if they stopped along the way they'd find secluded islands, historic shipwrecks and some of the best fishing holes in the country.

According to Dangerous Roads, the Overseas Highway is considered as one of the most beautiful scenic drives in America. The southernmost leg of U.S. 1 is where the travelers from Florida's mainland can cross see coral and limestone islets through the Florida Keys.

Travelers usually begin at Key Largo. Key Largo calls itself the dive capital of the world. It's home to the 70-square-mile John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, as mentioned in Pennekamp Park official website. The park has a visitors' center and beach, which is a good place to hone your snorkeling skills before boarding a dive boat.

But reportedly, the best undersea attraction of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is the wreck of the Spiegel Grove. A 510-foot retired Navy ship sunk as an artificial reef in 2002 and now resting 130 feet underwater near Dixie Shoal. Visitors may even spot trumpet fish and angelfish lurking along the hull, which is covered with sponges and soft coral. They could also stop at Molasses Reef for snorkeling experience.

Tavernier is considered the next stop, and it accesses the Conch Reef. This is most probably the Keys' best drift dive, in which you descend at Point A, drift down current, then resurface at Point B, where the dive boat retrieves the traveler. "It's one of the most popular ways to see the reef," says Brenda Mace of Conch Republic Divers. The Duck Key and other parts of the middle section of the Keys are often overlooked by divers, but "from Tavernier to Big Pine Key is where visitors can find the most pristine diving conditions," says Wendy Hall of Dive Duck Key.

But one of the first places in the Keys to be dived, says historian Tom Hambright, is the Key West. It's known for its easy, relatively shallow dives with copious coral and fish. The "Southernmost City" is a launching point to nearby reefs such as the Eastern Dry Rocks and Sand Key; several notable wrecks, including the Cayman Salvager and Joe's Tug.

Moreover, just 40 minutes up the road, tourists may find the Big Pine Key. It is a peaceful reprieve from the hubbub of Key West.Unlike the majority of the Florida Keys, which are built from fossilized coral reefs, Big Pine and the Lower Keys are composed of limestone strata. Here they will find some of the Florida Keys' most unique flora and fauna.

This is allegedly sometimes called "the Highway that Goes to Sea". It follows a path originally raged in 1912 when Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railroad from Miami to Key West. These bridges now open to vehicular traffic only, are achievements in American engineering. They are the survivors of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway, intended to connect the Keys to the mainland.

Meanwhile, the road has been heralded as one of the most impressive roads in the world. And in 2009, the Overseas Highway was named an All-American Road by the National Scenic Byways program administered by the Federal Highway Administration.