Biscayne National Park
I’m back! The last park I visited was New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia in 2022 for a baby moon. Turns out, this family era life is no joke and takes a bit to get your head back above water. Since that last park visit, we had that first babe, bought a new house and moved, made it through the first year of being parents, then had another surprise baby, and moved again. Among all the regular life things and being adults and such.
So! This February, I had a much deserved, and long awaited girls weekend in Miami with my eight college besties (seriously, we scheduled this over a year before – it’s no easy feat to line up schedules for nine people across the country with different jobs and families!). I was the planner for this trip, and I tried really hard to build in a trip to Biscayne National Park for all the ladies to join in. However, (first tip!) I quickly learned this would only be feasible for smaller groups and if you have your own transportation, since it’s about an hour south of Miami with limited public transportation options.
Bummer for my friends, but luckily for me, I have another wonderful friend down there that I also wanted to visit while I was flying down there! So, I made my trip an extra day to see Jill and get my 59th Junior Ranger badge with her by my side.
First thing to know about Biscayne National Park – it’s 95% water. And like I mentioned, it’s not actually in Miami. So because of these two facts, you really can’t deeply explore this park without a boat (i.e. money) or time. My visit to this beautiful park was a tiny piece of what it has to offer. If I had more time and money to spend without getting that mom guilt, I would have definitely done a few more fun explorations that Biscayne offers.
Here are a few of the ways you can enjoy this park:
- Visit the keys; Boca Chita, Elliot, and Adams. Boca Chita is the most popular (and accessible) with a historic lighthouse, short hikes, and a campground. At the time of my visit, the lighthouse was closed for renovations and surrounded by scaffolding. Because of this, I took visiting the keys off my list for my quick visit.
- Snorkeling or diving.
- Paddling the mangroves canals, lagoons and/or seagrass banks.
If you have your own boat, this park is your oyster and you can do all these things! If not, you’ll need to partner with an authorized vendor that is allowed to operate at the park. I chose to use the Biscayne National Park Institute for my tour, as this non-profit supports the National Parks, are focused on being good stewards of the natural environment, and educating others.
Jill and I chose the Kayaking the Mangroves experience! It worked best for our small window of time, and was definitely budget friendly! I actually ended up using a stand up paddleboard because the online registration system messed up the reservation and split Jill and I into different times. But the staff and guides were wonderful and made it work for us, which was greatly appreciated!
When we started the trip, the guide gave us a little overview of what to expect, brief safety guidelines (where we were going to be was only 2-6′ deep, so he said if you fall out… “just stand”), and where we were going. We all paddled through the calm bay for about 15 minutes before we turned into a quiet canal.
Here, our guide chatted with us for about 10 minutes or so. He shared the history of the park, about the various ecosystems it houses, the wildlife (it has the largest number of different species in one National Park – including over 600 types of fish), the three types of mangrove trees in the park (red, white, and black mangroves can be found here) and how to identify them, all peppered with many classic stereotypical tour guide jokes.
My absolute favorite fact I learned was the difference between an island and key. Islands are formed geologically (volcanos, tectonic plates moving, etc), while keys are created biologically, typically from old coral reefs being exposed when sea levels drop! And of course, Americans are the only ones that call them “key” – the rest of the world calls them “cay”.
After exploring the lovely quiet mangrove canals, we headed back into the bay to paddle to some little islands. What we found was that the calm bay we started our trip in had become a windy channel that mostly just gave us a good workout. Beautiful and fun, but not exactly conducive to observing anything under the water. After we got back to the marina, I explored the adorable visitor center and earned my 59th Junior Ranger badge. Ranger Esmeralda was one of the amazing Rangers who made it so fun and why I love doing this program; asked me fun questions, quizzed me on what I learned, and taught me even more 🙂
Recommendations
- Plan early and reserve your tickets early! When we were checking in, a handful of people got turned away because they thought they could show up and join, but everything was full. The next earliest options they were given were the following week!
- While Florida weather is great in November-April, especially for midwesterners, if you want to snorkel or dive, I’d recommend the summer months when the water is warmer.
- While it can be added on to a short Miami visit like I did, I wish I had more time here. This park is perfect to pair with the Everglades National Park since it’s close by, and will make it easier to pick a homebase south of Miami. Plus, you can do the Junior Ranger programs in the same booklet!
- This is for all parks, but it bears repeating in our current climate – treat the park with respect. Pack it in, pack it out, stay on trails/areas you’re allowed to go, be prepared, and so on. For Biscayne in particular, if you’re not an experienced boater, you probably shouldn’t charter your own boat and explore without a guide. The Ranger and Park resources may not be able to help you.
