My family and some close friends stayed here for spring break week. We chose this place as it is as close as I could get to Alligator Reef Lighthouse by boat. This place is awesome! Awesome sun rises and a place to sit outside and see God wake the world up! The owner was a great guy and we talked several times. We had our sons and some friends sleep downstairs while my wife and I had the entire upstairs to ourselves. We had plenty of room and even a cottage for our friends was on the property. So we just loved our stay! The dock and boat slip was a plus and worked out so well for our family. We would stay here again and I recommend it. Thanks Andy for your time and allowing us to stay on this 2 acre paradise! We will be back soon!

We do a yearly family get together in Florida every year and were looking for a large “compound” that could accommodate our three families. We were also looking for a place that was on or near a beach and had lot’s of activities for the kids. Wow! This place truly exceeded our expectations! We loved the 3 distinct living spaces - perfect for our 3 families. We found the upper level of the main house spacious and perfect for family meals and gatherings. It had a wonderful deck that overlooked the yard and beach. Each day the sun would shine through the large sliding doors that led to the deck, greeting us as we sipped our morning coffee. Our family truly enjoyed the sturdy new dock that extended out into the surf, very nicely set up with benches at the end. The kids spent hours fishing from the dock and caught lots of fish. To our surprise, the underside of the end of the dock is lit, which brought in the fish (including Tarpin) at night. We were awestruck! The kids also chased lizards and crabs in the yard and on the shore. The adults lounged in one of the sets of many aderondack chairs and other sitting areas scattered around the property making it easy to soak in the sun and enjoy the warm breeze each day. What a blast! Oh yeah, don’t want to forget the kayaks and the hammock! From the perspective of the location, there were lots of things to do - we were close to beaches, restaurants and activities for the kids. Loved it!

Andy is an excellent host with a great property on the Keys. Roomy. Lots of privacy. Plenty of parking. Convenient location. Plenty of amenities. Can’t miss!

We had a great stay! Really Enjoyed having the kayaks available to use.

This property was amazing. Went down with family. Had enough room so everyone was comfortable. Each house had its own uniqueness. Had a beautiful long dock with so many varieties of fish. Great to swim, snorkel watch the sunrises. I highly recommend this home. The owner was very accommodating and answered many questions we had. Truly is a paradise. God bless the owners for this wonderful property and the memories created. We will be back 😊. Thank you so much we are grateful for the experience.

Our large family truly enjoyed this property! The dock was perfect for fishing, the ramp was clean and cleared and we were able to load our boat into the water with ease, the beach area is small but enough, and the porches and chairs were perfect for watching the magnificent sunrises and sunsets! The cottage and home provided the perfect amount of space for us all. The furniture/appliances are well-worn but we made do, especially since we spent a majority of time outside and used the grill. The only small thing was that 3 different repair men showed up at 3 different times for minor things. They did not get in our way all, we just wanted our privacy and family time. The location is great, close to Theater of the Sea, many restaurants and fishing charters. We rode our scooters the short ride to Harry Harris Park and also brought our own stand up paddle boards, as well as utilizing the kayak provided. Host is great and responsive. There are little quirks with the property but it is cozy and provided all we were looking for. Thank you, Andy!

Perfect location and beautiful property. We enjoyed using the dock and watching the sunrises. Owners are very helpful and kind. Looking forward to coming back soon! We had lots of peacocks visit with us. Thank you very much again

Andy is a gracious host. His property fit our extended families’ needs perfectly. Well situated, large yard, ocean access with all the amenities our family required. I’d stay again.

Overall our stay was good. Here's some helpful information if you're planning to stay at this property: If you are bringing a boat, the ramp is unusable. The ramp and beach is covered in debry and seaweed, and the water is enclosed by buoys and netting for neighboring construction so we had to launch our boat from Founders Park. And FYI, the entrance to the property can be tricky getting with a trailer. Best to take Schooner Bay drive entrance from the 4-way stop sign. You definitely cannot swim at the beach. The water is a rusty red color covered in seaweed and garbage. The upstairs unit door is extremely difficult to open/close. My mother had to resort to the sliding glass doors to exit. The upstairs balcony is unsafe with several lose boards. The smoke alarms went off at 1am on both upper and lower units, which woke everyone up and put everyone into a panic, thankfully no fire, but the fire alarms didn't chirp low battery, it went off with full alarm until we could locate the smoke alarm device with low battery. The owner, Andy, is very responsive when I called him at 1am. Don't get me wrong, despite these details, we had an enjoyable stay, there are just corks with every place. The downstairs outdoor area is lovely to relax and enjoy time in rocking chairs. The units are dated but comfy. The other reviews I read are accurate so bring extra toilet paper, paper towels and hand soap. This property is definitely ideal for pets. My parents brought their two Chihuahuas and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Overall, we had a good stay.

Property was easy to rent had no issues with that except bathroom issue

House is nice and we had a great time. Good location, just about 5 mins from most of the main attractions in Islamorada which is where we spent most of our time. For the price I expected more basic amenities to be provided, such as toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, wash clothes, etc. It would have been nice to know ahead of time that we needed to bring toilet paper with us, haha. Check in was 3:00, cleaning crew wasn’t finished until close to 4:00 but we enjoyed the nice beach and dock while we waited. Overall wonderful trip with lots of room for 4 adult couples.

Perfect spot for a friends and family gathering. Three separate living areas. Teens had their space and two adult couples had their spaces. Loved having a bathroom for each bedroom. Made the transition from boat to dinner showers super easy. The yard is spacious and great for games. The tropical foliage is gorgeous! We enjoyed walking the dogs on the property’s private sandy path. The beach, like most in the Keys, does have coquina rocks- so May be a bit challenging for young kids. To sum it up- perfect for our families of teens! The property is truly heavenly!

Stayed here with my family, 7 adults and 1 toddler in April. Overall the stay was good. The house is nice & having the extra cottage was super nice, definitely a ton of space to spread out. Andy was easy to contact as well. A couple things that we didn’t expect was the beach area was much more minimal than we thought. In the pictures it shows a wide open beach area but it looks like recently a fence has been put in so there is really about 20ft or so of actual water access. Also the beach area was super rocky with a broken boat ramp & cracked concrete making it kind of dangerous for a young child to be walking around. Another thing is the stickers in the grass were really bad, you can’t walk through the grass barefoot. I’d definitely recommend water shoes for the beach area & the grass. We were only disappointed because we thought it would be a little more kid friendly than it was. But again overall it was a nice stay just want everyone to beware if you plan on having little kids coming.

We loved our week at this large, beautiful property! Perfect for my daughter, her husband, her 4 year and 6 year old children, my husband, and a family friend who stayed in the cottage! There is a lot of space! The private beach is small but nice sand. The dock is great, and there are 2 kayaks to use. The lower unit of the main house is good, but not elegant. The upper is nicer, and the cottage is quite nice. Having said that, we found the property as a whole almost perfect!!

Had an amazing time together with our adult children. The fishing was amazing and even caught a hammer head shark and saw dolphins and sting rays. The yard was perfect for playing frisbee and catch with the football. Over all an amazing place.

We loved our time at the house. The yard was perfect for our crazy kiddos to play Frisbee, run, and hit wiffle balls. We enjoyed playing on the beach and snorkeling out by the dock. We saw nurse sharks, stingrays, manatee, tarpon, iguanas, and tons of little fish. My nature lover was in heaven. The house has spices. There was only a couple rolls of TP and paper towels, and no soap or shampoo or trash bags, we have always stayed at fully stocked houses so these were kind of a shock for us. We did run down to the Winn Dixie and grab everything pretty easily. The beds are not comfortable and we had a hard time sleeping especially the 1st night when we weren't tired from a long day of play, but a few of us moved to the couches and slept better the next few nights. The location cannot be better. The neighbors were there and we heard them, but only saw them once. Andy is so easy to communicate with and he got the WiFi up and running asap and a ladder put on the dock. It was overall an amazing week. I do suggest visiting this property.

The property is great for those that love spending time outdoors.

We enjoyed the privacy and beauty of this property for our family of 7. Plenty of room and supplies for everyone. We saw stingrays, sharks, barracuda, and puffer fish at the dock. The boat ramp on property was damaged so we put in a few miles north and docked at the house. We enjoyed fishing and diving spots just 5-10miles from house, 18miles for fresh tuna. Beds were comfortable. It was sad to see how much plastic washes ashore. We collected a bag full daily. We would definitely stay here again.

Great place for a family of 6-plenty of indoor and outdoor space to spread out, relax, and explore. The property is full of lush vegetation and there is a plant nursery across the street that is like a mini arboretum. Fun outdoor place to explore. We were looking for a place to safely vacation during the pandemic, this was perfect. The location was ideal for daily boat rental from the local marina, a day trip to the Everglades, and nearby shopping needs. The house is off the main road, with minimal traffic and area to safely run and bike. The house was well equipped with everything needed for cooking, the grill was used daily. We fished from the dock, kids snorkeled from the shore. Just walking along the dock we saw amazing sealife. Like any place in a humid environment, the windows were a bit sticky to open and the house a bit musty. Easy to fix with the fresh breeze. We would definitely come back!

We want to thank the owner who is absolutely wonderful and always available at any time. The house was great accommodating two families with four children. There are basically three separate living spaces with kitchens. The view was magnificent with a lot of space for all and plenty of playing space for the kids. We had a few cold days so we made a fire pit on the beach and roasted marshmallows. The home is also located near many great restaurants and activities.

We had a group of 10 including family and friends - adults and teenagers - who loved this property! We were able to have personal space as well as group space to enjoy together. All areas were clean and met our needs. The view is spectacular, especially sunrises! The kids loved lounging on the hammocks and just sitting on the dock watching the Milky Way late at night - OH MY! We enjoyed all our old favorite restaurants and boating activities. Andy was easy to communicate with on contract questions and advice to enjoy our stay. We highly recommend Sanctuary In Paradise and hope to stay again in the future!

My family and I spent a wonderful week on this property. There was plenty of room for us and my daughter, her husband and our grand daughter. All three units were clean and ready for us upon our arrival. The owners were easy to reach, and we were given local manager info when we needed anything. The dock accommodated our small boat so we were able to go and fish and snorkel at our leisure. The beach front allowed for us to wander into the ocean for a refreshing swim. All in all, it was a lovely stay.

We enjoyed our first-ever Keys vacation in Islamorada. We enjoyed fishing from dock and caught two snapper dinners (try squid as bait with split shot weight) that we pan seared on the outdoor grill. We love to cook and eat and the cooking amenities, utensils, and proximity to the Winn -Dixie grocery all worked well for us. Plenty of room, clean, private compound feel, great AC, working ice makers x 2. We enjoyed the terrific affordable pool at Founders park(1.5 miles), local eateries, Treasure isle Sea life center, and local fishing charters. Laundry worked well too. A great getaway. Andy very responsive and kind. :) You can tell he loves his home and sharing it with others.

Sanctuary in Paradise was indeed paradise! The property was perfect for our family visit, with an upscale 1 bedroom upstairs for my parents, a comfortable 2 bedroom downstairs for husband, children and myself and a separate cottage for my brother. We had plenty of space when we needed it, but the upstairs unit was perfect for us to have meals together and watch movies. The property and beach were amazing! Close to restaurants and shopping, but completely private. A++

Owners were extremely kind and accommodating. location was perfect and the view was breathtaking! Kids had a great time playing in the large yard while parents kicked back on the porch. The separate living quarters and kitchens made it great for a multi-family stay. We will be back!

After spending seven days in paradise, my husband and I left the “Sanctuary in Paradise” recharged. Each morning we took in the beautiful sunrise from the deck in the master upstairs. We rented a boat and could have it docked at the house for immediate access to the ocean, and in the afternoon, we laid under the sun relaxing on the hammocks. Our evenings were spent fishing on the dock, catching nonstop. We decided on this house so we could host an intimate wedding ceremony and reception. Our guests were stunned when they pulled into Schooner Bay Road and were welcomed by the breathtaking ocean view. The property is so spacious and had room for us to have a ceremony by the sea and followed by a reception. The house was stocked with everything you would need from beach towels, to air mattresses and kitchen cookware. There was little for us to think about. The property owner, Andy Cancela, was beyond gracious and accommodating each time I had a question. This was the best week I could have imaged. You will not be disappointed!

We just came back from a wonderful week in Plantation Key. We went with our daughter, my elderly parents, sister and brother. The house is set up perfectly for multiple families to have there own space but still enjoy the week together. Every morning we woke up early to see an amazing sunset and my husband, who is an avid fishermen, spent a great deal of time fishing off the end of the dock. He caught a multitude of fish and we enjoyed kayaking, swimming and sunning. All in all a beautiful week in a beautiful place. We highly recommend this house!

We have rented before in the Florida Keys but never on the Ocean Side. I definitely recommend it! We really enjoyed the sea life and the view. Property is expansive with several buildings and the cottage is very neat. Property is also very private. It felt like a private oasis. Photos are exactly as they are in person. All minor issues were taken care of promptly by the owner and he was easy to get ahold of and Andy worked with us to accomodate our unique travel situation. Several large boats came by and there was so much sea life, dolphins, sharks, sting rays and much more greeted us out on the dock. We fished a bunch off the dock and enjoyed our evenings in the upper level of the house. There were 13 of us ranging from age 3 to 73 and there was plenty of room for all. I definitely recommend a charter fishing outing with 5 star fishing. We caught over 100 fish in a little over 3 hours. Founders Park is a must for anyone with children. Admission is free with your contract from Andy and it is only 3 miles away. Cant wait to get back to the Keys!

We rented this home for our first visit to the Keys. Our group was 6 adults and the house fit our needs very well. It was exceptionally clean and the property is gorgeous. House has everything you might need. We rented a boat for the week and made good use of the dock. Saw lots of wildlife on the property and enjoyed the porches and the hot tub. The home is close to shopping and restaurants. It was a great trip!