Biscayne National Park

Visited: Feb 2019

Nearby city: Homestead, FL; Miami, FL

This National Park in southeastern Florida preserves Biscayne Bay and the offshore barrier coral reefs. 95% of this park is water; a very tiny bit of the park is on mainland Florida (the Dante Fascell visitor center) and the remaining land are the small islands (called Keys) scattered throughout the Bay: the three main keys are (1) Boca Chita Key; (2) Sands Key; and the largest key in the park (3) Elliott Key.

In the early 1900s, the keys in this beautiful bay became somewhat of a playground for the wealthy elite and a popular vacation spot for luminaries like President Warren G. Harding, the prominent DuPont family, founder of Firestone Tire company Harvey Firestone, famous boxer Jack Dempsey, GM head Charles Kettering, founder of Goodyear F.A. Seiberling and humorist Will Rogers. As Miami's growth exploded in the 1950s and 1960s, development spread further and further south. Some power plants were built on the mainland along Biscayne Bay. And a plan was proposed to construct a giant causeway or bridge across the Bay connecting Key Biscayne to Key Largo. There were a number of influential people (such as landscape designer Ernest Coe, who was largely responsible for the creation of Everglades National Park) who lobbied to protect and preserve the Bay from this development. In 1980, Biscayne National Park was established.

Because so much of the park is water, if you don't have your own boat and watercraft, you'll need to book a guided tour. All tours leave from the Dante Fascell visitor center (the closet town is Homestead, FL about 1/2 hour-45 minutes south of Miami). Go to the park website for all the information on tours and links to other companies that are licensed to offer tours of the park. There are lots of different options: 1/2 day tours (or full day tours) to Boca Chita Key to see the lighthouse, or to Elliott Key for hiking. Other tours offer snorkeling (you can even snorkel shipwrecks in the Bay), or a trip out to Stiltsville (an amphibious neighborhood built out in the middle of the bay on 10-ft high platforms, 7 houses survive to this day).

We did the half-day tour out to Boca Chita Key. It was a beautiful ride across the Bay. The water was clear blue, and very shallow all the way out to the key, only about 8-10 ft deep, you could easily see the bottom. Way in the distance, you could see the towering skyscrapers of Miami on the horizon.

the Miami skyline in the distance

approaching Boca Chita Key

In 1937, industrialist Mark C. Honeywell purchased Boca Chita Key and turned it into quite the vacation getaway. Honeywell had made his fortune in hot water heating equipment. He would host elaborate parties on the island and built a number of structures, a few small homes, a church, and a lighthouse. It is not a functioning lighthouse, it is purely ornamental.

After your pleasant ferry ride across the bay, we had an hour or two to sit and enjoy the Key. Caught great views on top of the lighthouse, play in the ocean, or just wander on the Key to your heart's content. Boca Chita Key definitely retains its party atmosphere. Many local Miami-ans (Miami-ites?) had docked at the island, loud music playing, passing around the Coronas, etc. 😊 It was certainly a unique National Park atmosphere. 😃

Although our visit to Biscayne National Park was quite short; we had a fun time. Looking forward to returning and maybe doing some snorkeling or visit Stiltsville. Go to the park's website to find out all information on booking a guided tour. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/bisc/index.htm