Just a few miles from Miami, as the gull flies, you’ll find the aquatic paradise of Biscayne National Park. This mostly marine park protects the northern end of the Florida Keys and the Florida Reef. The warm waters of Biscayne Bay and the protection of the barrier Keys makes Biscayne National Park a water lovers paradise. Boaters, kayakers, snorkelers and fishers will think of Biscayne as a paradise. But with so much of this park being water and islands, how do you explore it? Keep reading and we’ll tell you what you need to know to plan the perfect getaway to Biscayne National Park.
About Biscayne National Park
Biscayne National Park is located just off shore of Miami in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Florida. It is a unique National Park as 95% of the park is aquatic. This parks includes the northern portion of the Florida Reef, the third largest reef in the world. The other 5% of the park is barrier islands and mangroves.
While this park may sound like a wilderness, and it definitely is, it wasn’t always wild. In fact parts of the park used to be the off shore getaways for Miami’s rich and famous. The islands were once dotted with fancy vacation homes and private clubs. However, when developers wanted to turn the islands into something similar to Miami Beach, folks weren’t having it. Instead a massive campaign to preserve the area happened and the country successfully incorporated the islands into a National Monument, and later Park, and returned most of them to their natural state.
Quick Facts: Biscayne National Park
Established: 1980
Size: 172,971 acres
Nearest City: Homestead, Florida
Annual Visitors: 571,242 (2023)
Entrance fee: FREE
Pets allowed: on a leash, not allowed on Boca Chita Key
When To Visit Biscayne National Park
Because Biscayne is an aquatic park, you’ll want to visit when it is warm enough to enjoy all of the aquatic adventures. March through September is a good time to visit, though if you want to spend a lot of time in the water, the summer would be the best time to visit – though hurricanes could disrupt your plans. We visited in the Spring and the weather was still pretty chilly for being in and out of the water.
Getting There and Around
If you are flying to Biscayne National Park, you’ll need to fly in to Miami International Airport.
Once you arrive in Miami, you can take a ride share or a rental car to a boat. You will need a boat to get around the park. We have options for either private boat tours or group boat tours below. If you have your own boat or are renting one, check out the regulations for visiting the park here before you go.
The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is the only part of the park on the mainland that is accessible by car alone.
Things To Do In Biscayne National Park
Visit The Dante Fascell Visitor Center
The Visitor Center has a REALLY nice indoor exhibit that does a great job of highlighting the underwater and often unseen parts of the park. The visitor center has a lot of really interactive wildlife exhibits that kiddos will love. There is also a park video about this history of the park and a few aquariums with stuff living and growing inside.
Hike The Jetty Trail
Time: 30 minutes | Length: .8 mile out-and-back
While this is so short and well groomed, it can barely be called a hike, it is a really pleasant walk. This trail starts out on a boardwalk that is a popular fishing area. Next, you walk along a jetty to the very end and you can watch the boats come into dock. At the end of the jetty, you’ll often see sea birds hunting as well. It’s definitely worth a walk and includes lots of informational plaques along the way that help to narrate your walk.
Snorkel Or Dive The Florida Reef
The northern portion of the Florida Reef, the world’s third largest coral reef, is along the outer shores of the Biscayne Keys. The park has verified tour providers that allow you to snorkel or scuba dive. The reef here is very healthy and diverse.
The actual reef has some cool corals making the structure of the reef neat for seasoned explorers. However, it is a cooler water reef, meaning it is less colorful than more tropical reefs. There are also several wrecks in the park for divers interested in wreck diving.
Take The Historical Heritage Tour
The most popular tour offered in Biscayne National Park is the Heritage Tour. This tour gives an interesting overview of both the ecosystems in the park as well as the history of the park. The tour cruises along the keys, stopping at one. If you are interested in this tour, or any others, make sure to book them ahead of time as they often fill up.
See Some Birds
Amateur ornithological enthusiasts of the world rejoice at the many species of water birds available for viewing in Biscayne National Park. We saw lots of gulls, herons and more as we explored the islands.
Visit An Island
Elliot Key and Boca Chita Key are the most popular island stops in Biscayne National Park.
Boca Chita Key has many more buildings and historical stories to explore and is a crowd favorite. Visiting Boca Chita is on of the most popular things to do in Biscayne National Park. Boats are allowed to park here, though parking fills up early in the day as people come here to camp out for a full day on the island. There are bathrooms on this island in addition to a cool lighthouse. You can climb to the top of the lighthouse during daytime hours. There is also a half mile trail that loops the entire island that is a nice walk. Additionally, there is a swimming area on the east side of the island.
Elliot Key is the larger of the two islands and has a longer “hiking trail”. However, this hiking trail is along the “spite road” a straight road built in an attempt to stop the island from becoming a National Park. So the hiking isn’t actually much fun. However, there are picnic areas on the Key and the large size and quieter nature make it a popular stop.
Paddle In The Mangroves
Paddling the mangroves is one of the most popular things to do in Biscayne National Park. The easiest way to do this is to book the Jones Lagoon paddle trip. This trip gives you 1.5 hours of stand up paddle board time in the peaceful lagoons away from motor boat traffic. The water here is really clear so you may even see sea turtles or manatees.
If you have your own paddle gear but no boat, there is a paddle trail right next to the visitor center that goes along the shore line.
Cruise Stiltsville
If you are interested in visiting Biscayne Park but don’t want to travel too far from Miami, Stilsville may be the place for you. Tours are offered from Coconut Grove and they cruise out to Stilsville to see the houses erected in the ocean on stilts. This houses once numbered in the dozens and were a way of escaping the prohibition laws of the mainland. However, they’ve since been destroyed by hurricanes and only a few remain. You are not allowed to visit the houses but you can take a scenic cruise around them.
How Do You Visit Biscayne National Park?
The best way to visit Biscayne National Park is via a Biscayne Bay boat tour. There are two different ways to do this: private tour or group tour.
Private Tours
First, you can visit with a private boat tour or boat rental. We attempted to visit this way. However, it was really difficult to find a boat in the area for rent that didn’t require you to also hire a captain. As captain’s are expensive, this meant this would be prohibitively expensive for our party of two. However, if you do have a boat and know how to boat responsibly or know someone who does, this would be the best way to explore this park as 95% of it is water.
This private boat tour is designed specifically for visiting the park and can be completely customized to your personal tastes.
Group Tours
However, the most popular way to visit Biscayne National Park is via a tour with an authorized tour operator. There is one tour company operating out of the visitor’s center in Biscayne National Park, the Biscayne National Park Institute. They offer several tours. There are both half day and full day tours.
Full Day
If you are interested in a full day tour, like we were, we would recommend this tour. It combines history, paddle boarding, and snorkeling. All of the most popular things to do in Biscayne National Park! However, be aware that this tour is very popular and frequently fills up ahead of time. It was booked full the day we visited – and we tried to book it two months in advance. If it is full, it is possible to do both a morning tour and an afternoon tour in order to spend a full day in Biscayne National Park.
Half Day
If you are interested in a half day tour (or you need two half day tours because the full day tours were full), there are three that we can highly recommend.
First, is the Heritage Bay tour. This tour cruises along the islands, stopping at one, and gives you a history of the park. Second, is the snorkel tour. As a majority of the park is underwater, snorkeling is a great way to get a view of the park. The snorkel tour takes you to both a reef and a mangrove so you get a variety of sights. Lastly, the paddle tour is a great way to explore the mangroves that protect these islands. People often spot fish in the clear mangrove waters while on this tour. All three of these tours leave from the Visitor Center so it’s easy to choose two and make a full day if you choose.
Additionally, a majority of these tours book up ahead of time. So make sure to book your tours here before you go.
What To Budget For Biscayne National Park
You’ll need to budget for either a private boat rental or a public boat tour. However, the plus side is there is no entrance fee for the park.
A private charter will cost around $1,200 for a mostly full day (about 6 hours).
A public boat tour ranges from $80/person for a half day tour to $210/person for a full day tour.
What To Pack For Biscayne National Park
You’ll definitely want to pack a lunch if you plan on visiting Biscayne National Park for a full day. There are snacks available for purchase at the Visitor Center but there are no food vendors. However, there are plenty of picnic tables at the Visitor Center so it makes a great place for a picnic.
Additionally, you’ll want to pack a refillable water bottle, no matter how long you’re visiting the park for.
If you plan on doing any snorkeling, bring your own snorkel gear and it will save you a rental fee. Additionally, bring a quick dry towel so that you can warm up after. The snorkeling trips go to multiple places so the quick drying factor is helpful.
Lastly, you’ll want to bring waterproof cases for your phone or underwater cameras. Even if you aren’t going snorkeling, you’ll likely get a little wet on the boat ride.
Additionally, remember to dress in layers as the ocean breeze can be chilly. We were wearing full on winter gear on the boat ride and then swimming later in the day.
Is Biscayne National Park Worth A Visit?
Honestly, we were not impressed with Biscayne National Park. The main reason for that was due to the fact that a huge amount of the park is inaccessible. Couple this with the fact that you basically have to take a “tour” of the park and it just wasn’t our favorite park. We like the independent exploration of nature that National Parks allow us to have. And this park doesn’t allow that. At the end of our trip we were left wondering “why is this a national park?”.
However, if you think of this less like a National Park and more like a good day trip from Miami – they yes, this was worth a visit. But we don’t think it deserves to be on the list with the likes of Yellowstone. It wasn’t even as good as its neighbor, the Everglades.
Where To Stay Near Biscayne National Park.
There are campsites in Biscayne National Park, but they’re on the Keys. So unless you have your own boat, you won’t be able to stay in the park.
We’ve stayed in Homestead twice now. It makes a great base camp for exploring Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. Because of this, accommodations in Homestead, especially in the spring, can be expensive. However, we can recommend the following budget accommodations.
If you’re looking for a cheap hotel, we’ve stayed here in the past. It was clean safe and came with free breakfast waffles – our favorite!
We also stayed in this great guesthouse located in a tropical plant nursery. It was one of the most surprisingly delightful stays we’ve had.
If you do stay in Homestead, we recommend eating at either Shiver’s BBQ or Havana Spice. Both were great!
We hope this has helped you to plan your own visit to Biscayne National Park. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments in the section below.
