Hawks Cay Resort Planning & Tips

Planning and Tips
The area surrounding the hotel is really nice for a family stroll or a jog, so if you're coming by car be sure to toss your jogging stroller into the trunk. If you're flying into Miami, renting a car is a good idea as it allows the option of taking a day trip from here to Key Largo or Key West.

All about the Extras
Babysitting services with babysitters who are all Hawks Cay employees can be arranged for an hourly fee (for up to two children). Babysitters are happy to watch the kids in your room or villa, or you can request that they play with them on the playground or in any of the other common areas. Be sure to arrange for babysitting 24 hours in advance.

Hawks Cay has a beautiful wellness area, the Calm Waters Spa, housed in a building that's a few minutes walk from the main hotel and right near the Indies Club. Kids and teens can get their hair shampooed and cut here as well as enjoy kid-friendly manicures and pedicures with bright polishes and glitter.

Kids Nights Out is offered for kids ages 5 to 12 every Tuesday to Saturday, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. For a reasonable fee per kid, they'll be supervised while playing games, doing crafts and having pizza for dinner while watching a movie. Teen Night Outs in the teen video lounge are offered to kids ages 13 to 17, with a minimal cover charge, every Friday and Saturday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The resort hosts special holiday events throughout the year, too, including appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus over Christmas and Easter Egg hunts.

Wireless Internet is included in your daily resort fee.

The Art of Smart Timing
All of Hawks Cay's facilities are open year-round, but during the slower summer season the kids camp opens at 10 a.m. instead of 9 a.m.

Weather-wise, the Keys are a great destination, year-round. Sure, the summer months are hot and sticky, but you're on the water here with the pools and ocean to keep you cool, so it's definitely bearable. The most pleasant months of the year tend to be November through March, but April and May are often relatively mild, too. Hurricane season in these parts stretches from June 1 to November 30. During the summer months, afternoon thunderstorms can be intense but fleeting are the norm.

Getting there
Miami International Airport is roughly 100 miles from the resort. Count on two hours to make the ride, without stops. All of the major car rental companies are onsite at the Miami airport. Alternatively, you could fly into Key West's airport, about sixty miles (one and a half hours) away. You can also rent cars from the major companies there.

For Mom and Dad
When the kids are at Camp Hawk or otherwise engaged in a resort activity, parents should seize the moment to escape to the resort's adults-only tranquility pool, just around the corner from the main pool (but blissfully out of shrieking distance). Here, the theme is "Serenity now!" and you can relax in a cabana with a poolside cocktail or wade in the cool water with nary a child in sight. Alma is the resort's fine dining restaurant, and a good place for an on-property date night. But it's worth venturing off property for a date night, too. For a fabulous meal in a place the two of you would likely never find on your own, head down the road to the unassuming Rainbow Bend Resort and snag a table at the Hideaway Cafe, which has amazing steak and seafood and panoramic water views.

While the kids are in Camp Hawk or otherwise under the spell of the many resort activities, the two of you can also steal away for individual treatments or a couple's massage in one of the double suites at Calm Waters Spa.