Hi there!
So Bahia Honda State Park is one of the most popular state parks in the Florida Keys.
And you will find some of the best views in the Florida Keys at Bahia Honda State Park beaches!
There can be amazing water color along the shoreline of Bahia Honda State Park!
If you are staying in Key West with a car, it’s easy to make a day trip here.
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Key West to Bahia Honda State Park is around a 45 minute drive.
So you can go to Bahia Honda State Park if you’re looking for beaches near Key West if you want to do a bit of “island hopping” and drive to another island in the Florida Keys!
You can also take a slight detour to perhaps the best chance to see an alligator in the Florida Keys. (Not guaranteed, though!) It’s Blue Hole in Big Pine Key FL. (map)
👆 Map of where Bahia Honda State Park beaches are located in Florida. Along with John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park beaches, Bahia Honda State Park is one of the state parks in the Florida Keys with beaches. Explore the Florida Keys tourist map. Explore more things to do in the Florida Keys!
Seaweed in Bahia Honda State Park
Bahia Honda State Park is a state park along the shoreline in the Florida Keys.
Seaweed is a thing in the Florida Keys.
Nearly any beach you go to in the Florida Keys will have seaweed.
So you will more than likely see seaweed on the shoreline of Bahia Honda State Park.
Seaweed is said to be an important part of the coastal ecosystem, and there’s no proactive measure to remove it.
Cost to go to Bahia Honda State Park
There is a Florida state park entry fee for Bahia Honda State Park.
The cost of Bahia Honda State Park is around $8 per car. See current fees.
If you plan to make this a year of going to a ton of Florida state parks, then there is also the Florida state parks annual pass. You can buy this at any Florida state park entry station that is staffed.
Florida Keys road trip to Bahia Honda State Park
Where are you driving from? More for your road trip to Bahia Honda State Park:
- Key Largo to Key West
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park snorkeling
- Miami to Key West
- Naples to Key West
- Marco Island to Key West
- Sanibel Island to Key West
- Siesta Key to Key West
- What to pack for snorkeling in the Florida Keys
See below about the Bahia Honda State Park beaches!
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1. Calusa Beach
One of the most iconic views of Bahia Honda State Park is the Old Bahia Honda railway bridge.
You can actually see the old bridge as you’re driving the Florida Overseas Highway (aka the main road that goes through the Florida Keys) if you continue driving past Bahia Honda State Park.
You can get a beach view of the Old Bahia Honda bridge by going to Calusa Beach!
You can go swimming in Bahia Honda State Park at Calusa Beach.
You can go shore snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park at Calusa Beach!
The Florida Keys isn’t generally known for shore snorkeling.
The best Florida Keys snorkeling will be by boat, which you can also do from Bahia Honda State Park! (More on that later!)
But if you go snorkeling at Calusa Beach, there’s a chance that you can have fun seeing some underwater life!
Emphasis on chance!
Marine life do what they want and go where they want, and they may not always be around Calusa Beach.
But the best area to try is over along the right side, where you see the rocky jetty.
See more about this Bahia Honda State Park beach:
2. Loggerhead Beach
Loggerhead Beach is on the Atlantic Ocean side of Bahia Honda State Park.
You can go swimming in Bahia Honda State Park at Loggerhead Beach.
There are some parts of Loggerhead Beach that are incredibly shallow.
You can go shore snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park at Loggerhead Beach!
You can go ocean kayaking in Bahia Honda State Park from Loggerhead Beach.
Along Loggerhead Beach, there are also picnic tables so you can eat with a view!
See more about this Bahia Honda State Park beach:
3. Sandspur Beach
Sandspur Beach is also on the Atlantic Ocean side of Bahia Honda State Park.
Once upon a time, Sandspur Beach was one of the prettiest beaches in Bahia Honda State Park and the Florida Keys.
But then in 2017, a hurricane happened.
This hurricane also resulted in the destruction of Sandspur Beach.
According to Florida state parks:
In September of 2017, Hurricane Irma struck the Florida Keys.
The category 4 hurricane did more than just topple trees.
Buildings were flattened, and much of the beach’s sand was displaced and campsites were buried in debris.
When the storm passed, park staff, the community and emergency officials came together to help free trapped citizens and clear the wreckage.
There’s a google review from October 2021:
Hurricane Irma was over 4 years ago.
Is this beach temporarily closed or permanently closed?
Well, as of May 2022, Sandspur Beach is open.
But Sandspur Beach is not the same beach as before.
Once again, seaweed on a beach in the Florida Keys is not an unusual sight.
But Sandspur Beach was above and beyond.
I saw so much seaweed.
There was hardly any sand to be seen on Sandspur Beach.
Seaweed along the shoreline comes and goes, so maybe when you go, you’ll get much more of a sandy beach!
I went to Sandspur Beach on the first day it opened in May 2022.
Bahia Honda State Park has 3 campgrounds, and one of them is Sandspur Campground, which is near Sandspur Beach.
Speaking of beach campgrounds…
Florida Keys beach camping?! Are any of the other Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds near the beach?
Sandspur Campground will be the closest you can get to a Bahia Honda State Park beach.
And, there are some oceanfront campsites at Sandspur Campground!
Sandspur Campground (RV camping and tent camping) is also the only campground along the Atlantic Ocean.
The other 2 campgrounds aren’t near any beaches, but the campgrounds are along a shoreline.
They are along the non-Atlantic side of Bahia Honda State Park.
At Buttonwood Campground (RV camping and tent camping), you can get waterfront campsites. I did see someone swimming in front of these waterfront campsites. It also seems like you have a chance for some good snorkeling here too. (video start at 18:47)
Even if you are not staying directly along water at Buttonwood campground, there is somewhat of a “community” site along the water with a picnic table and a few parking spots. You will see this as you start driving the road to the Bayside campground, just before you go under the bridge. (You can only get here if you are staying at Buttonwood or Bayside, so it’s a private campers snorkeling spot!)
At Bayside Campground (tent camping only), all campsites are waterfront campsites. You will be sharing waterfront views with the Bahia Honda State Park cabins. Along the bay are the cabins on one side, and the tents round out the rest of the bay.
There is no swimming at the Bayside Campground. But if you look down along the shoreline, you might see little fishies swimming around!
In the bay, you may also see tarpons jumping up out of the water. (Or so I was told. I hardly knew what a tarpon was. 😂)
It was also believed that there may have been dolphins swimming in the bay but I’m not sure.
In any case, you could definitely see some sort of fish activity in the bay and it was exciting! If you are staying at Buttonwood Campground, you can make it a morning walk or morning bike ride to the bay at the Bayside Campground!
Related, there is also a fish cleaning station toward the cabin side of the bay.
No matter which Bahia Honda State Park campground you choose, you can stay at a waterfront campground!
And then of course, not matter which campground you choose, you will just be a short drive of a few minutes from any of the Bahia Honda State Park beaches!
And that’s a bit about beaches in Bahia Honda State Park!
More for your road trip to Bahia Honda State Park and beyond:
- What to pack for snorkeling in the Florida Keys
- Smathers Beach in Key West
- South Beach in Key West
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park snorkeling
- Key Largo to Key West
- Miami to Key West
- Naples to Key West
- Marco Island to Key West
- Sanibel Island to Key West
- Siesta Key to Key West
- Marco Island beaches
- Captiva Island beaches
HAPPY BEACH TRIP TO BAHIA HONDA STATE PARK!
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