Of the three national parks in South Florida, Everglades National Park is the biggest and most famous. Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles off of Key West, is the most exotic and arguably the most beautiful. And Biscayne National Park … well it’s the most obscure.
In a way, that obscurity is ironic, since the park’s 173,000 acres of mostly marine environment stretch to within about five miles of downtown Miami. But no gates or ranger stands mark the entrance to the park for boaters who are out for a joy cruise from a Miami marina. And Biscayne National Park’s lone mainland entrance, a pleasant but underwhelming waterfront visitor’s center, lies east of the town of Homestead, well south of the Miami tourist trail.
In recent years, the park also lost out on public exposure because its Dante Fascell Visitor Center didn’t offer an affordable boat concession onto southern Biscayne Bay and over to the string of small, beautiful islands that the park protects. As a result, many visitors and locals lacked the means to even see the landmark lighthouse on Boca Chita Key as well as the park’s other islands, its reefs and its species-rich marine habitat.
That situation was reversed this winter with the launch of ranger-guided boat tours into the bay. Conducted on the Pelican Skipper, a boat owned by the Miami-Dade County parks department, the tours are priced at $29 for adults and $19 for children ages 5 to 12. They last approximately three hours and will be offered twice daily on Fridays through Sundays until the July 4 weekend. No plans after that have been announced, though hopes are that the excursions will resume for the 2016-17 winter tourism season.
For purposes of disclosure, I should point out that I haven’t been on this particular tour. But I have taken ranger-guided boat tours into Biscayne National Park twice over the years for journalistic assignments. On both occasions I left the park in want of more.
From the top of Boca Chita lighthouse, visitors are treated to a sweeping view of the Atlantic and the islands of south Biscayne Bay as well as of Key Biscayne and downtown Miami.
Elliott Key, the largest island in the park, has an oceanside boardwalk and an expansive lawn along the bayfront. The bay itself offers the hope of marine life sightings, including bottlenose dolphins, which I saw during my first guided trip into the park.
Meanwhile, rangers are sure to offer the inside scoop on southern Biscayne Bay’s 10,000 years of human history, including the pitched political battle that led to the area being acquired by the National Park Service in 1968.
Presidents, pirates and ancient Indians have all visited what is now Biscayne National Park. Its string of islands was also likely a part of the Underground Railroad.
Visit the park’s website for more information on the guided boat tours or call (786)-335-3644 to book.