Colorful fish swimming near coral reef underwater.

Green Businesses

Choose Businesses That Care for the Keys

The natural beauty of the Florida Keys is part of what makes being here so special. Across the island chain, local businesses are taking steps to conserve natural resources, reduce waste and help protect the waters and ecosystems around them.

You can be part of that effort. Use the listings below to find accommodations, restaurants, marinas, dive operators, fishing guides and other businesses recognized for environmentally responsible practices.

Find Green Businesses in the Florida Keys

Ready to make your trip a little greener? Browse the businesses below and use the filters to find participating places to stay, eat, dock, dive, and fish.

Green Lodging

Rest easy knowing your stay can make a difference. Florida Green Lodging properties are recognized for efforts to conserve resources such as water and energy and reduce waste. Look for the Green Lodging leaf when choosing where to stay in the Keys.

Blue Star Operators

Heading out on or under the water? Choose a Blue Star-certified dive operator or fishing guide. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Blue Star program recognizes operators that help visitors enjoy diving, snorkeling and fishing while following practices that safeguard the Keys’ marine resources.

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Clean Marinas

A day on the water starts at the dock. Clean Marina businesses help make environmentally responsible boating part of the Florida Keys experience. Use the listings below to find participating marinas throughout the island chain.

Ocean Friendly Restaurants

Make your next meal a little friendlier to the ocean. Ocean Friendly Restaurants are recognized for making choices designed to reduce waste and support healthier oceans.

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Skip the Stuff

Sometimes less really is more. Restaurants and food trucks participating in Skip the Stuff help reduce single-use waste by providing items such as plastic utensils, straws and condiment packets only when customers ask for them.

Visitors can help, too. Simply say “no thanks” to the extras you don’t need.

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Plastic Free Key West

Plastic Free Key West celebrates Key West businesses taking action to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, single-use plastics. Participating businesses make voluntary commitments to reduce plastic use through more sustainable choices.

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Protect Our Seagrass

Seagrass beds are part of what makes Florida Keys waters so special. They also need a little help from boaters. Propellers can damage shallow seagrass beds, leaving scars behind. Check tide and navigational charts before you head out, and steer clear of shallow areas. A handy local reminder is: “Brown, brown, run aground. Blue, blue, sail on through."

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The Lower Keys

7 Mile Cafe & Kava Bar

Espresso drinks, smoothie bowls and paninis at mile marker 30 on Big Pine Key, with a full kava bar working alongside the coffee counter. Doors open at 7 in the morning, which makes it an easy first stop before you go looking for Key deer or point the car toward Key West.

Marathon

Bongos Botanical Beer Garden

Keep your eyes peeled at Mile Marker 59 on Grassy Key because Bongos Botanical Beer Garden is one of those places you could easily miss and never forgive yourself for. Opened in 2020 inside The Lagoon adventure park, this tropical beer garden is surrounded by mature palms, banana trees, and an organic herb and fruit garden growing the fresh ingredients that go straight into your cocktail, with over 20 craft beers on tap, a daily food truck, weekend brunch and live music, hammock chairs for swinging, lawn games, and a genuinely dog-friendly policy that extends to a plain beef patty for your pup.

Key West

Salsa y Sabor Baking Goods

Salsa y Sabor Baking Goods brings freshly baked ciabatta, focaccia, and sourdough loaves alongside handcrafted jams, dips, and nut butters to the Key West and Islamorada farmers markets — a Plastic Free 305 certified small business and a must-stop for anyone who loves artisan bread.

Key West

St. Paul's Episcopal Church Key West

Founded in 1832 and the oldest congregation in Florida south of St. Augustine, St. Paul's Episcopal Church is one of Key West's most treasured historic landmarks, offering weekly worship, an annual concert series, and five on-grounds wedding and event venues at 401 Duval Street — all while undergoing a breathtaking historic restoration for its 200th anniversary in 2032.

The Lagoon Cafe

The Lagoon Café in Tavernier serves fresh, flavorful coastal cuisine and tropical drinks in a relaxed waterfront atmosphere.

Key West

Sugar Apple Organic Cafe & Market

Sugar Apple Organic Café & Market in Key West serves fresh, plant-based meals and organic groceries in a relaxed, eco-friendly setting.

The Lower Keys

Deer Run on the Atlantic

Charming eco-lodge on Big Pine Key with oceanfront views and Key deer nearby.

Islamorada

Islamorada Dive Center

Explore Florida Keys' reefs and wrecks with expert guides at Islamorada Dive Center!

The Lower Keys

Looe Key Reef Resort & Dive Center

Looe Key Reef Resort offers beachfront accommodations, daily scuba and snorkeling trips, a full-service dive shop, and a Tiki Bar with live entertainment in the Florida Keys.

Key West

E11DROPS

E11DROPS is a Key West sustainable luxury skincare boutique at the Shops at Mallory Square where owner Mariam handcrafts eco-friendly soaps, lotions, balms, deodorants, and bath products from premium natural ingredients — with a Key West-inspired soap collection, a zodiac gift series, and soap-making classes that make self-care feel like an island adventure.