Hi there!
Bahia Honda State Park is one of the best state parks in Florida Keys.
👆 Spot the people! One of the best things to do in Bahia Honda State Park is to see the incredible views of the Florida Keys!
Is Bahia Honda State Park worth visiting?
If you want to see incredible views in the Florida Keys, then Bahia Honda State Park is absolutely worth visiting on your way to Key West!
It can also be a perfect day trip to Bahia Honda State Park from Key West.
The Florida Overseas Highway is the main road that goes through the Florida Keys, connecting each of the little islands (“keys”) of the Florida Keys.
You will pass right by Bahia Honda State Park on your way to Key West as you are driving the Overseas Highway.
If you’re planning a Florida Keys road trip and you aren’t yet sure whether you want to drive all the way to Key West, then you can make Bahia Honda State Park your “destination” in the Florida Keys!
If you’ll be driving past Key Largo, then the minimum you should drive to is across the Seven Mile Bridge.
And if you’ve just driven across the Seven Mile Bridge, then you might as well go to Bahia Honda State Park!
Bahia Honda State Park is a few minutes past Seven Mile Bridge.
So you can make Bahia Honda State Park your turnaround point!
Key Largo to Bahia Honda State Park is around a 1.5 hour drive.
Bahia Honda State Park to Key West is around a 45 minute drive.
Bahia Honda State Park is mostly its own island. It takes up the vast majority of the island of Bahia Honda Key. It is considered to be part of the city of Big Pine Key FL.
Seaweed in the Florida Keys
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
- Bahia Honda State Park map
More below about the beautiful views you can see by going to Bahia Honda State Park!
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- Key West snorkeling tour to North America's only living coral reef
- Key West dolphin watching tour + reef snorkeling
There are affiliate links on this page.
There are a lot of Bahia Honda State Park videos below. If you can’t see them, it may be because you have an ad blocker. You can watch the Florida Keys video playlist on youtube.
What is there to do in Bahia Honda State Park?
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 things to do in Bahia Honda State Park:
2. Old Bahia Honda Bridge Trail
If you want incredible views in Bahia Honda State Park, then you must do the Old Bahia Honda Bridge Trail!
This is a relatively short trail.
You can see Calusa Beach from above.
And you can see incredible views of the Atlantic Ocean by looking on the other side of the bridge!
You will see a sign for the trail as you are driving to the Calusa Beach parking lot.
3. 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.
Kayak rentals are available at Bahia Honda State Park.
Along Loggerhead Beach, there are also picnic tables so you can eat with a view!
See more about things to do in Bahia Honda State Park:
4. Sandspur Beach
Sandspur Beach is also on the Atlantic Ocean side of Bahia Honda State Park.
Once upon a time, Sandspur Beach was a premier beach of 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.
See more about things to do in Bahia Honda State Park:
5. Looe Key snorkeling tour
Looe Key is one of the best snorkeling spots in the Florida Keys.
It is not an island, but just a location of the reef. It requires a boat ride to get there.
Looe Key is not a part of Bahia Honda State Park, but you can book a Bahia Honda State Park snorkeling tour that will take you to Looe Key.
You will be going to Looe Key in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
If you are going to do just one snorkeling tour in the Florida Keys, you likely won’t be disappointed if you make it a Looe Key snorkeling tour!
Sometimes Bahia Honda State Park snorkeling tours get canceled or sold out, so it’s best to call ahead of time to ask about it: 305-872-3210
See more about Bahia Honda State Park tours: Looe Key snorkeling
See more about state parks in the Florida Keys: John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park snorkeling
Camping in Bahia Honda State Park
You can go camping in Bahia Honda State Park!
This includes tent camping and RV camping… and car camping, van camping, etc!
There are 3 campgrounds in Bahia Honda State Park:
- Buttonwood Campground (tent camping, RV camping)
- Sandspur Campground (tent camping, small RV camping)
- Bayside Campground (tent camping only)
Finding open campsite availability at a Bahia Honda State Park campground is known to be (very) difficult.
Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds are often fully booked 11 months in advance when campsites open up for booking!
But don’t worry, not all hope is lost if you aren’t capable of planning that far in advance. (And even if you were, it’s also known to be difficult. Reports indicate campsites can get snatched up within the first 5 minutes… or less!)
If your drive to Bahia Honda State Park is just a few months, weeks, or even days away, cancellations do happen.
You just have to get lucky and search for campgrounds immediately after someone cancels.
Your “luck” will increase the more you search, and the closer you are to your travel date.
Searching over and over (and over 😜) does really work.
I spent 10 nights camping in Bahia Honda State Park!
It seems that I happened to search shortly after someone canceled a 2 week Bahia Honda camping reservation!
I have found camping availability for state parks in the Florida Keys open up weeks away, days away, and even the day before.
So, while it’s not something to necessarily depend on, it’s something you can look for.
1 night stays will generally be easier to find than multi-night stays.
In general, you will find the greatest difficulty in finding open campgrounds for Saturday nights.
How to make Bahia Honda State Park camping reservations
You can search for Bahia Honda State Park campground availability and book a campsite through the official Florida state parks camping reservations website.
See more about things to do in Bahia Honda State Park:
Cabins in Bahia Honda State Park
You can also stay at one of the Bahia Honda State Park cabins!
This is in the area of the Bayside Campground.
Similarly, finding open cabin availability in Bahia Honda State Park is difficult.
How to make Bahia Honda State Park cabin reservations
You can search for Bahia Honda State Park cabin availability and book a campsite through the official Florida state parks camping reservations website.
Bahia Honda State Park map
👆 Explore the Bahia Honda State Park map on google maps!
And that’s a bit about Bahia Honda State Park!
My trip to Bahia Honda State Park was in May 2022. Your experience may vary!
Where are you driving from? More for your road trip to the Florida Keys:
- Miami to Key West
- Key Largo to Key West
- Naples to Key West
- Marco Island to Key West
- Sanibel Island to Key West
- Siesta Key to Key West
HAPPY SEEING BEAUTIFUL VIEWS AT BAHIA HONDA STATE PARK!
👇 Explore the Florida Keys map on google maps!
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