Biscayne

Our Visit. We’ve visited Biscayne NP twice. Once during May as part of a vacation to Southern Florida which included a trip to Everglades NP and once during a trip to Miami in early March. For the first visit, we had young children and timed our visit around the 10AM – 1PM glass-bottomed boat tour. For the second trip with older children, we timed our visit around the 9AM – 12PM Jones Lagoon paddleboarding tour. In addition to the tour, we spent about 1 hour in and around the Dante Fascell visitors center.

Brilliant waters along Adams Key in the middle of the park (Mar)

Our Weather. The weather in May was warm (mid 80s) and sunny with a slight breeze (wind is a significant factor in Biscayne). The weather for our February trip was a beautiful low 70s with ocean temps around 70 (chilly but tolerable without a wetsuit).

Overall Impression. Biscayne is a beautiful area which contrasts significantly to the over-developed land around it. The waters are shallow (averaging only 8 feet in the bay), clear, and full of life. However, Biscayne is primarily an underwater park, and the way to see it best is on the water in a boat or underwater via snorkeling or scuba diving. Anything less than this will leave you underwhelmed.

Our boat tour anchored in a beautiful little channel where we got off to paddleboard (Mar)

Favorite Spot. The Mangrove channels on the keys near Caesar Creek

Minimum Time Required. About 1 hour. This will allow you to see the Dante Fascell Visitors Center, explore a tiny bit of the Mangrove swamp which surrounds the area and gaze out upon Biscayne Bay. If this is all you do, you may get the stamp in your NP passport, but you will leave disappointed with the park because you’ve really missed it.

A Longer Visit. One half day will allow you to take one of the boat tours offered by the park’s concessioner (read “costs money”). The concessioner offers boat tours, snorkeling tours, kayaking/paddleboarding tours, and a taxi to and from the park’s keys for camping. These options change, and they tend to fill up well in advance, so check the Park webpage and concessioner links for current options and availability. Any of these options will give you a better appreciation for Biscayne NP.

Paddleboarding on the clear shallow waters between mangroves (Mar)

Because we were planning to snorkel in other areas the next day (March trip), we decided on a paddleboarding trip to Jones Lagoon sandwiched between Totten Key and Old Rhoades Key on the southern end of the park. This is a fantastic option for seeing the bay (boat ride out) and experiencing some of the more hidden features of the park in the mangrove-laden keys. The water is calm, crystal clear, and only a few feet deep (about 3-6 feet) making it easy to spot stingrays and nurse sharks on the white sand below you. We also saw hundreds of birds and got to get up close and personal with many of the mangroves (you have to paddle through mangrove “tunnels” to reach the lagoon). I had never used a paddleboard before but found it easy to use and maneuver while sitting down or kneeling–my results standing up were a bit more exciting than I’d planned on (see the story below). Despite my little misadventure, I highly recommend this experience for adults and older children!

The glass bottom of the tour boat (May)

For our first trip with younger kids (May trip), snorkeling or paddleboarding was not an option. We opted for the glass-bottomed boat tour instead (NOTE: as of this writing in Mar 2025, there is no mention of glass-bottom boat tours on the concessionaire’s page). This takes you across the bay to an old shipwreck (nothing too exciting, just ballast stones), through the keys via Caesar Creek and out to some of the densest coral reef. The boat has the potential to be an exceptional way to see the bay without getting your feet wet, but our experience was a little disappointing because of the wind. Our forecast called for 10-15 mph winds, and this proved to be too much to see well. By contrast, the tour the day before had glassy water and saw a manatee and several sharks and rays just by looking over the side. The most positive aspect of the boat tour was the guide. She had a ton of great information and made the ride much more enjoyable by pointing out a lot of history and smaller things.

Paddleboarding across Jones Lagoon on a beautiful sunny day (Mar)

For middle-aged kids who can swim, I would also recommend checking out the kayak or paddleboard tours through the mangrove areas around the visitors center. This isn’t quite the same experience as getting out on the bay or the keys, but it will give you better appreciation for the environment and some of the wildlife like rays and horseshoe crabs.

If we go back a third time, we plan to try the snorkeling trip. If you’ve got a lot of time and don’t mind bugs, consider camping on Elliot Key for a night and enjoying some of the park’s only trails.

Suggestions. If you’re planning on one of the boat trips, try to pick a day when the wind is going to be calm. If you go during dry season (December – April), you’ll probably need reservations for the boats–this can be tricky to make reservations far enough out to get seats but close enough to get a good weather forecast.

A nurse shark about to scoot under my paddleboard (Mar)

For any of the kayak or paddleboat tours, it’s nice to have a waterproof camera you can stick under the water. We had a small waterproof camera that served us well, and we also had decent luck with the waterproof bags you can use with smartphones, though the pictures tended to be blurrier.

Weekends on Biscayne Bay will be full of local boaters, so go during the weekday if you want a more secluded experience.

Take a hat, bug repellant, and sunscreen; after all, this is Florida! We didn’t notice the bugs hardly at all in early March.

Stories Splash… haha, where’s my camera?

Nearby Towns Homestead, Miami (Florida)

Other Nearby Attractions Everglades NP, Big Cypress National Preserve

Official NPS Website Biscayne NP

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