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Took the island tour from the visitor center. The tour gets visitors about an hour on Boca Chita key. Boca Chita Key has a marina and a lighthouse. It is a great place to spend a day on a picnic. The views from the top of the lighthouse are amazing. There are a couple of sandy beach areas as well.
Beautiful island. The lighthouse is amazing up close with the different designs of coral. We took the walking path around to a beautiful beach bordered by mangroves. Then we followed it out to the remnants of the bridge. There were lots of fish and hermit crabs. We even saw some man-o-war as we made our way back to the boat.
As 95% of Biscayne Nat. Park is water, the best way to appreciate it is to take the boat trip out to Boca Chita Key (provided by the Biscayne National Park Institute). I would recommend booking on the Institute’s website as space on the boat is limited. The cost approx. $40 per person is excellent value.
The BNPI guides give an overview of the park and it’s ecosystems and a potted history of Boca Chita Key. The speedboat ride out to the Key is exhilarating, but be warned if sitting towards the back you could possibly get a soaking!
The lighthouse on BCK is only opened for a short time each day, (by the boat staff) so take advantage & climb up the steps to get a great perspective of the area. Afterwards there is plenty of time to explore the Key before the return journey. All in all we found this was a far superior experience than we had in Everglades NP!
Note the Key is open to private boats so on a weekend there are likely to be plenty of other people about.
Beautiful island with natural white sand. On accessible via boat. Part of the Biscayne National Park.
Came here via a boat tour. It’s fairly secluded and rather small. It’s a beautiful little island with clear water surrounding it. The lighthouse is the standout attraction with a few other small buildings around. I like the history aspect of it all. There isn’t a whole lot to see or do. There is a small trail you can walk but beware of mosquitos. There are a couple small beaches you can go to but private boats took them. There were a lot of private boats there which kinda ruined the experience in some ways. Too many people. Maybe if you go in the morning it would be more private. Overall, it’s a cool little island.
