Everglades/Keyes Questions
 

Planning a trip over Christmas Break 09.

First question- Is this the best time for Everglades? I was reading in a couple of posts that the wildlife (gators) are not out in the winter and some suggested going in April. I find this hard to believe. We could go Spring Break Mid-March, but not April.

We would fly into Miami arriving around noon on a Wednesday. We would fly out on Sunday late afternoon around 4:30

Primary interest is seeing Everglades/Keyes/Dry Tortuga
I would like to see Pennekamp along with Biscayne NP. Biscayne looks pretty lame, but I would like to see it while I am there, since I hope to see every National Park eventually.

Day 1 arrive in MIA around noon
Biscayne NP- I suppose I'll do the Glass Bottom Boat there
Dinner in Little Havana- is this a good experience?
Overnight in Homestead

Day 2 Everglades
I think the Anhinga Trail early,
then what? Do I want to head to Flamingo or Everglades City? Do I want to take an airboat tour and with who? Is airboatusa the best? they are certainly the most expensive. overnight in Homestead

Day 3 drive the Keyes stopping at Pennecamp. What to do there? Canoeing? overnight in Key west

Day 4 take seaplane to Dry Tortuga
overnight in Key West

Day 5 not sure what to do this day
return home from MIA around 4:30

we will stop at Robert is Here fruit stand sometime along the way. Not for sure where I want to stay in Homestead or Key West. Hopefully there want be more than a 2 night minimum at each place. where do I want to stop and what to see while driving the Keyes other than Pennekamp?

We had been to the Everglades at Christmas and we saw zillions of alligators. It was hard not to step on them. Long before the park entrance, the highway banks were lined with alligators.

Think about a canoe tour instead of airboat. You get closer contact with nature - and it is quiet.

The seaplanes are no longer flying to Dry Tortugas, but catamarans are available.

I like the Evergldaes at Christmas. You'll see alligators although. If you wait until April, though, you will have a better time in the water.
I would not drive from Homestead to Little Havana just for dinner. Spend the night in Florida City and have dinner at one of the local Mexican restaurants
Would you snorkel? That's the typical activity at Pennekamp. If not, then renting kayaks or canoes is a good ieda. However, you might want to skip Pennekamp and use Florida Outfitters or even head further south to Robbies and go out to Indian Key.
There'a an airboat near Robert is HEre/Anhinga Trail Logistically, this would make the most sense.
http://www.everglades.com/

planned on seeing Biscayne, eating at Little Havana, then on to Homestead. Planned on snorkeling at Dry Totuga.

I think I understand the problem! Key Biscayne is a barrier island near downtown Miami and Little Havana. It's located in the waters of Biscayne Bay. It is not Biscayne National Park. The entrance to BNP is in Florida City (i.e., near Homestead). When you get to the end of the turnpike in Florida City, if you turn right you'll end up in Everglades National Park. If you turn left, you'll end up in Biscayne National Park. If you want eat in Little Havana, have lunch before you head to the parks.

Years ago we took our kids to Disney World for spring break in mid-March. After a couple days of Disney, we'd had enough and started looking for other things to do.

We ended up at GatorLand, or some such place. It felt like Florida 'before Disney'.

Anyway, at that time, they were luring the biggest alligators to jump out of the water by dangling raw chickens over them. They really could jump. The people in charge said it was just getting warm enough for them to do such things. All winter they're pretty slow, and won't jump for anything. So, for more action from the reptiles, wait until it's warmer.

I want to see the everglades in the wild, not at any manmade venue.


keymom, thanks for the heads up on the entrance to Biscayne NP. makes sense now.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a mostly underwater park. Most people come here for the snorkeling or scuba diving. They do rent kayaks and canoes to explore the passageways in the mangroves and they have a glass bottom boat that will give you a glimpse of what the snorkelers or divers get to see. There are 2 swimming areas. The one nearest the visitor's center is called cannon beach because you can swim out to where cannons have been placed as a reconstructed shipwreck. Inside the visitor's center there is a salt water aquarium featuring some of the fish that inhabit the reef. I think that this is better than Key Biscayne National Park because it features the same reef structures but has more activities.

If you want to rent a boat at Flamingo or a canoe to paddle the creeks and lakes of the everglades, then the drive to Flamingo is necessary. Otherwise, I'd suggest you go only a few miles into the park to see the open grassland and hammocks and then return to Florida City on your way to the Keys. Do take time to hike a trail or 2 in the Everglades. I drove to Everglades City last June and found it interesting, but I wouldn't recommend it to you on this trip. Take that time and put it into the boat trip (Seaplanes are out of business) to Dry Tortugas, or toward one of the other attractions in the Keys. The trip to the Dry Tortugas is definitely interesting and in June I really liked snorkeling there, but it takes pretty much the whole day and you don't have a lot of days to spare. I'd probably instead suggest one of the boat trips out of Key West that does snorkeling and kayaking. I enjoyed my half-day on Danger Charters and plan to do a full day this summer.

Crane Point Hammock in Marathon is an interesting tour as is Windley Key Fossil Reef State Park. You might enjoy a stop at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon or a stop at the Aqua Ranch to see the fish they are raising, perhaps buying a bucket of fish or squid to feed them.

Robbies Marina in Islamorada is another fun stop where you will be able to buy a bucket of fish to feed the large tarpon. From there you could also rent a kayak and make the trip to Indian Key or Lignum Vitae Key.

I think that time of year will be fine. You will plenty of gators if you are looking for them.

My only concern with this trip would be time. It seems to me like you have a lot crammed into a small time frame.

For example, if you drove direct from Everglade City to Key West it would be about a 4.5 hour drive, especially during a holiday season. Each little stop makes that longer.

I was at Pennekamp last year and loved it... but I learned it was not that great from shore. To really enjoy the best of the park it paid to hire a boat and experienced guide for a few hours.

Driving from Key West to Miami is also going to be about 4 hours of time slot, especially if you want to make a flight on time. I would allow 5 to be safe because traffic can jam up on you down there.

My only advice is to look at your schedule carefully. Driving typically takes longer than we expect it to, especially when on vacation.