Seated outside on a warm spring evening, a soft island breeze swishes the fronds of palm trees overhead while docile deer patiently wait to be caressed. While this seems like a castaway’s dream, it’s a scene straight from a Florida Keys vacation on Little Palm Island Resort & Spa.
Formerly known as Little Munson Island, the six-acre islet lays off the Sunshine State’s southeastern coast. This luxurious getaway is reached only by boat or sea-plane, with the signature cocktail, ‘Gumby Slumber,’ served complimentary as you wait on a terrace for it to arrive. Yachts can be docked at the marina.
The resort comprises 30 suites nestled two apiece in charming thatched-roof oceanfront bungalows, scattered along narrow white pathways of crushed seashells. Each pathway meanders through a delightful foliage of palm trees, sea grape plants, flowering schefflera, hurricane palms, atropia flowers, water lilies and bougainvillea. This exotic environment even features gumbo limbo, also known as the ‘tourist tree’ because it sheds its skin just like reckless sunbathers without proper sun protection.
Between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream and only 90 miles from Cuba, the property’s ambience is both unique and supremely relaxing. Stepping onto the wooden jetty after the 15-minute boat ride is like stepping into a world far removed from the modern. Here, aside from the gentle Key deer, the only interruptions are the fluttering wings of immaculate white ibis at play and blue herons wading slowly in the shallow waters off the nearby reef.
