Biscayne National Park

Biscayne National Park is primarily water

Located just 20 minutes east of Florida City, where Caty and I opted to stay for the rest of our trip, Biscayne National Park is somewhat difficult to experience because it is 95 percent underwater. Preserving Biscayne Bay, its mangrove shoreline and its offshore barrier reefs, the park includes Elliott Key, the first of the true Florida Keys. The islands farther north in the park are transitional islands of coral and sand. The offshore portion of the park includes the northernmost region of the Florida Reef, one of the largest coral reefs in the world.

Map: NPS

Originally proposed for inclusion in Everglades National Park, Biscayne Bay was cut out to ensure that the Everglades proposal would be approved. In the 1960s, a series of proposals were made to develop the keys like Miami Beach and to construct a deepwater seaport for bulk cargo, refinery and petrochemical facilities. Plus, four power plants, two of which were nuclear, were built on the bay shores. The Turkey Point plant is right across the channel from the Visitor Center. Backlash led to the 1968 designation of Biscayne National Monument, which was expanded in 1980 and re-designated as a National Park.

When I visited in 2014, I could only take a brief walk along the shore by the Visitors Center because the Park had terminated its boat tour concessionaires. This time, the website indicated that no boat tours would be available until “winter 2015/2016.” 

When I emailed the park to ask about this (after all, it was winter 2015), the response was the exact same line as was on the website. When we stopped at the Visitors Center the day we arrived, we were told that they had just hired an operator, but it was all booked. We checked the website anyway and were able to book a tour.

Before I talk about that, a few words about the brief shoreline hike. It’s a nice view of water, islands and mangroves (marred a bit by merciless no-see-ums). We encountered Black Vultures ...

I don't think of Vultures as shore birds

... Ruddy Turnstones ...

They are easily mistaken for Killdeers

... and a Heron too shy to be photographed.

The “boat tour” on the Island Dreamer turned out to be less of a tour (no narration) and more of a pleasure sail aboard a 41 ft. Morgan. We had difficulties leaving the dock because the water is exceptionally shallow. We technically ran aground within 10 feet of the dock, requiring a formal Coast Guard report and over an hour of waiting for the tide to rise enough to re-float the boat. The captain told us that he had been trying to switch to the outer dock to avoid this problem and, indeed, we docked there when we came back to port.

Tight quarters

As we pulled out, we passed an area crammed with a wide variety of birds, including Double-crested Cormorants, Brown Pelicans …

More birds than you can count

... and a beautiful Great White Heron ...

A specifically Florida bird

It was a beautiful calm warm day, and the sailing was delightful. But, like our trip to Dry Tortugas, we saw very little sea life — no Turtles, no fish and, although two Dolphins passed by, we didn’t see them.

The bay is exceptionally shallow — averaging 7-15 feet, which required our sailboat to stay in the channel (after all, we had already run aground once).

Our trip took us first to Adams Key, which was once home to the Cocolobo Club, a retreat for wealthy people including Presidents Harding, Hoover, Johnson and Nixon. Before we reached the dock, we had a nice view of an Osprey nest on a channel marker.

A nice glimpse

Now a day-use area, Adams Key has trails, a picnic pavilion, a restroom and lots of Mosquitoes. Two Park Ranger families live on the island

Maybe Mosquitoes ate the sign

Another magnificent Great White Heron greeted us ...

Wow!

As did a Brown Pelican ...

It posed ...

... and flew ...

... giving us a nice close-up view

Then, we headed out to snorkel, which was one of the reasons we had wanted to take the trip. 

Unfortunately, the planned snorkeling was to in mangroves, not coral reefs (we had been planning on reef snorkeling). We were giving paddle boards to hold onto while snorkeling and then use to get back to the boat because the current was strong. Unfortunately, the water was cloudy, the board and paddle awkward to manage while in the water and the current too strong to fight. Snorkeling was a bust.

Also, because it was a weekend, we didn’t go near the Boca Chita lighthouse, a major Biscayne landmark, because it is “too crowded.” I think an actual boat tour would go there. Interestingly, the lighthouse was built as part of a retreat for the rich, rather than as a navigational lighthouse.

We didn't get to see it; Photo: National Park Service

On the way back we were completely becalmed and had to motor in.

We really enjoyed the trip but felt that there were lots of kinks to work out before it could actually be billed a “boat tour.” It was their first week, so I think they will work it out.

Trip date: December 27, 2015-January 3, 2016