Many visitors want to know where to find the best beach snorkeling in the Florida Keys. When they ask, locals have a hard time keeping a straight face. You might think they’re just trying to keep the best places secret, but the fact of the matter is more complicated, and it might even disappoint you a little.
There simply isn’t any really great beach snorkeling in the Florida Keys.
Sure, you can put on your mask and fins and go snorkeling. But you’re not going to see much: murky seagrass meadows, a few little fish, and a whole lot of funny-looking jellyfish that sit upside down and soak up the sunlight.
Here’s a look at where and how to find the best spots for beach snorkeling in the Florida Keys, why you might want to look further afield, and how to make the most of your experience no matter what.
Introduction to Snorkeling in the Florida Keys
The first thing you need to know about snorkeling in the Florida Keys is that you shouldn’t do it from the beach! Sorry to be the spoilsport, but that’s just not where the snorkeling is located here.
The point of snorkeling in the Keys is to see the only living coral reef in the United States: the Florida Reef. The reefs are three to seven miles offshore. That’s a long way to snorkel if you don’t get run down by a boat on the way.
The better tactic would be to be on that boat, which is probably taking snorkelers out to the reef anyway. Once on the coral reef snorkeling, you’re away from the murkier water nearshore, with tons more wildlife and tropical fish to see.
If you choose to go snorkeling from shore here, you’ll swim around mangroves and seagrass beds. The water tends to be a little murkier, and the sand is easily churned up. You might see a few fish here and there, but they won’t be the countless, colorful schools of fish that you’d see on the reef. And it’s entirely possible to see something like a nurse shark or sea turtle, but it’s far less likely than it would be at the reef.
To understand why it is the way it is, you’ve got to understand something about the four unique ecosystems that make up the Florida Keys. The islands are made of hardwood hammocks and mangrove forests. The oceans, on the other hand, have seagrass meadows and tropical coral reefs. To get to the reefs, you’ve got to get past the others. The reefs are fed by the warm, crystal-clear waters of the Gulf Stream, which flows about eight miles offshore.
Best Time to Visit for Snorkeling
Snorkeling in the Florida Keys is best when the wind is light and the water is calm. This most often occurs in the mornings during the summer months. Winter tends to have more wind, which chops up the water. In addition to making rougher boat rides, it also reduces the water clarity.
The days with the clearest water occur when the Gulf Stream swings closer to shore. On the outer reefs, this might mean that the water visibility goes from an average of 30 to 40 feet to 80 or 100 feet. It’s an impressive difference, but the currents of the Gulf Stream that clear the water also mean that there’s more current to fight when swimming. That’s a lot easier to do when diving than snorkeling. Either way, if there’s any current at all, you’ll want to start by swimming into it and letting it carry you back to the boat. Never let the current carry you past the boat and hope you can swim back.
On reefs closer to shore, there’s seldom any current at all. But the visibility is rarely more than 50 or 60 feet, either.
Snorkeling Gear and Preparation
If you don’t have your own snorkel gear, most boat charters and beach concessionaires will rent it. Buying a snorkel mask in Key West, or anywhere else in the Keys, is as simple as walking into your nearest store. You can find nice ones in dive shops and cheap ones in almost every tourist shop.
Beach snorkeling in the Florida Keys is a good way to practice with your gear and ensure everything fits right. If you sign up for an expensive boat tour, you won’t waste your time fiddling with your gear.
Before you first use your mask, you’ll want to scrub it clean. The old diver trick is to use toothpaste — the paste kind, not the gel. Scrub the inside of the lenses with the paste on the end of your fingers, then rinse it clean. This removes the film coating they put on the glass, which causes the mask to fog up. You’ll also want to get some good dive mask anti fog to put on the lenses before each use. It’s available at all local dive shops.
Florida Keys Snorkeling Tips and Tricks
When booking snorkel boat trips, make sure you are going with other snorkelers and not divers. Divers want to go to deeper places, which means less to see and more uncomfortable conditions for snorkeling. A snorkel-only boat, on the other hand, will take you to shallow reefs where everything is right in your face.
Wherever you are snorkeling, be sure that boaters in the area can see you. It is exceptionally difficult to see swimmers in the water from the helm of a boat (especially a fast-moving boat). Always tow a dive flag buoy while swimming, even if you think you’re relatively close to shore. Many people have died or been seriously injured while snorkeling in the Keys after being hit. Dive flag buoys are sold at all the local dive shops.
If you’re keen on snorkeling from shore, consider renting a kayak or paddleboard to cover more ground. The vessel lets you paddle around the area and check it out from above. If you find any rocky structures, wrecks, or cool things to check out, you can jump off and snorkel to see them up close.
Finally, while I might poo-poo snorkeling along the shore, the truth is there’s plenty of sea life to see. The seagrass beds and mangrove root forests are the nurseries of the Keys’ reefs, where the little critters grow up before heading offshore. There’s so much life here, it’s easy to geek out over all the creepy critters. But, it’s not the once-in-a-lifetime best snorkeling experience that snorkeling on the coral reef is, and that’s the experience that most people are coming to the Keys for.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Snorkeling Spots
The hub for snorkeling in Key Largo is John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The park visitor center is located at Mile Marker 103, and from there, you can take snorkeling and glass-bottom boat tours out to the reef. There’s also some great kayaking and canoe trails through the mangroves at the visitor center.
If you want to try out your snorkeling gear, there are two beaches at the visitor center where you can swim. Off of Cannon Beach is the designated swim area. It’s murky and deep. Locals call it “The Pit.” Some sadistic dive instructors like to use it for advanced courses because it’s easy to get lost and disoriented there.
Key Largo and Islamorada Snorkeling
You can snorkel off any beach behind your hotel or resort. There’s a county park at Harry Harris in Tavernier and grass flats around Anne’s Beach in Islamorada. Isla is a well-known for its sport fishing, but dive charters here can take you out to the beautiful reefs around Alligator Reef Lighthouse, which is about seven miles offshore.
Middle and Lower Keys Snorkeling Locations
Beach snorkeling in the Middle and Lower Keys resembles the Upper Keys. There’s no secret place where it’s incredible, just more sandy seagrass beds and murky waters.
You’ll want to check out two spots: Sombrero Beach in Marathon and Bahia Honda State Park. Both are gorgeous locations with beautiful beaches. Beach snorkeling is limited at both, and there is little to see. Bahia Honda has a snorkel boat tour that goes out daily to Looe Key reef, a stunning reef about six miles offshore known to have reef sharks and other big marine life.
Key West Beach Snorkeling
If you’re coming to Key West, you’ve got the opportunity to do the best and only real beach snorkeling in the Florida Keys. Fort Zachary Taylor State Park has a gorgeous beach, and along the edges are rocks full of wildlife and some corals. It’s the only spot where you can taste the reef without the boat ride.
There are other beaches on the island where you can snorkel, like Smathers Beach or any of the others. But the scenery here is like the rest of the Keys — seagrass and mucky sand.
Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson Snorkeling
If you’re heading out on the ferry or seaplane to the Dry Tortugas, there’s plenty of snorkeling to do from the beach. The water out there is gin-clear — it’s seriously like the Bahamas or an island in the Caribbean, not like the Keys at all. Standing on the dock, you can see right to the bottom.
There are huge fish swimming all around, including one giant goliath grouper that hangs out at the ferry dock. A brick walkway around its perimeter creates the fort’s moat, and looking into it is like walking over a coral aquarium full of reef fish. You can snorkel off any beaches around the fort and get spectacular views.
How About a Private Florida Keys Snorkeling Tour?
Not everyone wants to hop on a boat full of strangers and weirdos just to see a coral reef. The locals have it easy; we just hop in our boats and make a fun day of it with just our families.
But you can do that, too! That’s what a private snorkeling or sandbar charter trip is all about. You get the boat and the captain, and the only weirdos are the ones you bring with you.
The best thing about a private charter like ours is that we can customize the trip to get you exactly what you want. Want the best snorkeling on the coral reefs? We can take you places the big boats don’t go. Want to see a reef, then spend an hour walking a beautiful sandbar or backcountry sandy beach? Unlike the dive shops, we can do that too!
