There are three natural, sandy beaches in Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key: Sandspur Beach on the Atlantic, Loggerhead on the western end of the island but also facing the Atlantic and Calusa Beach on the northwest side of the island, facing the Overseas Highway.
It’s location as an interior beach with much calmer water ensures Calusa Beach is the most popular of the three beaches — it’s the best beach for swimming, and it’s where the concessions, nature center, picnic shelters and souvenir shop are located, adjacent to the marina.
Calusa Beach is also the most photographed beach because it is where the old bridge and new bridge converge in the background.
Concessions are operated by the Coral Reef Park Co., which offers a complete gift shop, snack bar, kayak rentals and daily snorkeling tours to the Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary.
If you go: 8 a.m.-sunset; 36850 Overseas Highway (MM 37) in Big Pine Key; entrance fees are $8 per vehicle (up to 8 people), $2 for pedestrians, bicyclists and extra passengers and $4 for a single-occupant vehicle or motorcycle; 305-872-2353; bahiahondapark.com
More for beach bums
Peanut Island: The island has terrific snorkeling and is the location of a bomb shelter designed for President John F. Kennedy. Located on the Intracoastal Waterway, near the Lake Worth Inlet in Riviera Beach; discover.pbcgov.org/parks
South Beach: This free public beach is known for its white sand beaches, glamorous nightspots and celebrity-chef eateries. Begins at Ocean Drive and 5th Street and stretches up to 21st Street and Collins; miamiandbeaches.com
![From Amelia Island on the northeast tip of Florida to Alligator Reef in the Keys. From the pink sands of Eleuthera in the Bahamas to the slopes of Mount Scenery on the Dutch island of Saba in the Lesser Antilles. The May issue of our Explore Florida & the Caribbean takes you places – by land, sea and air. The new issue that will appear in digital format on Sunday, May 5, features stories on Florida’s lighthouses, cruise-line dining, a return to ultra-luxe Little Palm Island in the Keys, a camping trip to Peanut Island in Palm Beach County, a […]](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Explore-Florida-cover-May-2024.jpg?w=620 "From Amelia Island on the northeast tip of Florida to Alligator Reef in the Keys. From the pink sands of Eleuthera in the Bahamas to the slopes of Mount Scenery on the Dutch island of Saba in the Lesser Antilles. The May issue of our Explore Florida & the Caribbean takes you places – by land, sea and air. The new issue that will appear in digital format on Sunday, May 5, features stories on Florida’s lighthouses, cruise-line dining, a return to ultra-luxe Little Palm Island in the Keys, a camping trip to Peanut Island in Palm Beach County, a […]")
