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The Truman, Little Palm Island's varnished timber launch, moored at the dock

Little Palm Island, Florida Keys

April 2025. A private island off Little Torch Key, reached by the resort's launch or by seaplane. Four nights in an Island Premier Suite.

24°37′26″N81°24′06″WLittle Palm Island · Little Torch Key, Florida Keys

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A Key deer on hind legs at night, reaching into the flower garland on a lamplit wooden stair rail
A Key deer up on hind legs, helping itself to the wedding flowers garlanding the stair rail after dark. Nobody staged it. It just walked up.

Overview

Little Palm Island Resort & Spa is a private-island resort off Little Torch Key in the lower Florida Keys, roughly 22 miles up the Overseas Highway from Key West. There is no bridge to the island: guests arrive on the Truman, the resort's launch, or by seaplane. The resort is adults-only. We went as a couple, for four nights.

Palm fronds framing a calm gulf shoreline in soft light
Palms over the flat water off the island.

Getting there

Fly into Miami or Key West; we flew into Key West and hired transfers to bring us up to the resort and collect us again at the end. We took the Truman, the resort's varnished timber launch, out of Little Torch Key. The crossing is the transition: cars and the Overseas Highway on one side, an island with no day traffic on the other. Seaplane is the alternative arrival.

Where we stayed

Forbes Travel Guide carries Little Palm Island Resort & Spa as Recommended in its 2026 ratings; it does not appear on AAA's 2026 Four or Five Diamond lists. Both facts are tracked with sources in The Luxe Zone dataset.

  • Room category booked: an Island Premier Suite — the largest of the resort's suite categories.
  • Would we return: yes.

The Key deer

Key deer live only in the lower Florida Keys — nowhere else — and on this island they move through the grounds like residents. One met us at eye level on a garden path. Another grazed the white sand path through the sea grape. A third worked the shoreline at golden hour. And one, after dark, stood up on its hind legs and ate the garland off the stair rail under the lamps. That last one is the picture at the top of this report.

Key deer grazing along a white sand path through sea grape
Grazing the sand path through the sea grape. The deer set the pace on the island's paths, not the guests.
Key deer standing on a rocky shoreline in late-afternoon light
Working the shoreline at golden hour.

Where we ate

The Dining Room at Little Palm Island is the resort's restaurant, and it is reachable the same way the island is: by boat or seaplane only. It is open to non-resort guests by reservation, which makes it one of the few restaurants in the Keys you can visit without a room key but not without a boat.

  • What we ordered: seafood.

Worth it / not worth it

An Island Premier Suite on a private island, with the launch ride and the Key deer at your door. Four nights, we would change nothing, and we would go back. Worth it.

Pro tips

  • Arrange your ground transfer before you fly. We flew into Key West and hired transfers up to the resort and back, rather than driving the Overseas Highway ourselves.
  • Adults only. This is not the Keys stop for a family itinerary.
  • There is no driving onto the island. The launch from Little Torch Key or the seaplane; leave the car on the mainland.
  • The Key deer come to you. Do not go looking; sit still on the path at golden hour and they walk past.
  • Four nights is right. Three feels short; five and you have seen the island twice.
  • Pack for the sun and nothing else. The dress code is bare feet and linen; there is no reason to bring more.

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