Snorkeling Guide: Biscayne National Park

Situated within sight of the Miami area waterfront in Southern Florida, most of the area protected by Biscayne National Park is ocean. That is intentional, because unlike so many enclosures in the National Park System, Biscayne is a mostly marine park. This makes it an excellent place to strap on the mask, snorkel, and fins and go looking for easy underwater adventure.

This fun begins right off the beach, in Biscayne Bay. The waters are clear, warm, and protected by the outlaying barrier islands, creating good conditions for snorkeling. Swimmers can put on their kit on the beach, plunge in, and swim out to local sights in the bay entirely under their own power. One can see starfish, sponges, sea urchins, and numerous fish. During the winter, a snorkeler might run into a manatee, as they are known to visit this area at that time.

Farther afield are the Keys: Adams, Sand, Boca Chita, and Elliott. A strong swimmer could reach them from shore alone (especially with the aid of fins), but as that will take a tool on even the hardiest snorkeler's endurance, it is best to get to them by boat. Once there, there is easy access from the keys to the patch reefs of the surrounding waters. The corals and sealife abound, most of it is visible from the surface, and much of it is in water shallow enough to be reached by skin diving.

This area is also one of the few that has shipwrecks laying in snorkelable waters. An example is the Half Moon, a steel-hulled schooner from the 1930s that sits in under a mere 10 feet of water. That makes the entire ship visible from the surface even on a poor visibility day, and even the bottom of the ship can be reached on a skin dive. Another wreck is the 1891 Erl King, which sits 24 feet of water. Once again, this will be visible from the surface on any day and at all times of year, and can be reached by a snorkeler making a skin dive. No scuba equipment is necessary to go down for a closer look.

A boon for snorkelers are the camping arrangements for Biscayne park. Both of the campgrounds are located on the outlaying keys, Elliott and Boca Chita. While these can only be reached by boat, that means no RVs (a blessing for tent campers), and easy access to the best snorkeling on either side of the islands starting every morning. Camping in the park creates an ideal situation for snorkeling. However, for those who do not want to rough it on a Biscayne key, the close proximity of Miami and the heavy development of the area outside the park makes finding accommodations easy.

Sources: www.nps.gov/bisc; www.biscayneunderwater.com; www.biscayne.national-park.com