Hi there!
Loggerhead Beach is one of the snorkeling beaches in Bahia Honda State Park.
You have a chance to see lots of fish while snorkeling from Loggerhead Beach on your own. No Bahia Honda snorkeling tour necessary!
And, emphasis on CHANCE…!
The marine life is wild so they do what they want when they want and there’s no guarantee to see them!
Loggerhead Beach is a rather long beach, and it’s not a situation where you can get in the water, start snorkeling, and then you will immediately see fish.
As per my experience, you might have to look around for them when you go snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park!
The Florida Keys are not generally known for having good snorkeling from shore.
But if you get lucky and go when the fish are there… it can be a fun Florida Keys shore snorkeling experience in Bahia Honda State Park!
Loggerhead Beach is also one of the Bahia Honda State Park beaches that’s on the Atlantic Ocean side of Bahia Honda State Park. (The other one is Sandspur Beach.)
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You can snorkel from the beach in Bahia Honda State Park while seeing the amazing water color!
So, you can go snorkeling from the beach in Bahia Honda State Park with the amazing water color of the ocean all around you!
The fish may or may not be there when you go snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park!
I was walking around Loggerhead Beach when I saw someone who seemed to have just finished up snorkeling and I asked her about it.
She said she didn’t really see anything.
So when I went snorkeling at Loggerhead Beach a few days later (or maybe it was the next day I don’t remember 😜), I had low expectations.
And well, the good thing about having low expectations is that it doesn’t take much to impress! 😆
Low expectations mean it’s easier to have a happier snorkeling experience!
I feel like I saw a lot of fish swimming around when I went snorkeling off of the shores of Bahia Honda State Park at Loggerhead Beach!
The Florida Keys are not generally known for having many sandy beaches.
And while you can find patches of sandy areas on Loggerhead Beach, it’s really not that wide.
And once you get in the water, much of the swimming area of Loggerhead Beach is very shallow.
👇 Perfect pre-snorkel activity: Hiking the Old Bridge Trail in Bahia Honda State Park to see views of Loggerhead Beach from above!
There are also picnic tables near the Loggerhead Beach snorkeling spot.
I would say the Loggerhead Beach picnic area is the best picnic area in Bahia Honda State Park!
There are picnic tables (with and without shade) that are near the Loggerhead Beach parking lot.
And you can keep walking further along for more too.
Loggerhead Beach parking
Once you have entered Bahia Honda State Park, there is the Loggerhead Beach parking lot or the Calusa Beach parking lot that you can park at.
It really does not make too big of a difference if you do find the Loggerhead Beach parking lot full. The other parking lot is not that far away.
And so…
Where is the best shore snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park from Loggerhead Beach?
Loggerhead Beach is a rather long beach and I did not snorkel the whole length of it.
Basically, I went snorkeling around most of the area that is off to the right of the bathroom when facing the ocean.
There are picnic tables right next to the Loggerhead parking lot, to the right as you’re facing the ocean.
In that direction, there’s a walking path. You can basically keep walking and choose any section of beach.
I took one of the first set of stairs down to the beach and then walked a little down the beach.
I was thinking I’d start over from the far right end of the beach. This is where you can get great views of the old Bahia Honda railway bridge from another angle.
Then from that end of the beach, I was thinking I’d start swimming over following the shoreline to see if I could see anything!
And that’s what I did.
Well, this turned out to be a mistake.
The way the current was flowing, it was pushing me in the opposite direction that I wanted to go!
So I had to put in extra effort to continue making progress forward!
So if you want to swim along the shoreline, first determine if there’s a current or ocean flow that’s going in one direction or another… and swim in the same direction!
I usually don’t swim with snorkeling fins, and instead just wear water shoes when snorkeling. I never think much about it.
But because of how much the water was pushing me along, I was thinking that this is a situation where fins would be especially useful!
Snorkeling fins make it so that you can move further ahead with each kick compared to no fins. So basically you will be able to swim more distance with less effort.
Loggerhead Beach does have a swimming area that is roped off.
Everything I saw was within the swimming area.
You are allowed to go beyond the swimming area, but if you do, you need to have a diver down flag, per Florida state law.
But I did not find it necessary to go beyond the swimming area. Plus I did not have a diver down flag!
You can buy a diver down flag at the Bahia Honda State Park gift shop. I also saw diver down flags for sale in Key Largo at the Publix grocery store. Key Largo is a top diving spot in the Florida Keys. I also looked for diver down flags in another Publix in the Florida Keys but didn’t find any. (I think that was in Marathon FL.)
Snorkeling around rocks at Bahia Honda State Park and the Florida Keys
Snorkeling from Loggerhead Beach, you can also see lots of sandy bottom.
You will likely see few fish in the wide open sandy bottom.
Maybe the sandy bottom is the best chance you have of spotted a starfish, conch, or even stingrays. (I never saw any.)
At the Bahia Honda beaches, including Loggerhead Beach, there are signs to not take conch shells or starfish.
This would seem to indicate that you have a chance to find a conch or a starfish if you go snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park.
For this, you might try looking on the sandy bottom or where you see sea grass as you are snorkeling Bahia Honda at Loggerhead Beach!
As the sign says, if you find one, only look, though!
I didn’t see much of anything around the sandy bottom… except for pretty white sand through the clear water!
I saw the most fish around rocks.
So, look for the rocky areas when snorkeling at Loggerhead Beach and you might see fish around there!
Not only were the rocks where I saw the most fish at Loggerhead Beach in Bahia Honda State Park, rocks seem to be a good spot to try no matter where you are snorkeling from shore in the Florida Keys!
It was around rocks that I found good snorkeling at the other Bahia Honda State Park snorkeling spot of Calusa Beach.
It was around rocks that I found good snorkeling at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West too.
It was also around rocks that I found good snorkeling down the road from Bahia Honda State Park at Horseshoe Beach.
Seaweed at Bahia Honda State Park and the Florida Keys
It is common to see seaweed along the shoreline of the Florida Keys, and that includes Bahia Honda State Park.
Seaweed and sea grass are considered to be an important part of the coastal ecosystem, so most of the time it doesn’t get removed and it’s just a part of your Florida Keys snorkeling experience!
You will likely see a lot of seaweed at Loggerhead Beach!
When I went to the recently opened (May 2022) Sandspur Beach that is further down the shoreline from Loggerhead Beach in Bahia Honda State Park, that beach had even more seaweed!
The boring safety message for snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park and any of the beaches in the Florida Keys
The ocean is powerful!
Rip currents exist! Know before you go!
Take care out there!
Look for the beach flag warnings… and take extra caution based on the color of those beach flags!
Once you pass through the Bahia Honda State Park entry station, you can look for the beach flag.
You will also see a beach flag once you are at Loggerhead Beach.
Even if the beach flag color indicates that there are “calm conditions” (green flag), it’s still the ocean, so take care!
Also be mindful of the Loggerhead Beach swimming area.
It’s a designated swimming area for a reason.
If you go to the far right of Loggerhead Beach, that will take you to a view of the iconic Old Bahia Honda railway bridge.
The channel that goes under the bridge is considered to be an area that could have high currents so on this side, you don’t want to cross over the swimming area no matter what!
Look for the no swimming signs and respect them!
More snorkeling in the Florida Keys
- Another Bahia Honda shore snorkeling spot: Calusa Beach
- From Bahia Honda: Looe Key snorkeling tour
- Fort Zachary Taylor State Park snorkeling in Key West
- Snorkeling in Key West Marine Park
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park snorkeling in Key Largo
- What to pack for snorkeling in the Florida Keys
More pictures below of what I saw snorkeling at Loggerhead Beach!
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What can you see snorkeling from shore in Bahia Honda State Park?
See the pictures below!
In short, when you go snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park from shore on your own, you have the potential to see lots of fish!
My snorkeling trip to Loggerhead Beach and Bahia Honda State Park was in May 2022.
Your experience may vary!
My underwater pictures were taken with my phone.
I put my phone in a cheap waterproof phone case.
This does have its annoyances, but if you don’t want to buy a real waterproof camera, then you might be happy with what it can do!
I have found that it’s easiest to take lots of video, and then if you want to make it into a picture, then take a screenshot from the video!
Most of the pictures above of snorkeling at Loggerhead Beach are screenshots from video taken with my phone. And these pictures are also formatted for the web aka the quality is reduced.
Whether you get a cheap waterproof phone case or a proper waterproof camera, also get a camera float to attach to it!
Then, if you accidentally drop your phone or camera, it won’t sink to the bottom of the ocean!
See more: How a cheap waterproof phone case for snorkeling works
After my happy experience of snorkeling at Loggerhead Beach, I then walked across the parking lot to go snorkeling at Calusa Beach, also in Bahia Honda State Park.
I had another happy snorkeling experience there!
Then, I decided to see if I could have yet another happy snorkeling experience and decided to drive 5 minutes down the Florida Overseas Highway (the main road through the Florida Keys) to Horseshoe Beach.
And yes, I did have another happy snorkeling experience!
On other days, I also had happy snorkeling experiences in Key West at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and the Key West Marine Park!
And that’s a bit about snorkeling from shore in Bahia Honda State Park!
More snorkeling in the Florida Keys:
- Bahia Honda State Park snorkeling
- Looe Key snorkeling
- Higgs Beach snorkeling in Key West Marine Park
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park snorkeling
HAPPY SNORKELING IN BAHIA HONDA STATE PARK!
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