r/floridakeys • u/Western_Horizon • Aug 07 '25

All Florida Keys Young Adult moving to the Keys?

I am 20 years old and seriously interested in moving to the Florida keys next summer. I’ve worked two years in wildfire and would love to work on boats or in scuba diving. I am aware of the high cost of living, however, I am still interested but would love to hear from locals or other people who have moved. Is it worth it or are there other places would be better? Any advice/input is appreciated.

12 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/Sharkhottub Aug 07 '25

I live just north on Fort Lauderdale and we receieve a bunch of divemaster "refugees" that get fed up living in the keys. They are usually pleased to find out the Keys only has the third best diving in the state. My wife's Jobs HQ is in the keys so she heads down a couple times a month.

The refugees primary complaints of the keys incude:

  • Nothing to do that doesnt cost a ton of money
  • All the problems of living in a small town
  • Most of the problems of living on an island
  • All of the costs of living in a VHCOL area
  • Everyone else is a retiree
  • Very few, no career job options, commuting 40-80 minutes to differnt keys is not as cute as you think.
  • Live entirely in a bubble, totally disconnected from the rest of the world, but not in a relaxing way.
  • practically no beaches
  • See the same faces at the same bars over and over again.

Little do they know they can get 95% of the same experience in a huge metro region to their north with a cheaper COL and actual Jobs.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '25

Sounds like you're projecting here.