It's a nice boardwalk right by the coast. It's free to visit and there's restrooms and pavilions…read morewith tables and trash cans. One can eat a picnic here. Due to the ecology of the Keys, this beach isn't like what one may think of when they hear the word "beach." It's not like the beaches in more Northern parts of Florida or the artificially constructed ones at some of the local resorts. There's no fine sand or rolling waves. A lot of the sediment near the water is clay-like, and the nearby ocean is shallow and, if I recall correctly, dominated by seagrass. The boardwalk is surrounded by mangroves and other plants, which are home to lots of life. One can see crabs, lizards, and various insects darting around. There's occasionally various species of birds here. At the time of writing, this beach, like much of the Keys, is covered in sargassum, which anaerobic bacteria decompose, producing foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide in the process. This can make visiting the place a bit unpleasant. I'd suggest checking to see if sargassum is a problem before visiting. There's also often biting insects in the area. I'd recommend bringing insects repellant. Overall, I think it's a nice, free place to walk and enjoy the local environment. Just don't expect an idyllic beach.

It was our first stop while en route to KW. it easy to see why this would be a popular beach for…read morefamilies with small children or for people with pets. one of Islamorada's best attractions for the avid beachgoer. While the Florida Keys in general do not offer a large variety of sandy beaches, this little stretch located at Mile Marker 73.4 Oceanside offers a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the day, sunbathing We reached around 9:30 AM, and it was almost empty. With a few clouds in the sky, the place had a very serene and peaceful vibe. No crowds at all. In summer, the beach area is probably a bit wider, but during our visit, it was smaller. Still, that doesn't take away from enjoying this beautiful beach. Parking is right there, and there are restrooms nearby, which makes it very convenient.

Florida Bay Forever is a charming spot with Old Keys style. Filled with native plants, walking…read moretrails, and all sorts of wildlife, it also has a kayak launch and a very nice pavilion where I'm sure the view of the sunset is spectacular! The gift shop is wonderful and the people there are even more wonderful. They have guided bird and nature walks, and the staff is so knowledgeable and just plain NICE. A great spot to take the kids, or just go by yourself or with friends to enjoy the wildlife and maybe learn something while you're at it. I guarantee you will come away from the experience with a renewed appreciation of the Florida Keys.

This was hard to find but it was so nice and so perfect, I gave it 5 stars anyways. Great for a…read morepicnic when you're in the area. They also had a kiddie play area in the front and more parking spots in the front. I would highly recommend the spot. My friends and I enjoyed it immensely.

This is a nice stop to stretch your legs, walk to a small beach or go to the Islamorada Visitor's…read moreCenter. The person behind the counter of the Visitor's Center was extremely helpful on the best way to spend 1-2 hours in the area. Next to the beach, they were holding a yoga class with a lot of people in attendance. There is a playground and a swimming pool (not open in February). This is a nice park and would be especially fun for a family with kids.

Went here for the beach area and to walk around the park to get some exercise. Free admission with…read moreproof of stay in the area. Beach area is very nice with shady spots over by picnic tables with bbq grills. Lots of room to sunbathe and even have showers and a restroom by the beach. No alcohol or dogs allowed on beach. The park also has a small and large dog park if bringing your pet with you to the keys and want to let them run around. There is a pool as well but did not check into how much it would be for the day to go to the pool as our hotel had a pool. Pretty nice park to stop and see if staying in islamorada.

IMPORTANT: You need to come prepared to this key If you expect to enjoy everything it has to share…read more The state park does not treat the island with pesticides. Bring: water, bug spray, and maybe a hat. There are bathrooms past the house on the right with a ramp. COST: $2.50 and $2.00 for access and tour. HOW TO GET HERE: We moored on the other side of the island and took the dinghy to the dock. Their Website has information for transportation to the island. We had a private tour of the island it the history is just unreal. The vegetation is massive and I had no idea how large this key actually measured. Because you can't swim or fish 100' from the dock or mangroves, it acts as a nursery for a ton of fish. I saw barracuda, sheep's head, yellow fin, ciro.

Lignumvitae Botanical state park is one of the last remaining natural keys. This park has a strict…read morepolicy on visitation and only offers restricted access due to its natural preservation efforts. Like others, I recommend to come in the winter months, due to the amount of mosquitos. This island is not sprayed like the residential keys, due to preservation, so you can imagine the number of hungry mosquitos. We came over in late October and it was still pretty buggy. There's a neat old house on the island and the ranger will give you the history of the house and the residents who maintained it. There is a long hiking trail but we only made it about 20 minutes in before turning around due to the bugs. And I do have a fairy high threshold for bugs. We did get to see some Golden Orb Weaver spiders, so that was totally worth the trip. It was cool to get the history of the Key. I'm looking forward to come back hike the entire trail in the winter!

If hindsight were a thing, I'd probably want to redo my 1st experience of Molasses Reef as a…read moresnorkeling trip.  Unfortunately, I actually went there initiallly via a glass-bottom boat tour, and as a result we saw virtually no fish :-( Maybe it wasn't the boat but the time of day we went - regardless, I expected to see tons of different fish, but I actually saw less than a hundred of maybe three different species... It also might have been the fact that the boat's engines were so loud that they scared off a majority of the fish we might have seen.  Whatever the actual cause, I suggest that you skip the boat tour and come here to snorkel instead.

My buddy and my best night dive ever - multiple sharks and eels, including a free-swimming one…read more Just about everything else you'd want in a dive - a ray and octopus, an 1887 wreck. The reef has fantastical shapes which provide ledges, holes and lots of growth for the fish. In addition, the water had bioluminescence (turn your lights off)

A nice place to picnic, walk your dog, or just relax by the water. It was a bit run down, and the…read morenormal admission fee wasn't collected. The beach is small and the water protected, making it a fun place for children to play in the water. However, it's not ideal for swimming. Definitely worth the trip.

We were driving around the area looking for a spot by the water to sit in the sunshine. Driving…read moredown US 1 we passed a sign that said Harry Harris park. Just a small road sign that you could easily miss unless you were paying attention. We turned around and followed the road back to the park, maybe 1/2 mile back off US1. The park has a attendant to pay for access, but no one was there so we were glad to save a bit of money. Parked the car and we went out to the beach and sat in the sun for a couple hours. Park has restrooms, picnic tables, grills, basketball hoops, playground area and a walkway to the water. Nice little park and was exactly what we were looking for. Saw several people stop and eat lunch and I'm sure they were as happy as we were to find this park. We were there on February 6, 2026.

This is one of those old Keysey legends that everyone knows about but not many have been to. It's a…read moregreen lagoon oceanside that's been blocked off and somewhat protected. Unfortunately, that has also caused the silting problem to get pretty bad. That said, it's got so many amazing businesses operating within this Undersea Park. First, there's Jules' Undersea Lodge, a submersed hotel underwater (~21 ft below the surface) that can only be accessed via scuba diving. It sits in the far back corner (look for the bubbles). The lodge is fully equipped with a shower, bathroom, beds, coffee machine, wifi, and pizza delivery (sometimes by a free-diving mermaid, if you're lucky!). Jules also has a small garden underwater growing actual living plants! It's rad, and the goal is to show that we can harness the underwater world and natural condensation processes to grow food to feed the masses. Next to Jules is my favorite dive operator in the keys -- Island Ventures! They're "Stress free diving!" motto is so true. Every trip out with them is full of excitement and joy, even if it's choppy seas and cold weather. They live and believe that the worst day on the water is still better than the best day in the office, and it shows. Finally, there's Marine Lab, a cool educational outfit with old undersea laboratories on site for viewing. The land leading to the underwater park has lots of random underwater memorabilia (like a shark from an old Shark Week feature coming through the fence), Old escape hatches painted to show Hurricane Irma's damage, and old school research laboratories. Underwater, there's several structures within the park (long tubes, big oil drum, etc.) that staff will tour you around to see. Wildlife that's been seen in the underwater park: manatees, fish, moray eels, jellyfish.

Lovely long reef on the U.S.S. Alligator, wrecked in the 1800s. It's not a wreck dive though there…read moreare some remnants of the ship and inorganic shapes. 26' deep. 9:40am, 64 minutes, 75 degrees, 45ft vis 11:00am, 55 min, 77 degs 5' surge at surface, slight current below but good visibility and calm. Not so overused like the reefs at Largo-- theres just 3 dive operators in this sleepy middle key. Saw: huge moray eels, turtles, lobster colonies, grouper, silver barracuda, nurse shark, conch, sea fans, brain coral, coral crab, shrimp, groupers, midnight (blue) parrotfish, squirrel fish. Highly recommend going out to this one with Seamonkeys.

One of the most beautiful reefs I ever dove at. Right below the lighthouse the the middle of open…read moresea lies a huge tropical underwater treasure of healthy fish, corals and predators. I was on my friends boat and we were doing some fishing about three hundred feet from the lighthouse. The fishing was good, yellow tail snappers were in huge schools and my friend was catching them without any wait or hesitation. I decided to jump in the water with my spear gun and take a few shots at the snappers. caught three and a small amber jack, My streak was brought to a heart stopping pause in minutes. I have been around sharks while diving and to be honest with you I am not scared of them. So i dive just a little above the school but remained mostly in the surface to get air (I was not diving with tanks). A huge bull shark came to the site. He was massive, I had never encountered such large animal on the open ocean. He was calm and collected for a while, just circling and acting very territorial. Suddenly something snapped and that beast became extremely possessive and went to a feeding frenzy. Everything happened so fast and I was able to witness first hand hoe aggressive this creatures can be. He destroyed halve the school of fish in one gulp. My friend was reeling in a yellow tail snapper, the shark swam on his back, flipped and gulped the fish without any hesitation, the line was instantly cut. The visibility was so clear that 40 feet of water seemed like 10. My friend saw the shark when he took his catch and the maneuvers that he did to get it. It was great to share the same story but from two different angles. I was scared for my life; Never have I had my heart beat so fast out of my chest, and certainly not for a fish. There is a first time for everything!!! Its incredible how their jaws can extend out of their mouths. The scariest part was when i turned around and my eyes were no longer seeing him, I could feel the scare as if i was being chased by him, So i changed my course and began swimming backwards toward the boat but keeping my eyss locked on the shark. My buddy was waiting for me,ladder down and ready to pull me onto the platform of the boat where i continued watching that monster destroy the rest of the school of fish. Lesson learned; Chum in the water stay out don't go spearfishing. This thing came out of nowhere, definitely a stealth master and one of the top predators in the ocean.