Tropical bougainvillea in bloom in Key West.

By Shayne Benowitz

Did it sneak up on anyone else?  For some silly reason, I thought winter was going to last forever. For those of you who actually live in a colder climate, I’m sure it still feels like wintertime. But as it turns out, Spring has sprung!

First Daylight Savings Time last weekend, then the Super Moon Saturday night, and finally the first day of Spring on Sunday.  The seasons are changing. Can we already be a quarter of the way through 2011? Time flies!

I know much of the country has gone through an extremely cold and snowy winter. In Key West, ours couldn’t have been milder. Now that it’s March, the weather is behaving exactly as you would expect: mostly sunny and warm with the occasional blustery day. This week’s Key West weather forecast calls for temperatures pushing into the lower 80s, lots of sunshine, moderate humidity, and a gentle breeze. Pretty much perfection!

We’re in the midst of our busy Spring Break season and boatloads of passengers have been enjoying Key West’s greatest attractions with us: the stunning coral reef and the beautiful sunset. If you’d like to squeeze in a trip to Key West before April 3, we’ll be happy to treat the ladies to half off on almost all of our trips.

Also, stay tuned for a big unveil this Spring. We’ve got new boats, new trips, and new ways to enjoy the dynamic waters and ecosystem that surround Key West and make the Florida Keys so unique.

Spring is a beautiful time of year. I like it because it means summertime is right around the corner! Enjoy the lovely weather, and won’t you pay us a visit in Key West?

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer. Find her at web.me.com/shaynebeth, follow her at twitter.com/ShayneBenowitz, or email her at Shayne@furykeywest.com.

Getting cheeky at Boca Grand!

By Shayne Benowitz

Okay Spring Breakers, how are you holding up? Last week, the big Florida schools (UF, FSU, et al) went on break and brought the party to their Key West spring break. It also reunited some of my favorite little collegiate Key West native ladies: Cassandra, Olivia, Kayla, Jenna, Lea, Annabelle, and more. This week, my alma mater the Georgia Bulldogs are on break and the town is just as packed!

So… wanna party like the beautiful native ladies do on Spring Break? Start your night at the Alamo. This bar is hidden away on a side street just off the epicenter of Duval Street’s Key West Spring Break craziness. This is my girl Annabelle’s favorite watering hole in town, and she told me it was the spot to escape the crowds and still have a raging party with the locals.

Sloppy Joe’s is a Key West legend—and for good reason! There’s always a raucous party underway. One of my most memorable nights in Key West went down at Sloppy’s. There were great bands all week, as usual, and the girls couldn’t resist hitting the dance floor into the wee hours.

Dancing it up at McFadden's.

McFadden’s on Greene Street is the newest bar in town and the locals have certainly been flocking. What’s a Key West Spring Break without dancing on the bar? Good thing McFadden’s boasts a huge one, so the girls just had to line up to shake it! With beer chugging contests, Jersey Shore Wednesdays, and wild bikini contests, McFadden’s should definitely be on your Duval crawl!

Spring Breakers on the parasail boat. 50% off for ladies!

Party all night, but what to do during the day? That’s easy. Of course, at Fury we’re offering 50% off on parasailing, snorkeling, and sunset sailing, plus the Ultimate Adventure is only $89 for the ladies.

For these native girls, many of whom are Fury Girls in their own right, they head out to Boca Grand or Snipes on someone’s boat. The stunning sandbar islands are about twelve miles offshore. Anchor the boat, crack a beer, and splash in the shallow water all day long.

Fury has just started a brand new Island Adventure trip out to Boca Grand, so be sure to ask about it the next time you’re in town!

Happy Spring Break! Be safe, do your homework, wear sunscreen, and have fun!

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer. For more visit her at web.me.com/shaynebeth, follow her at twitter.com/ShayneBenowitz, and email her at Shayne@furykeywest.com.

Spring Breakers parasailing!

By Shayne Benowitz

It’s begun… Spring Break has officially hit Key West! While most young collegiates get one week off in spring, we host them week after week… after week in Key West. When will your school be down?

Just so you know, Fury is keeping the Spring Breakers in mind. We know that it’s all about making the dollar stretch during your vacay, so we’ve created some special offers in honor of this wonderful Key West Spring Break exclusively for the ladies! How does half price sound for almost all of Fury’s trips through April 3? Pretty good, right?

Here’s the breakdown on how to save:

First of all, check out the Key West Spring Break Facebook page we’ve got up and running. It’s a great forum for all kinds of Spring Break fun on and off the water in Key West. Share your tips with other Spring Breakers: where to party (Rick’s, Sloppy’s, the Gecko…), where to tan (Smathers! Fury!), and any other insider advice. And please post your pix! We’ll be keeping you updated through April on what’s going on with posts, pictures, and videos. Why don’t you check it out right now?

Next, we’ve got a boatload of deals all around twenty bucks, so let’s start with the cheapest thrills and work our way up. The best happy hour in town is aboard Fury’s Sunset Sail—ladies discounted rate, $18.50! That gets you two hours of open bar beer, wine, and champagne served by the fabulous Fury crew plus the best seats in the house for Key West’s famous sunset. Begin your Duval crawl once we’re back on the dock!

Ladies, for only $18.75, you can get a bird’s eye view of Key West 300 feet in the air while parasailing! We depart every hour on the hour. For that price, parasailing is really not to be missed.

It would be a shame to come all the way to Key West and not go snorkeling. After all, we’ve got the only living coral reef system in North America. It is stunning! Trips depart three times daily for only $20-$22.50 for the ladies. It’s always happy hour on the sail home with beer, wine, rum punch, and margaritas depending on which trip you take!

Finally, the biggest, baddest way to spend your day on the water is the Ultimate Adventure—$89 discounted rate for ladies. This includes breakfast, lunch, all you can drink beer and wine; plus, snorkeling, parasailing, jet skiing, kayaking, and much more at Adventure Island.

It is always a party at Fury and in Key West, so do yourselves a favor , come join us for Spring Break!

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer. For more travel stories visit her at web.me.com/shaynebeth and follow her at twitter.com/ShayneBenowitz.

Happy Hour at the Conch Farm.

by Shayne Benowitz

During the University of Georgia’s Spring Break week this year, my little brother and his girlfriend came down for a visit. They had a great time relaxing on Smathers Beach, partying on Duval, and of course, the highlight of their trip was the Ultimate Adventure and the Commotion on the Ocean. While they were here, I was reminded of just how important it is for college kids to make their dollar stretch, especially when it comes to alcohol.

It’s always a deal at Fury where all of our trips include complimentary beer, wine, and wine spritzers, not to mention margaritas on the Commotion and Reef & Rita afternoon snorkel trip, rum punch on the Rum & Reggae sunset snorkel, and champagne on all of our sunset cruises. Once you get off the boat, there’s plenty of deals at bars around town. You’ve just gotta know where to go! Here’s a guide to the cheapest drinks on the island. Enjoy!

Happy Hour is a Key West institution, and my brother loved the 2-for-1 cocktails at the Conch Farm. Order a drink, and the bartender will toss you a wooden token to cash in for your next drink between 5pm-7pm. Down the pier at Alonzo’s, the entire right side of the menu, including any cocktail, is 50% off from 4:30pm-6:30. I love the ginger mojito, and you can definitely make a meal out of the appetizers with oyster Rockefeller, conch chowder, buffalo shrimp, and more. At Kelly’s from 4pm-7pm, you can enjoy the best margaritas on the island for $3 and their tasty microbrews for only $2, not to mention happy hour pricing on their amazing wings!

El Alamo, one of the newest much-loved bars in town, serves up $1 PBRs all day and all night, as well as $2 drafts, and cheap mixed drinks. Monday nights at Virgilio’s always means $5 martinis while dancing to live music. For a great party on a Wednesday night, ladies, be sure to swing over to Cowboy Bill’s from 9pm-11pm where you’ll drink for free. Gentlemen, you’ll want to be there, too, because at 11:30pm, the world famous sexy bullriding competition gets underway, and it’s guaranteed to be wild!

Of course, Fury, has got the ladies covered with 50% off most of our excursions. With these steals and deals, it’s no wonder Key West is such a classic Spring Break destination. What week is your school here?

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer. For more travel stories and a daily dose of what’s cool around the globe visit her Wanderlust Website at http://web.me.com/shaynebeth.

A gorgeous Key West sunset.

by Shayne Benowitz

Most college students enjoy a full week of Spring Break to live it up! At Fury, however, we’ve been celebrating since the middle of February and plan to keep the party going until the beginning of April. Week after week, another slew of college coeds descend on our island and it’s our job to show them a good time! Of course, a Key West sunset is a must-do while in town, and the best place to witness the sun sink into the ocean is aboard a Fury catamaran.

During Spring Break, we’re also the only boat on the island offering our sunset trip for under $20. That’s right, it’s ladies’ night every night at Fury and our sunset sail is 50% off for the girlies! The boat’s been filling up night after night with plenty of party people ready to have a good time. Gentlemen, you know where you want to be, right? Where the girls are! So join us for our sunset sail, now departing at 6:30pm.

As always, the sunset includes complimentary beer, wine, wine spritzers, and champagne. The Fury crew is expert at keeping those cups full while circulating the crowd with pitchers full of frosty cold ones!

If you roll into town Sunday night, then end your first full day of island living on the water. Monday nights we’re throwing a special Spring Break bash featuring party music and free pizza. Dinner, open bar, and a gorgeous sunset add up to one amazing deal and a stellar party. You can’t miss it!

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer. For more travel stories and a daily dose of what’s cool around the globe visit her Wanderlust Website at http://web.me.com/shaynebeth.

Spring Breakers!

by Shayne Benowitz

It starts mid-February when northeastern universities recess for their mid-winter breaks. Week after week, day after day the momentum builds through March as thousands of college coeds descend on our island paradise for a week of debauchery known only as… Spring Break!

According to our senior catamaran captain, the inimitable Chuck Buck, and his intensive data and research, the week of March 7-14 over two million college students across the country will be on Spring Break. We expect that to be the busiest week in Key West and our crew is definitely gearing up for it.

We know the importance of making the dollar stretch when you’re still in school and that’s why a trip with Fury is one of the best deals in town! Not only do all of our trips include free, all-you-can-drink beer and wine, but you can enjoy it in style offshore on a boat! Whether you choose an afternoon of snorkeling, an evening sunset sail, or rock it out with us all day on the Ultimate Adventure, it’s going to be a party! And did I mention that ladies get 50% off on selected trips? When you calculate how much money you drop at the bars in a few hours, the value of a Fury trip is unrivaled.

Come join us for some fun, and when you get back to school, keep in touch! We’ve got over 1,000 facebook fans and would love to double it over Spring Break. Post your pictures, videos, and comments on our page, and make your friends jealous! We’re constantly updating our photo albums and posting status updates on all the fun we have in Key West year round, so don’t forget to become a fan!

For the tweeters out there, check us out on twitter, too @FuryKeyWest! We’ve also got exclusive pix up on our flickr photostream every week. Check it out, you might just find yourself in a few pix (or grab some of your favorite Fury captain or mate . It’s all about the memories! Addicted to youtube? We’ve got a Fury channel with plenty of Spring Break videos to come! In the meantime, check out “Fury Girl’s Fantasy Fest Survival Guide,” our most viewed video, and who knows, maybe we’ll see you back in October for the biggest party of the year!

See you on the boats soon and don’t forget to go to facebook, post your comments, and tell us what school you’re from. Which school will represent?

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer. For more travel stories and a daily dose of what’s cool around the globe visit her Wanderlust Website at http://web.me.com/shaynebeth.

By Shayne Benowitz

Partying into the sunset at Fury.

Monday nights just got a lot more fun at Fury! During Spring Break it’s only natural to want to party like a rockstar, so we’ve added a very special sunset sail to our program. Bring your crew and your dancing shoes—flip flops will work just fine—and celebrate the end of another gorgeous day in paradise and the beginning of a long night of partying with our March Madness Monday sunset sail featuring a live DJ!

As always, we’ve got a two hour open bar serving up Bud Light by the pitcher-full, wine, wine spritzers, and bubbly to toast your special celebrations. All of this is included in the price of admission, and ladies that’s 50% off for you all month long! The drinks will be free flowing and the DJ will be spinning all of your favorites from hip-hop to house.

Party on our multi-level catamaran with 126 of your closest friends! What better way is there to live it up? You’re on a boat! You’re sure to meet some new and interesting people. Without a doubt March Monday Madness will be the hottest ticket in town.

As far as dinner goes? We’ve got you covered with free pizza. This way you don’t have to worry about grabbing a bite when you get back to shore. That will only cut into your drinking time, right?

Come join us at Fury on Monday nights for a spectacular sunset party and let’s see how many kegs we can tap in two hours! I think the record is 6! Of course, don’t forget your IDs, boys and girls, we’ll be checking and we don’t take kindly to fakes. Key West Spring Break 2009!

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer working on her debut novel. For more travel stories and a daily dose of what’s cool around the globe visit her Wanderlust Website at http://web.me.com/shaynebeth

by Shayne Benowitz

Fury Girl (center) and her friends partying it up on a snorkel trip.

Ladies, listen up! Fury has got the hook up this Spring Break and it might just be the best happy hour on the island. Bring your pack of adventure-loving honeys out with Fury for 50% off all month! What? That’s right, we know it’s your last big hoorah before summertime and we want you to love every minute of it!

Pick from three of our most popular trips. With the price of admission slashed in half, you’re only paying about $20 for an awesome, all-inclusive party. Each trip is guaranteed to be a blast and you’ll create memories that will last a lifetime. It all depends on what your idea of a good time is. And don’t worry, our boats are always swarming with hotties, whether it’s our cute mates flexing their muscles for you as they raise the mainsail or other Spring Breakers from around the country looking to party. Everyone wants to have a good time in Key West!

Are you and your girlfriends sporty and active? If so, try out one of our three hour snorkel trips departing daily at either 9:30am or 1pm. You’ll be whisked seven miles offshore to the aquamarine waters of the coral reef for a full hour of snorkeling and swimming. Work on your gorgeous tans and take in the one-of-a-kind sights of Key West that can only be experienced offshore. Don’t forget to bring your cameras. After you’re done swimming, it’s happy hour, baby! All you can drink beer, wine, and wine spritzers are included in the price of admission (did I mention that’s 50% off?). Don’t forget to bring your IDs, and ladies, no fakes. We’ll be checking them and we know how to spot them.

Would you prefer getting dolled up in a sundress and sporting your strappiest sandals while watching the sun melt into the ocean? You will love our nightly sunset sail. Cruise through Key West’s tropical harbor, enjoy the two hour open bar of beer, wine, and wine spritzers, and gaze at the famous sunset. Don’t forget the champagne toast. You’ve got a lot to celebrate.

If you’ve only got a few days in town and both of those trips sound like fun, Fury has the perfect solution. Join us for our Rum & Reggae Combination Sail that departs every evening. You’ll enjoy the sunshine and the snorkeling, and as you sail back into the harbor the sun will be slipping into the horizon. Oh, and we’ve also got a delicious rum punch too!

If you’re looking for a great party at a great value—50% off!—this Spring Break, look no further than Fury! We’ve got you covered and we hope to see you out on the water soon.

Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer working on her debut novel. For more travel stories and a daily dose of what’s cool around the globe visit her Wanderlust Website at http://web.me.com/shaynebeth