FLORIDA PLACES AND DESTINATIONS - TAVERNIER
Set between Key Largo and Islamorada in the upper Florida Keys, Tavernier is home to The Florida Keys Wild Bird Center.
The Center rescues, rehabilitates and releases ill, injured and orphaned wild birds. A boardwalk winds through cages that house wild hawks, ospreys, spoonbills, egrets and more. The photo shows a Great White Heron perches on a mangrove tree at the Center.
The Florida Keys’ combination of vivid coral reefs teeming with exotic sea creatures and a wealth of first-rate snorkel/dive operators offers a ready-made vacation paradise for divers. One of the most popular spots, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park runs charters to Christ of the Deep, a 1800-kilo bronze statue resting on the sea’s bottoms, and other natural coral formations.
While the vast majority of divers will never need it, the Florida Keys has a custom-built hyperbaric chamber at Mariners Hospital in Tavernier — the only hospital-based chamber in the Florida Keys. The facility comfortably accommodates five patients at once for the treatment of decompression illness. Patients can listen to music or watch television while being treated.
Photo: Bob Krist/Florida Keys News Bureau
