10 Florida Islands Locals Say Don’t Feel Like Old Florida Anymore

10 Florida Islands Locals Say Don’t Feel Like Old Florida Anymore

Travel off season, go early, walk a block off the main drag and look for the docks where locals still keep their boats. Florida’s islands once stood as shorthand for escape, places where time bent toward tides, cottages leaned into sea breezes, and life moved with a hush.

Over the years, growth, storms, and demand have reshaped many of them. What were once sleepy hideaways now carry shinier storefronts, fuller resorts, and crowds that never quite leave.

And yet, if you know where to look, the spirit lingers. It hides on back lanes shaded by palms, in quiet coves where the water still feels timeless, and in the stories of family-run spots that haven’t changed.

Each island has its own balance of memory and reinvention. Here are ten Florida islands where traces of “Old Florida” are still waiting to be found.

Roosters strut the side streets while Conch houses sag gracefully under their pastel paint. The lanes away from Duval still feel like a painter’s sketchbook.

Florida’s islands once stood as shorthand for escape, places where time bent toward tides, cottages leaned into sea breezes, and life moved with a hush.

Author’s summary: Discover 10 Florida islands that still embody the spirit of Old Florida.

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