Guide to Biscayne National Park

Biscayne National Park 

Biscayne National Park is south of Miami Florida. It was first made a monument and then upgraded to a National Park in order to protect the coral reefs in the area. The majority of the park (95%)  is underwater however  there are some islands (keys). 

It is free to visit the park but there are additional costs if you choose to do a boat tour or a snorkeling tour. I would highly recommend doing this because unless you bring your own boat to Biscayne NP there's just not a whole lot to really do. 

All tours are operated through the "Biscayne National Park Institute" which is not the same as the the National Park Service but they have a mutual agreement. They offer snorkeling and boat tours to learn more about the park. 

Visitor Center 

The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is a small visitor center with a gift shop for the park. It has a small museum that tells the history of the park. 

Around the visitor center is a nice board walk and small trail that you can walk through with pretty views of the water. There are also some nice picnic tables and bathrooms if you want to eat lunch and look at pretty views of the water. 

The visitor center is the meeting point for snorkeling and boat tours. 

Boat tour and visiting Boca Chita Key 

We visited Biscayne National Park in January 2021. While it was warmer than the state that we had left it was only about 65 degrees out. We decided to opt out of snorkeling for this reason. Instead we did a boat tour where we were able to learn more about the history of the park. The boat tour took us past the major keys (Elliot & Adams) and we stopped at Boca Chita Key and were able to explore for roughly 45 minutes. We really enjoyed the tour and we learned a lot about the area. 

I had heard about glass bottom boat tours (where you can see the fish below you) but I think they have shut down those tours since covid. The good thing about Biscayne National Park is that it is not that deep and therefore boats cannot go very fast. This is nice if you are prone to motion/seasickness. Also be aware on these boats- there is a splash zone, be sure to ask where it is before determining where you take your seat on the boat-unless you want to get splashed. 

Boca Chita Key was originally owned by the Honeywells (the ones that most likely made your thermostat if you live in America). It was their own private island and they would host elaborate parties that rich people from Miami would drive their boats over to attend. Mr Honeywell constructed a lighthouse on the island. His intent was to turn his lighthouse on when he had parties in order for his guests to know where to go. Unfortunately he didn't clear this grand idea with the coast guard. He lit the lighthouse once and the coast guard shut him down pretty quick. The light house is easily the most iconic feature of Boca Chita Key. 

If you bring your own boat you can camp on Boca Chita Key for $25 a night. There were a lot of boats docked on the island while we were there. There are also bathrooms on the island. Other than the bathrooms and the lighthouse it is largely undeveloped. There is a small trail that circles the island. We walked this trail with plenty of time to get back to the boat in 45 minutes.  

Overall 

Overall we were kind of underwhelmed by Biscayne- especially because we had just come from Dry Tortugas and Everglades National Parks. I would recommend it if you want a day trip either from the Florida Keys or from Miami. I also think the snorkeling would be fun if it was a warm day.  We found the boat tour very informative and very interesting. 

Interested in Florida's other National Parks????

Blog Post on Dry Tortugas: 

Blog Post on Everglades: