Three Entrances to the park

The national park at the very southern end of Florida needs to be on every Florida travel route. In the Everglades, the ocean becomes land and land becomes ocean. This tropical wilderness between sea water and fresh water has created a special environment and a biodiversity with a vast variety of species.
The northern border of the park is highway 41, leading from Naples in the east to Miami in the west. There are three different entrances to the park; we have visited two of them. Both offer an entirely different program.
If you are lucky, you get to see manatees, alligators and crocodiles (since one of it prefers fresh water the other salt water, that is very rare), several water- and wading birds (e.g. cormorant and heron) and lots of countryside and nature. Information about current problems is available with focus on environmental destruction and invasive species and as well as information about its history of settlement.

Gulf Coast Visitor Center and 10,000 islands: Sea Water Area of the Everglades

It takes 1 hour (60 km) to drive from Naples to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, the visitor center closest to Florida’s gulf coast. In terms of ecology, the national park is split into two parts: the first part is called 10,000 islands and describes the sea water part, hundreds of small and tiny islands in the ocean, a maze of water streets, mangroves, trees and tiny islands. The second part describes the fresh water part of the park. Here the ocean is no longer visible but has become a swamp area, already mainland but still full of water. The ranger lady stood in the water of the swamp waist-deep, all the fresh water pushes up from the ground.

The 10,000 islands – salt water part of the Everglades – are a colorful collection of mangroves and waterstreets that can only be explored by boat. To me it felt, as if I had already reached the ocean and was no longer on the mainland. Due to the sheer size and variety of the area, I would not have been able to find the right way without a tour guide. The visitor center offers a boat tour. If you are lucky, dolphins will be there. Birds will definitely be there and even if you are unlucky and do not see a single animal, the nature of the Everglades itself is worth the trip. It absolutely stunningly beautiful!

The visitor center can be reached on Highway 41 and Interstate 75. Just follow the signs that say “Everglades City”. Parking is available at the visitor center. The visitor center provides all information about tours and prices.

Shark Valley Visitor Center

The Shark Valley Visitor Center is located another 50 minutes (70 km) east (following highway 41). This entrance to the Everglades offers an entirely different face of the park: water has become mainland: a huge swap and even a paved road are there. This is the fresh water part of the park. Except from the street, it feels like being in a jungle. It is a wetland full of reed, swamp with water waist-high and alligators that live in fresh water.

The paved road is a leftover from the time before the area was protected as a national park. It’s nowadays used for guided tours by train (not on tracks but on wheels). In addition, there are two smaller hiking paths and bicycles for rent. We did the train tour which was lead by a ranger. The tour took us through the swamp area, was fully narrated and the ranger talked about flora and fauna. We saw birds and an alligator.

The Shark Valley Visitor Center can be reached via highway 41, approximately 1 3/4 hours (130 km) from Naples. Parking is available in front of the visitor center.

Recommendations and Information about Different Tour Options

A quick first thought could be: why would I want to visit the Everglades twice? The answer is simple: because you get to see two totally different areas. The 10,000 island are water with many little islands and Shark Valley is a swamp land where hiking is possible. The Everglades look entirely different in both cases.

Before I was there, I imagined the Everglades to be a swamp area – just about what I saw in Shark Valley. The 10,000 islands was something totally new to me.

The third entrance Flamingo Center is located at the southern end of the Everglades. We ran out of time and could do all three entrances in one day. The Flamingo entrance was simply too far away. If you rush from one place to the other, it might work but we wanted to have time. Flamingo entrance is the main entrance to the park (reachable via Florida Turnpike from Miami or Florida City from the Keys). Flamingo has a port, a café and a campground. I didn’t see it so I cannot say anything else.

Time wise, we could only do two entrances in a day. If you want to do the third, plan an extra day. Coming from Naples, Flamingo Center is a bit off the route and difficult to reach.

Manatees – Floridas Mascot and Symbol in the Park

The “mascot” of Florida is the manatee. It’s a large, brown mammal living in the water. Manatees prefer fresh water and very warm water, shallow water, water with very little salt and like living close to the coast. Manatees are good-natured and herbivores. That is why Florida is a perfect place for them. Unfortunately, they are an endangered species. They like the water streets of the Everglades very much. I didn’t see any of them on our tours. I guess they are easier to spot in a kayak and in a smaller group of people outside the main roads somewhere between the mangroves and the smaller water streets.

Airboat Tour? – An Option?

To me the answer is no. On highway 41, there are many offers about air boat tours. Their ads follow you all the way along highway 41. I read in a travel book that these airboats are too loud and upset various animals. Also, these boats are causing many problems to manatees in Florida. As described above, manatees live in shallow water close to the coast. That is why they tend to crash the airboats’ screws and propellers. Manatees are a bit slow that means they hear the airboats coming but are to slow to get away. Supposedly, most manatees in the Everglades have airboat scars on their skin. I don’t know if all of this is true, but it could be and that is enough to know for me. That is why I would not recommend an airboat tour.

I know, environmental conscience, protection and tourism is an issue itself. Anyways, I think we should always prefer anything that is offered officially from the national parks and its rangers. At least, this way the national park makes money and the national park’s purpose is to protect and maintain nature. Also, the tours in the national park and entrance fees to the park are rather low, compared to for example all the parks in Orlando.

Der Beitrag Everglades Nationalpark – A park at the Land/Sea Boundary erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Key West is a very crazy island at the very southern end of Florida. You very clearly leave the subtropical area and reach the tropical climate: it is hot, very hot with a high humidity. We were there in October, not even the hottest period of the year.

The island has a very Cuban flair; you are really very close to Cuba, not only geographically. Its residents speak a different version of English, the coffee tastes more intense, somehow more Cuban and the atmosphere is unique. Life is different here, that becomes clear when you consider that these islands have indeed declared their independence from the US once. In 1982, the issue of border controls in the Upper Keys kept everyone busy and emotional. That is why the keys formed an independent state (Conch Republic) but only for a day.

The most southern point of the US (for some reason called the Southernmost Point) is here. They used to have a sign about this, but the sign got stolen too many times. Now they have a buoy. We walked all the way there and definitely underestimated the tropical heat. It was exhausting to walk at all. On the way to the buoy, you find many “southernmost”, like the southernmost hairdresser, café, supermarket, anything. In fact, there is an even more southern point but that is in the restricted military area further west. You can visit the buoy, do the walking tour, but to us it was a bit of “ok, we were there”.

Key West Downtown: Mallory Square, Duval Street, Sloppy Joes and Hemingway House

A not so nice way to put it is: Key West is a small, overly crowded, overly hot island. A nice way to say it is: it’s an island with its own attitude, strong Cuban influence but also big independence, strong temperament and everything a bit too crazy.

The two most important places in Key West are Mallory Square and Duvall Street. Mallory Square is always full of people; in the evenings the walls get crowded by people who sit there to watch the sunset. As soon as the midday heat leaves, street artists appear. There are little performances but also, art exhibits of sculptures and paintings. Mallory Square is in the northeast of the island. Tourist like to book boat tours for the sunset, you can see many boats right in front of the coast.

This is also where the most famous street of Key West starts: Duvall Street. Duvall Street is almost 2 km long, crosses the entire island and reaches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. In Duvall Street various influences mix: Cuban, Bahamian and Victorian. There are many beautiful buildings. Two very well-known people were very fond of Key West: Ernest Hemingway and Harry Truman. Hemingway even stayed several years. The Hemingway House is in the old part of the city and can be visited. It’s only one block from Duvall Street at the southern end of the road. Its six-toed cats are a special feature, all of the descendant of Hemingway’s cat.

Key West has become a common stop for cruise ships. You should try to get information about their schedules and when there are too many of them around. I can totally imagine how the town gets overly crowded then. There was no cruise ship there when we were there, but the island was already crowded. Definitely choose a good date to come here.
Key West is a place where many runaway teenagers go to. It seems to be a kind of challenge to make it up until here.

The most popular bar in Key West is Sloppy Joes from 1933. After moving Sloppy Joes is now close to northern part of Duvall Street.

A very special feature is the Dry Tortugas National Park, which is a bit more than 100 km from Key West and can only be reached by ferry or plane. The ferry takes 2 ¼ hours (single ride). Dry Tortugas is a diving and snorkeling paradise. If you want to go here, you need to plan an entire day to do so. We did not have the time, but I definitely want to do that one day. I’m sure it’s a huge highlight.

https://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

https://www.drytortugas.com/

Shuttle Busses from the Hotels

We did stay in a hotel at the eastern end of the island. All the major tourist attractions are at the western part of the island. It does not appear to be far, when you check the map, you think this is easily doable. But that’s not really the case. It’s very tropical and very hot. Every step becomes more exhausting. Several hotels offered a shuttle bus to the city center together. I would definitely use that shuttle and let them take me to the center as close as possible. We walked; it was too much, definitely! Don’t take your own car, leave it at the hotel. There is no parking and no space in general in the center.

Route and Duration

From Miami to Key West, it’s 266 km. You need 4 hours for this. The road along the keys and their bridges is outstanding. You hop from island to bridge to island and can enjoy a view over the vastness of the ocean almost everywhere. It’s a very nice route; you should have time to enjoy it. There is no point in speeding to reach as fast as possible. One thing is definitely the case: it’s the way that counts. Bring enough time to stop at various points.
Our travel agency recommended two nights in Key West. At first, I was thinking that is too much. But now, I definitely agree. Like this, you have an entire day to drive from Miami to Key West. You have many nice spots to stop: the Everglades (Flamingo Visitor Center or Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center), Key Largo and John Pennekamp Nationalpark.

You continue your route along all the Keys till Key West. There are many options to stop. You should definitely do the 7-Mile-Bridge and Bahia Honda State Park. You can easily spend an entire day like this. In the evening, you can watch the sunset from Mallory Square. You then spend a full day in Key West (Duvall Street, Southernmost Point, Hemingway House, etc.). On the third day, you drive back to the main land. Depending on what you are interested in, you can spend the morning in Key West or go back to the mainland directly and stop several times. You can for example visit everything you missed on the way to Key West or everything you liked very much.

It’s always an option to book an additional night in Key Largo or the Everglades. I think you don’t really need it when you have two nights in Key West. One night in Key West is not enough, doable if you really, really don’t have more time and leave Key West in the afternoon/evening. But two nights is definitely much better!

I would absolutely recommend that tour to Key West. It’s a very nice route, but you need 3 days (2 days) to do it. If you don’t have that, I would not do it at all.

This is Part 2 Road Trip to the Most Southern Point: Key West, Mallory Square and Duvall Street.

Part 1 of the article can be found here:

Road trip to the Most Southern Point in the US: Part 1 On the Way to Key West

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Heading to the Most Southern Point of the US: Key West and the Keys – Upper Keys, Middle Keys and Lower Keys – all of them reachable and connected by the Overseas Highway (No. 1)

The Florida Keys are a vast collection of little coral islands called keys. The chain of islands starts in the southeast of Florida, 26 km south of Miami. Final point of this route is Key West, it takes about 4 hours to reach from Miami (266 km). The 181.9-km-Overseas-Highway is basically a long-streched collection of roads and bridges.

The Keys can be split into three groups: Upper Keys, Middle Keys and Lower Keys. Upper and lower in this case refers to North and South. This is also the order I use to describe a few highlights on the route.

Because the Overseas Highway is a mere 180-km-straight, addresses and places have a mile marker in their name. Addresses use a five digit code, the first three digits refer to the miles on the road (including position after decimal point), the last two digits refer to the location of the address: odd numbers are at the Bay of Mexico, even numbers at the Atlantic Coast. The mile markers start in Key West, this is where you find the number 0. The higher the number, the closer you are to the main land.

One example: John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park address is 102601 Overseas Highway. This means it is on MM 102.5 at the Bay of Mexico. The first first important stop on this route is in the Upper Keys: Key Largo MM 91- 107.

Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park: Glass Bottom Boat Tour in the Park

Key Largo is one of the northern keys and relatively large, almost 53 km long. Of course there is the Overseas Highway, but Key Largo has a second connection to the main land (at the northern end of the island, Highway 905 to Florida City and the Everglades).
Very important in Key Largo are its surrounding Coral Reefs. These are protected as a State Park called John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. It’s a paradise for divers and snorkelers. We did not do a snorkeling tour but a glass-bottom-boat tour. That means, the boat has a glass window at the bottom and you can see the underwater world from the boat.

It’s easy to organize: you just go to the visitor center, ask about the next tour and buy tickets. To shorten this: next time, I would go snorkeling instead. The boat tour is ok, quite nicely done but you don’t get to see a lot. The engines are turned off, the boat bobs up and down in the water. You stand behind a barrier all the time and look through that bottom window. This means you are very likely to get seasick. On the way to the riff, they provide various information on what to do in that case. We bought one of these preventative medicine, took it and and did not have to throw up. Probably, the medicine did their job. But we were anyways feeling quite bad on the way back. Most people on the boat looked rather troubled. These problems with motion sickness have to do with the general situation of being in a solid room (the boat), that moves in the waves and the fact that everyone stands at the barrier and looks down to that window at the riff which is again solid and not moving. On the boat they say our brain loses its point of reference, cannot handle the situation and reacts with dizziness and motion sickness.

To me, the size of the bottom windows turned out to be a flop. I expected huge windows where you can see large parts of the riff and the ocean. But that was not the case. The windows are two rather small windows where people gather around. Most parts of the ship are fairly regular.

A good thing about the tour was the audio guide. A female tour guide on the ship was an expert in recognizing and naming all the different fish. That was really interesting; her enthusiasm about it became very obvious.

The snorkeling tour stopped in close distance. Next time, I would definitely book that. I think you get to see much more and don’t get dizzy and sick.

Snorkeling tours are 30 dollar per person and take place several times a day. One tour is 2 ½ hours of which you spend 1 to 1 ½ hours in the water. There are also longer snorkeling tours (4 ½ hours). The Glass-Bottom-Boat-Tour is 24 dollars (2 ½ hours) and takes place four times a day. Information about all of this can be found on the website.

Another interesting option is to rent a canoe, kayak or Stand-Up-Board. Because Key Largo is so close to the mainland, you can paddle to the Everglades. I did not do it, but I want to come back for that one day.

Because of all the many options you have in Key Largo, you need to bring time. I think you can easily spend 2 full days here. If you don’t have that much time, you can at least spend a morning or afternoon here (on the way to or from Key West) and do some snorkeling or kayaking. If you just drive to Key West with no stop here, you miss the best part.
The Upper Keys continue another 50 km after Key Largo. Several smaller keys follow. End point of the Upper Keys is Long Key with the little town of Layton. The bridge between Long Key and Conch Key is called Long Key Bridge (official name: Dante B. Fascell Bridge) and is the second longest bridge on the route.

From the Middle Keys to the Lower Keys on the Seven-Mile-Bridge

The Middle Keys are mainly organized in the little town of Marathon and cover a distance of 45 km. Long Key has a protected area (Long Key State Park, MM 70), Long Point Key as well (Curry Hammock State Park, MM 56), Key Colony Beach has a beach.

The Seven-Mile-Bridge on MM 47 is an interesting spot. This is where the Middle Keys end. The bridge is the longest on the route. A new bridge became necessary because the old one was destroyed by the weather. The new bridge was built in 1982 and runs almost parallel to the old one. Pedestrians and cyclists can still use the old bridge. You can stop here and take a walking tour. It is indeed funny standing in one bridge and seeing the other one.

Bathing and Snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park

Right after this bridge, there is Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys. It’s a beach in a protected area (that means you need to pay to enter) from which you can see the old bridge quite well. The beach is nice, but compared to the rest of Florida rather small. The keys are not the right place for beautiful bathing beaches. You can stop and swim, but don’t expect too much. All islands are small and only have small beaches. Some areas in Big Pine Key are privately owned and not publicly accessible.

The beach was voted the number 1 beach in the US in 1992 (by Dr. Beach, a Florida Geology Professor). One thing that is always there is the wind: you are far into the ocean on a very flat island. There are definitely nicer places to sunbathe. The keys are more about nature and underwater worlds. You can hike or watch rare animals and plants, in particular birds.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Bahia-Honda

This is Part 1 of the Article: Road trip to the Most Southern Point in the US: On the Way to Key West

Part 2 can be found here:

Road Trip to the Most Southern Point: Key West, Mallory Square and Duvall Street

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Miami Beach – Miami

Miami Beach is a group of islands, artificial and non-artifical, right in front of the city of Miami which is on the mainland. These island are connected to the mainland by several bridges, the main connecting streets are highway A1A and interstate 195.

Miami Beach is a medium-sized island, narrow but long-stretched. The most famous part of the island is in the South: South Beach and Ocean Drive.

South Beach

South Beach looks exactly the way you know it from the TV (Miami Vice, etc.). The city beach is relatively wide, has many visitors and the colorful shacks of the lifeguards are everywhere.

There is a park right next to the beach (Lummus Park). The park is not big, rather small but long-stretched. All in all, this creates a nice atmosphere: the beach on the ocean’s side, and the Ocean Drive on the other side. This is definitely a spot to take a walk. Something is always going on here. If you don’t like walking, you have plenty of other options including bicycles and segways.

Art Déco District

South Beach is also where the Art Déco District starts. It goes from 6th Street in the South to Dade Boulevard in the North (the eastern and western border are Ocean Drive and Alton Road, both not important). Except from the port, the Art Déco District stretches along the entire width of the island. The District has many different building, according to Wikipedia 960. The most well-know building is the former Gianni Versace house (now a hotel). Travel books describe walking routes in the quarter where you get to see all important buildings. You can also book a guided tour.

We did the route Lonely Planet recommends and that worked quite well. We had enough information about all the buildings. I think you don’t need to spend money on a guided tour, a self-guided tour works just fine.

Ocean Drive

Ocean Drive is basically a chain of restaurants, clubs, coffee shops and bars. Ocean Drive is full of beach guests every day but really only wakes up after sunset.

All of a sudden many dressed-up people are everywhere, looking incredibly good (both female and male). I would be a little careful with food drinks here some people have accidentally ordered a 20-dollar-plus drink here. In case you want to go out in the night, bring some fancy, up-to-do clothes. I would have felt a little out of place in my regular casual holiday clothes.

Parking at Ocean Drive

Parking here was a bit difficult. Parking is available at the side of the road, but at some point all these parking spaces are full and you need to circle the Art Déco District. Public Parking is available between the 6th and 7th Street for one dollar an hours. You can try and see if you find something here.

Much further north, at 16th street, pubic parking is also available.

Lincoln Avenue

Another interesting area is Lincoln Avenue between 16th and 17th street. This is the shopping mile of Miami Beach. There are many different stores (even Outlet sometimes) and restaurants. We did not go shopping; we only took a walk there.
Parking is again not easy, just like Miami Beach in general.

Collins Avenue

Ocean Drive starts on 6th and ends on 15th street. A parallel road to Ocean Drive is Collins Avenue (highway A1A). Collins Avenue is much longer and is connects the entire island from north to south.

There are many hotels along that road. The basic rule is: the further south, the cooler and more expensive. We were quite far up north in a hotel called Casablanca in the Ocean. It was fine. I cannot recommend it nor not recommend it. There was no food in the hotel. But Collins Avenue has many options, even that far north. You only need to leave the hotel and walk a few steps.

If you want to find a supermarket, better check up north than on South Beach. In the south, things are more expensive in general.

Eden Roc and Fontainebleu

The two hottest hotels in Miami Beach are Eden Roc and Fontainebleu. These are the most famous and chicest hotels in town. These two are an exception to the “the cooler the more south”-rule.

Parking at the Hotels

Parking at the Hotels was difficult. Our hotel had a very small entrance with Valet Parking. The car was taken to some underground garage, of course for extra money (25 dollars per day). We did not find any other parking and had to pay that.

How Long Should I Stay Here and What Should I Definitely Do?

I don’t think it’s the perfect area for an extended beach holiday. The Gulf Coast has beaches that are much more beautiful. To me, a single day at the beach in Miami Beach is enough (or even only a half day). You should definitely visit the Art Déco District and Ocean Drive. I think, one day and one evening is enough for this. I recommend spending 2 nights and days here, if you feel like it you also have enough time to shop at Lincoln Avenue. You can stay longer and spend some time in Miami. But for Miami Beach, this is enough time.

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