Florida Keys' Best Beaches

Florida Keys' Best Beaches

Long Key State Park

The beach at Long Key State Park at MM 67.5 is typical of Middle Key's beaches, which are more like sand flats where low tide reveals the coral bedrock of the ecosystem. Here you can snorkel or fish (bonefishing is quite popular) during the day and then be lulled to sleep by the sound of sea waves.

Sombrero Beach

Something of a locals beach, Sombrero Beach in Marathon is worth getting off the beaten Highway 1 path for (exit at MM 50 onto Sombrero Beach Road). Families will find much to do on the manmade coved beach and its grassy green, manicured lawn, and playground area. Separate sections also accommodate boaters and windsurfers.

Bahia Honda State Park

This state park at MM 37 holds three beaches, all of different character. Sandspur Beach is the most removed from crowds with long stretches of powdery sands and a campground. Loggerhead Beach is closer to the park's concession area, where you can rent snorkel equipment and kayaks. Like Sandspur, it faces the Atlantic Ocean, but waves are typically wimpy. Near Loggerhead, Calusa Beach on the Gulf side near the marina offers a small swimming venue with picnic facilities that is popular with families.

Higgs Beach, Key West

Situated on Atlantic Boulevard, this is as urban as beaches in the Keys get, with lots of amenities and many activities going on. All within walking distance of the long sweep of manmade beach, visitors can visit a historic site, eat at a popular beachfront Italian restaurant, play volleyball on the playground across the street, and rent a kayak.

Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

This manmade beach is part of a Civil War-era fort complex at the end of Southard Street and is arguably the best beach in Key West with its swaying Australian pines, watersports rentals, and shaded picnic grounds. It also hosts, from mid-January through mid-April, an al fresco collection of oversized art called Sculpture Key West, which changes annually and showcases artists from across the country.