Biscayne National Park

Have you ever spent a day on the ocean with gray, colorless waters and sunless skies? Where the fog was so thick you couldn’t tell where the water stopped and the sky started? Where any minute you thought Jack Sparrow sitting atop of the Black Pearl would run right into you? I just did on a visit to Biscayne National Park and it was amazing!

On our trip to The Everglades National Park, my sister-in-laws and I took one day to visit Biscayne National Park. The park is 95% water, so “visiting” it requires some type of water vessel. Biscayne is the first of the underwater national parks I’ve visited and I was not disappointed. We didn’t luck out on the weather, but we did luck out on our fellow travelers who provided us with all the sunshine we needed. Through the Biscayne National Park Institute, we took the Snorkel and Paddle Ecoadventure leaving from Homestead, just fifteen minutes from our hotel. Our tour took place on The Osprey and was led by Captain Stephanie. She is the GOAT!

Not only did we get Captain Stephanie, we got an AMAZING group of women as fellow passengers/adventurers. We met Linda from Texas and the mother-daughter duo, Nancy and Ellen, from New Hampshire. Linda, Nancy, and Ellen – if for some reason you ever read this… HELLO! You made our trip.

The tour started with a 20 minute boat ride where we were visited by several dolphins. To reiterate my statement in the Everglades post…dolphins NEVER GET OLD! Once they grew tired of us, we moved on to snorkel. The water, not emerald green for us, was bitterly cold. I was so grateful we rented the mini wet suits. If you go in January, I highly recommend them. Despite the sound of it, the snorkel conditions were actually excellent. The water was smooth and the coral reef had lots of fish. My sister-in-law, Lindsay, doesn’t “do” sharks or snakes. Being a team player, she stayed back on the boat to keep watch for any unsuspecting fins. 

After snorkeling, we stopped at Boca Chita Key and had lunch on the island. Stephanie told us about Boca Chita’s colorful past and present. It is a cute little island but sounds like it gets pumping on the weekends. Our stop there led us to speculate on what constitutes a yacht and the people who attend these cocktail cove parties… probably the python hunters who wear Louboutin’s. Again, please don’t ruin my vision by telling me otherwise.

After lunch, we paddled. Stephanie led our group through mangrove tunnels where we had to use the branches of the mangroves as monkey bars instead of paddling. In addition to fish, jellyfish, and birds, we finally saw sharks. We paddled right over several nurse sharks and even spotted a lemon shark. They were small and cute per Stephanie, but a shark is a shark, and it was a terrifying thrill to see them. The rain came down on us as we paddled back to the boat, and even that was fun. This tour is on my MUST-DO list. If you are fortunate to have Stephanie as your captain, please tell her that “her favorite tour group to date” says hello.

After our tour, we went back to the hotel to shower and get warm and then, per Stephanie’s suggestion, ate Cuban food at Havana Spice in Homestead. We sipped on mojitos while trying to put a dent in the Havana Sampler and the Cubano Special sandwich we split. The menu is so large and a bit overwhelming. Let me help you out… order drinks and skip right to the Tres Leche. I am not kidding when I tell you this dessert was the best thing I have ever tasted. We royally messed up and only had two bites at the restaurant because we were so full. We took most of the dessert back with us with the intent of finishing it for breakfast the next morning with a cup of coffee, only to forget it at the hotel. I still think about that Tres Leche after all these days.