Bahia Honda State Park. Tel: (305) 872-2239

Bahia Honda is Florida’s southernmost State Park and one of the State’s most spectacularly beautiful places to stay or visit for the day. The name of the park means ‘deep bay’ and reflects the Spanish influence in this area. The park protects all of Bahia Honda Key, a narrow strip of land bordered by the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.

Bahia Honda has been ranked as one of the best beaches in the US and most visitors come to swim, fish, and snorkel, attracted to the tropical beach and clear blue-green water.

Download and print the guide to Bahia Honda’s Marine life (PDF)

Inland from the beaches is a dense tropical hardwood hammock with gumbo-limbo, silver palm, key thatch palm and yellow satinwood. The Silver Palm Nature Trail gives visitors an opportunity to walk through the otherwise impenetrable vegetation.

April through October is sea turtle nesting season. The beach at Bahia Honda is comparatively narrow, and nighttime disturbance can deter females from coming ashore to nest. They can also get tangled in beach chairs and kayaks left on the beach so please be careful not to disturb nesting sea turtles or leave such equipment on the beach if you are camping.

You may see Smooth-billed Anis, White Crowned pigeons, Black-whiskered vireos and Mangrove cuckoos. Least terns nest on the beach. Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Double crested cormorants, and Laughing Gulls can be seen year-round. In winter, White Ibis, common terns, and Royal terns are frequently seen.

One of the most endangered butterflies in the US makes its home at Bahia Honda. The dime-sized Miami Blue butterfly is a fast, erratic flyer. Males have rounded pale metallic blue wings and females are dark gray. Females lay tiny pale green eggs on the terminal growth of nickerbean and you may see the minute caterpillars feeding on the feed new leaves.

Bahia Honda has several beautiful beaches from which you can swim and snorkel. Kayaks, bicycles and snorkeling equipment can be rented at the park headquarters. For the lucky few who had the foresight to book early, there are campsites and three absolutely wonderful fully equipped duplex cabins on stilts for rent through the link in the activities section of the above web site.

More information on their web site

Bahia Honda State Park web site

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