Located in southern Florida, Biscayne National Park is 95% water and trust us when we say that water is absolutely gorgeous. The water is crystal clear and breathtakingly blue.
The park is approximately 270.3 sq miles and preserves Biscayne Bay and the offshore barrier reefs. Biscayne National Park became authorized as a national monument in 1968 and then became a national park in 1980.
Biscayne offers amazing opportunities and ways to explore. You can scuba dive, snorkel, and boat along the waters. Did you know there are at least 44 shipwrecks in the park waters.
The wildlife is also abundant and diverse. There are 600 native fish, neo-tropical water birds, and many threatened and endangered species including sea turtles, manatees, and Schaus swallowtail butterfly. If you’ve read our blogs before, you know we are huge fans of the wildlife that can be seen in national parks!
Biscayne National Park is just south of Miami and makes for the perfect day trip. We took a trip from Miami through the Biscayne National Park Institute to the Boca Chita Lighthouse! We also made some stops at the Fowey Rocks Lighthouse and Stiltsville!
Don’t have a boat but have a day for Biscayne National Park? Let us tell you about our excursion and experience! We highly recommend it and would love to do it again!
Booking the Excursion
As stated, we booked an excursion through the Biscayne National Park Institute. If you visit their website, you can check out all the fun excursions they offer. They offer kayaking, boat tours, snorkeling tours, and more. We elected to do the Boca Chita Key tour that departs from Miami. The trip lasted almost 4 hours and we were able to visit the Fowey Rocks Lighthouse and Stiltsville after the Boca Chita Lighthouse.
The excursion was only $79 a person for the entire trip. The crew was informative and provided complimentary bug spray and water. Once booked, you will be sent an email that has an address and directions to where you will meet the crew. We found it very easy!
It should be noted that Miami is very busy, especially if you select the morning tour. Double the time you think it will take you to get to your destination. Also, be sure to read your email very well as we needed to check in 15 minutes before our tour departed.
Boca Chita Lighthouse
This was our favorite thing we saw in Biscayne National Park. After a 35-minute boat ride, we arrived at Boca Chita Key to see the lighthouse. This small island is the most visited in the park. The lighthouse was built in the 1930’s and stands at 65 feet. The lighthouse was built by a wealthy industrialist named Mark Honeywell who intended the island to be their holiday resort.
Our tour guides were able to open the lighthouse for us for a few minutes and we were able to walk all the way to the top and view the amazing island from above. There is a short hike on the island that offers some awesome views. After visiting the lighthouse for some time, we walked around the area to take in all the views. It should be noted that while there are restrooms on the island, there is not any freshwater or electricity available. If you plan to do the short hike, make sure you use bug spray!
An unexpected but beyond enjoyable moment was watching this small bird dive back and forth to catch fish! We watched him for at least 10 minutes and he caught several fish during that time.
Fowey Rocks Lighthouse
This was a short trip following our time at the Boca Chita Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1875 and was first lit in 1878. It stands 130 feet above the water. This lighthouse is nicknamed the Eye of Miami and served to warn ships of the knife-edged reefs that lay ahead. This is a super popular place to snorkel as there are reefs and wildlife below! The water is absolutely beautiful and we could argue that this was some of the most beautiful water we saw our entire trip to the Florida Keys.
Siltsville
The first house built on stilts above the water in Stiltsville was built in the 1930’s. The place garnered more homes and met its peak in 1960 when 27 structures were built. However, hurricanes ravaged these homes that were so exposed making the buildings relatively short-lived. During the height of the homes, there were stories of illegal alcohol and gambling which led to several police raids. Our tour guides talked about how they would come to the area to play football during low tide when they were able to walk across the sand where the homes are built. In 1985, the federal government deeded the land by the State of Florida to be part of Biscayne National Park. Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, only 7 homes remained. You can only access the inside of the structure by permit only.
We hope this information was helpful to you when planning your trip to Biscayne National Park! If you have any questions drop a comment below or message us on Instagram. We are happy to answer any questions. Safe travels y’all!- Justin & Caitlin