At Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure, if you stay on-site you get a complimentary Express Plus Pass that lets you skip lines for certain rides and attractions.

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In most cases, the passengers are dropped off on beaches of remote islands in the Florida Keys or near Miami, where they wait to be picked up by U.S. authorities.

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Bake in searing Florida sun and serve on 45 islands scattershot over a 113-mile-long chain, connected by one long road.

BBC: Lonely Planet's top five day trips from Miami

From Alaska to Florida and up to Maine, there are a handful of islands that have homes for sale.

FORBES: Private Islands For Sale - Luxury Digs Included

The Florida Keys, a 113-mile-long chain of islands, is one of the five suggestions in Lonely Planet's top five day trips from Miami, but the laid-back streets feel more like they belong in the Caribbean.

BBC: This is Miami week

Oil has hit barrier islands off Mississippi and Alabama, and was only six miles off the Florida Panhandle on Thursday morning, state emergency management officials have reported.

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In South Florida, Cuban-Americans and Haitian-Americans have been mobilizing to get aid to the islands.

NPR: In Fla., Families Struggle To Get Aid To Haiti, Cuba