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One of my favorite parts of our trip to Florida was visiting Biscayne National Park. With a park that is 95% water there are limited options for getting around. If you’re flying in like we did, chances are you won’t have access to a boat of your own, meaning that you’ll have to schedule some tours to really see all Biscayne Bay has to offer. There are several different options for tours provided by the Biscayne National Park Institute. Like nearby Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park was dedicated to protect biodiversity. The park has thousands of species of animals and plants, including over 600 species of fish. Biscayne National Park activities include paddle boarding, boating, and snorkeling, all starting from the Dante Fascell Visitor Center near Homestead, FL. Biscayne is also conveniently one of the National Parks that does not charge an admission fee. This is mainly because they do not have a good way to police the boats coming in and out of the bay and therefore don’t feel as though they can charge a fee for cars at the entrance. Here are a few great options for things to do in Biscayne National Park.
Biscayne National Park Paddle Boarding
Our first tour in Biscayne was the Jones Lagoon Morning Paddle Boarding Eco-Tour. The guides take you by boat out to Jones Lagoon (approximately a 40 minute boat ride across Biscayne Bay) and set you up with stand up paddle boards. You can sit, kneel, or stand on the boards; whichever is more comfortable for you. The water is very shallow but you are provided a life jacket for safety. There isn’t much danger of falling off (unless you are my boyfriend apparently). He ended up in the water trying to make it through a particularly dense thicket of mangrove trees. Some of the areas are quite difficult to maneuver through and you almost need to abandon your paddle for a few minutes and pull yourself through the trees using the branches.
History of Jones Lagoon
Jones Lagoon is named after Lancelot Jones and his family who lived out on one of the keys for decades. His decision to sell the land to help create the national park encouraged many of his neighbors living on the keys to follow suit. Without his leadership, the area now dedicated to the national park would be developed much like the rest of the Florida Keys. Even after the land was deemed a national park in 1980, Lancelot was permitted to live out on the key until Hurricane Andrew destroyed his home in 1992. The foundation of the home can be found on one of the nearby keys.
While I didn’t actually get wet during my trip paddle boarding, I still wanted to take some precautions before taking photos around so much water. Bringing my nice camera was out of the question, but my sister got me a waterproof action camera called the Akaso Brave 4 for Christmas and Mike and I bought a few extra accessories for it so we could try it out on the trip. Here is the exact equipment we had on our trip!
Akaso Brave 4 Waterproof Camera
Telescopic Pole
Vacuum Sealed Waterproof Cell Pouch
In addition to all the fun equipment, don’t forget to bring the basics also like sunscreen. While you can leave your stuff on the boat, it is recommended that you not bring anything along that could be damaged when wet. Along the way we saw several animals including small fish, upside down jellyfish, and even a few small sharks like this nurse shark below. Our guides were very knowledgeable about the plant and animal life in the lagoon, even holding up an upside-down jellyfish to show us what to look for in the water below. After getting back on the boat and making our way across the bay, we stopped to quickly check out the Visitor Center before heading out for lunch. There really isn’t much in the way of food around Biscayne National Park, so be sure to bring some yourself or make your way to a restaurant after wrapping up any of your excursions.
Biscayne National Park Boat Tours
With so much water, almost all the tours is Biscayne involve some level of boating. The water is pretty flat with very little waves since it is protected by the keys, so although the boats move quickly there isn’t a ton of rocky water. Only if you are extremely prone to seasickness might you have some issues with the boats on the bay. Since the ride across Biscayne Bay to your destination is a significant part of the tour, the guides tend to tell you about a lot of the history of the places you are visiting. Some even have old photographs and other visuals to help you learn more on the trip. I’ve included some information the guides shared with us throughout the post. Be aware that some tours are only offered on weekends, but the the tour we took, Boca Chita Island Experience, runs every day.
What’s the Difference Between an Island and a Key?
Islands and keys are similar but differ in how they are formed. Typically islands are created by volcanic activity or the movement of tectonic plates, thus forming a geologic land mass. Keys on the other hand are formed by coral deposits and are typically very shallow. Biscayne National Park actually has the third largest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) that runs from Mexico down through Central America.
History of Boca Chita Key and the Boca Chita Lighthouse
Boca Chita Key has a particularly interesting history. The key was purchased by Mark Honeywell (inventor of the thermostat) in order to host lavish, Gatsby-style parties with the Miami elite. Popular guests to these parties included people like Carl Fisher and his pet elephant Rosy. There are several buildings that Honeywell built on the key including a large garage for boats and party tents and smaller structures, but the signature of Boca Chita Key (and the logo of the Biscayne National Park Institute) is the Boca Chita Lighthouse. Honeywell built the lighthouse not to alert boaters, but rather to signal to his friends when parties were being held. This did not last long before the Coast Guard came to force him to remove the light from the lighthouse as he didn’t have a permit to build one, and it actually was on the wrong side of the key, meaning that it could confuse boaters coming from the Atlantic Ocean. Now the lighthouse still stands and you can make your way to the top as part of the Boca Chita Island Experience Tour offered by the institute.
Boca Chita Key Boat Tour
The tour out to Boca Chita Key first takes you up to the top of the lighthouse for a view over the bay, and then let’s you roam the island freely. We spent some time walking over to the small beach inlet on the far side of the island and then around some of the structures to a small trail. I unfortunately wasn’t wearing the right shoes for the trail and there were several mosquitoes that made it easier just to turn back to the breezy shores of the bay. If you do plan on walking around more I would bring sneakers as the grass in the island of the key was quite high and scratchy. Otherwise flip flops were fine for walking down to the beach. The boat spends a few hours at the key before taking you back to the Biscayne National Park Visitor Center. You are encouraged to bring lunch to the island as there are plenty of places to have picnics, but our favorite spot was along the wall away from the lighthouse where we spent time trying to take pictures of birds like this amazing hawk that was circling overhead. The area of trees was just shady enough to sit comfortably before it was time to return to the boat.
Camping at Boca Chita Key
If you have your own boat or can get a ride out, it’s possible to go camping overnight at Boca Chita Key. A permit is relatively cheap but are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Weekends do tend to fill up pretty quickly I’d imagine as we went on a Tuesday and there were several boats in the small harbor. There are bathrooms on the island (no showers) and picnic tables and charcoal grills available though if you would want to come just for the day. Without your own boat however, the tour is basically the only way to get out to the key as there are no roads connecting the most northern keys to areas like Key Largo.
Biscayne National Park Snorkeling
Biscayne National Park is also one of the best places for snorkeling in Florida due to the large coral reef and several shipwrecks along the coast. If you have your own equipment it is recommended you bring it, as there is typically an additional charge for snorkeling gear, but be sure to check the tour’s website for any specifics. We unfortunately didn’t have time on our short trip to go snorkeling and we weren’t sure how cold the water would be at the beginning of March anyway but it’s something I’d love to look into on a return trip. The Maritime Heritage Trail Shipwreck Snorkel Experience sounds particularly cool as I haven’t snorkeled a shipwreck before. There are several Biscayne Bay tours that provide a combination of these different activities also if you are looking to squeeze a lot into a one or two day trip.
Biscayne National Park Map
Here’s a map of the Visitor Center in relation to Boca Chita Key and Jones Lagoon.
Have you been to Biscayne National Park? How was your experience?
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