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Odd Inn the Keys
Stay Strange On Your Vacation In Paradise

The expression on my dive buddy's face says it all: The saucer-like eyes, the look of total astonishment as she peers through the plastic bubble.

Who can blame her? On the other side of the pane, at a depth of 21 feet, is a room with four beds, a fully-stocked kitchen, a TV and phone. This is Jules' Undersea Lodge, which is believed to be the only underwater hotel in the world. The corners of her mouth turn upward, but it's difficult to smile when you're breathing through a regulator.

If she were on land, she'd probably be saying, "I can't believe it. There's a hotel down there."

In the Florida Keys, the eclectic island chain that swings westward from Miami, there are properties in all kinds of places you wouldn't expect. In Marathon, you can sleep on a houseboat. Just off Little Torch Key, you can bunk down on your own private luxury island. And in the Dry Tortugas, which are only accessible by boat and plane, you can spend the night in a former prison.

A Hotel That's Really a Dive

Jules' Undersea Lodge is a former marine laboratory that's been turned into a hotel with about 600 square feet of living space for up to six guests. There's only one way in and out of the rooms: you have to dive to the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon, where the steel and acrylic living chambers rest on the sand, and enter the chamber through a special moon pool.

Once inside you can catch an impressive display of creatures through the 42-inch windows, including angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda, snapper, and an occasional diver. When you're ready for a little privacy, close the curtains and chow down on a gourmet dinner prepared in-room by the lodge's own "mer-chef." Then, when you're all tired out after a long day of diving, you can sleep with the fish.

The submerged inn has attracted visitors who are as unique as the property itself, including former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Steve Tyler of the rock group Aerosmith. Guests often say that sleeping underwater is a life-changing experience - like spending the night in a space station.

If you'd rather check out the hotel before booking a room, you can get a good look at Jules' by diving in the lagoon, which is a popular place for Scuba divers to train on windy days. Unwind afterwards with a Spiegel Grove cocktail served at the Fish House near mile marker 102 on US 1.

Permanent Floating Property

Prefer to be close to the water without sleeping in the water? At the Faro Blanco Marina and Resort in Marathon, you can check into one of its floating houseboat state rooms. These barges offer all the amenities you'd expect to find in a hotel - except that everything is tethered to a dock. Houseboats are popular places to live in the Keys because they're more affordable than land-based housing. But unless you have a friend with a boat, you're unlikely to spend the night on water while you're vacationing here.

Fortunately the Faro Blanco's floating units are built solid, and they're in a protected lagoon, so there's little chance you'll get seasick. It's hard to get bored here, too. The Faro Blanco offers a large pool with a lounge, four restaurants, a diving center and fishing charters, which is usually enough to keep you entertained for a few days. Ask for a Down Under Dreasickle at Crocodiles.

Your Own Island

If you want fewer distractions and more privacy, just keep heading south. At Little Palm Island you'll find solitude and lots of amenities, but precious few distractions. The five-acre island is accessible only by boat (no bridges, no airfield). Cell phones aren't allowed. Guests do nothing except sit on the well-groomed beach, sip cocktails at the tiki bar or kick back in the 28 thatched-roof bungalows (no TVs, in case you were wondering). The island is a magnet for the rich and famous, more of a place to be seen than any other resort in the Keys.

The biggest decision of your day is likely to be what to eat for dinner. And that can be an expensive one. It's not uncommon to spend $400 for your evening meal, with a menu that entices you to order an appetizer and aperitif. If you're spending a few days on the island, consider opting for a meal plan. But if you've got more money to spend than you know what to do with - and you think the cast of Gilligan's Island shouldn't have wasted their time trying to escape - then pull up to Little Palm Island in your yacht and spend a few days unwinding.

Among their famous cocktails is the Hot Lips Martini, perfect for proposals.

Away from Everything

Fort Jefferson, the abandoned military prison in the Dry Tortugas is perhaps the ultimate escape. Don't look for a hotel down here; unless you've got a tent, you're sleeping under the stars. Eleven individual camp sites can accommodate up to six people and three tents, and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The enormous fort is as fascinating as it is remote. Construction of the complex began in 1846 but was never completed because of changes in weapons technology. After the Civil War, Fort Jefferson became a federal prison. Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set the broken leg of President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was its most famous inmate. In 1867, during an outbreak of Yellow Fever, Mudd helped prison doctors fight the epidemic, which led to his sentence being commuted.

This is the end of the line for visitors to the islands. It doesn't get any more secluded than here. Visiting the Dry Tortugas is like turning the clock back half a century, and you can still see vibrant living coral reefs and remarkable marine life the way it must have been before the Keys became what they are today.

A former prison may seem like a strange place to get away from it all. But then, this is the Keys.

Visit the Keys this Summer

One of the most enduring myths about Florida's summer is that it's unbearably hot. May be true on the mainland, but the Keys are cooled by ocean breezes that ensure temperatures rarely exceed 90 degrees. As if you needed more of a reason to make a trek to the islands, many hotels are offering bargains for guests who book rooms during the off-season.

-Christopher Elliott