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The hostel has a bit of strange atmosphere at times. Because it is the cheapest place in Key West, there are a lot of people here who have nowhere else to go, including a few homeless people who just seem to sit in the TV room all night. The hostel seems perfectly safe, though--just a little different. You may find the reception closed at odd times as well.

NB: I had a lot of difficulty prebooking my room. I tried using the website twice, faxed, and had to phone up twice to confirm my booking.

As well as hordes of tourists lining the seafront, the square is also filled with street performers, food stands, and little crafts stalls. Some of the street performers are pretty entertaining--especially the trained cats, which do some amazing tricks. Look out as well for the dog with the cat lying on top of him and the mouse lying on top of the cat. Bizarre!

If you're lucky, sunset is quite a spectacular sight--watching a great ball of fire sink below the waves, the sailing ships silhouetted black against the horizon. To get a good place, though, you will need to arrive earlier, especially on the weekend, and be prepared for disappointment--often the sun just fades away behind the clouds.

If you're looking for a sunset cruise that's a bit a different and fun, rather than romantic, I'd really reccommend this one.

Smathers Beach stretches a fair distance and the golden sand is lined with shady palm trees, a promenade, and fast-food stands. The further you walk, the less-crowded it seems to get. The beach is probably more suited to sunbathing than swimming as the water is pretty murky with seaweed and you need to watch out for jellyfish.

If you do see something you want in one of the souvenir shops, haggle. A friend of mine worked in one of these for a while and warned me that the sellers price everything according to what they think you can afford--so be prepared to bargain.

As you'd expect, there are any number of arty-crafty gift shops, with goods ranging from tacky to very lovely and very expensive--check out the glass shops and art galleries. There's a chicken gift shop at the end of Duval, I'm not sure why. And at the other end of Duval, near Mallory Square, you can visit the Megastore, nothing to do with Virgin (whatsover), as it's an erotic superstore.

Just before Mallory Square, there's a little market filled with mostly tourist junk--Key Lime soap, etc.,--and there's usually a few crafts stands in the square. Some of these have some surprisingly decent goods.

There are a couple of second-hand bookstores just off Duval Street; also try the library, which does a free paperback swap.

Whatever you go shopping for in Key West, just don't expect it to be particularly cheap, as this is not the place to come for a bargain.

Margaritas are the classic Key West drink and the Margaritaville Bar specializes in them. Sloppy Joes is a main tourist hangout, with a large and noisy bar with regular live bands and a dance floor. I'd reccommend checking out what kind of music is playing before you go; one night they had a really energetic cover band there that did a good mix of modern hits and oldies--I had a blast. We went back the next night and they had a comedy band there, which involved a lot of swearing. They ended their act by persuading several girls to come up onstage and flash the room--one girl was particularly impressive, as she had superior muscle control and could actually make her breasts move independently.

If you prefer something slightly less obvious, try the bars down by the waterfront where you'll get more of a local and tourist mix. The Blue Parrot is a popular and pretty cool place to have a drink. Alternatively there are a few restaurants along Duval Street that open fairly late and have courtyard dining where you can drink in comfort and watch the (Key West) world go by.