Thinking about Snorkeling in the Florida Keys? We do it a lot, and for a great reason
I'm pretty sure that snorkeling is the best activity in the Keys, but did you know you don't have to do a boat tour to enjoy it? We've put together public access spots, hotels and tours for snorkeling
It’s such a privilege to get to spend so much time in the Florida Keys and to get to share it with people. Today I wanted to talk about what it is that drives us to keep visiting different spots in the Keys and repeatedly find reasons for trips. Snorkeling in the Florida Keys is one of our favorite activities and definitely the thing we do most often. In talking with people on snorkeling tours and at hotels, the Keys are actually maybe people’s first experience with snorkeling, and it is a great place for it.
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What’s Snorkeling in the Keys Like?
There’s gotta be a reason we spend so much time snorkeling in the Florida Keys. Is it the wildlife or the underwater landscape? Is it feeling weightless or maybe the feeling you get when you dive down and ascend back up to the surface? Is it the marine life? It’s all of that and more. Snorkeling really gives you a look into another world that’s very different from our own. If you haven’t been snorkeling before, the Florida Keys are a great place to have this first experience.
Although pollution and irresponsible anchoring have badly damaged the reefs of the Florida Keys over the years, there are still amazing things to see and tons of wildlife. There are large areas of healthy coral and shipwrecks you can free dive to. It’s all beautiful and interesting. As a side note, I’ve learned so much about underwater ecosystems and the impact of ignorance that it’s made us very thoughtful about both our own boating and the tour operators we go out with.
Do I Have to do a Snorkeling Tour?
You certainly don’t have to do a snorkeling tour to be able to see what sort of wildlife lives below the surface of the water. Snorkeling from shore is an option in quite a few places, from State Parks to city parks and from hotels’ private beaches. While you won’t be able to swim out to one of the reefs from shore, there are lots of opportunities to snorkel at interesting structures like jetties and docks, and to explore mangrove areas and sandbars.
Snorkeling tours give you the upper hand in accessing reefs and wrecks with impressive amounts of wildlife, but some of the best snorkeling we’ve done in the Florida Keys had actually just been from shore. We’ve got tips below on what to look for to have a good shore snorkeling experience.
Places for Snorkeling in the Florida Keys
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary stretches from the edge of Biscayne Bay out to the Dry Tortugas. This huge area has several awesome reef sections, loads of shipwrecks, mangrove islands, sandbars and sponge gardens.
For beginners that want to go snorkeling from a boat, a great place to start is in the Key West National Wildlife Refuge in the sponge gardens. There are a few tour companies that come out here with guests, and they focus on teaching about the ecosystem and wildlife before getting in the water. Once you’re in though, what you’ll see is awesome. The sponge gardens have such a unique mix of wildlife, from schools of fish to spiny lobsters, lionfish to grouper. A lot of stingrays, yellow rays and spotted eagle rays live in the sponge areas, as well as smaller shark varieties. Yes, nurse sharks and bonnethead sharks are a common sight and they’re morning to worry about.
For a little more adventure, but still very easy, you can do a catamaran snorkeling tour to one of the reefs. Snorkeling at Pennekamp is a great start and it’s a good option if you’re just doing your toes into visiting the Florida Keys. Leaving from Big Pine Key or Bahia Honda, Looe Key Reef is a good beginner AND advanced location, as there are some nice structures near the surface making for a simple experience. From Key West the shorter tours that visit Eastern Dry Rocks or Sand Key Reef are really fun and doable even with inexperienced snorkelers.
For advanced snorkeling, I like the longer tours that visit multiple sites or are paired with divers. These give the opportunity for a little free diving or more complex underwater structure to explore. Key Largo’s reefs, Sombrero Reef from Marathon and Key West are all good for this.
Where to Snorkel from Shore in the Keys
I’m not going to sugarcoat it: there aren’t a ton of public places to snorkel from shore in the Florida Keys. Here are the best options though, and each of these does have something very interesting about it that makes it a worthwhile spot to snorkel.
Rowell’s Waterfront Park, Key Largo - former quarry so it’s deep with Rick walls to explore
Harry Harris Beach Park, Tavernier - a paid entry park, on a calm day the rock structures and dock make for interesting snorkeling
Founders Park, Islamorada - paid entry but it’s a big park with a great beach; mangrove, grassy flat and rock structures to check out
Bahia Honda State Park, near Marathon - jetties on both sides of Calusa Beach are awesome for snorkeling
Horseshoe Beach, Bahia Honda - another former quarry, there are shallows and rock structure to investigate
Pine Channel Nature Park, Big Pine Key - part of the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge, this cove was also a quarry and it’s FULL of nudibranchs
Smathers Beach, Key West - when it’s calm there is good snorkeling at the jetties and rounding along the rocks towards Roosevelt Blvd
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, Key West - when it’s calm it’s awesome for snorkeling, but when there are small/medium waves it gets very turbid with poor visibility
That’s about it for snorkeling from shore in the Florida Keys from public access points, but there are lots of hotels and resorts that offer access too. More on that below.
Hotels with Good Snorkeling in the Keys
So how do you pick a hotel in the Florida Keys that has good snorkeling directly from the property? Great question. Here are the things we look for and typically we have great luck with the underwater world accessible from the resort:
Be on the Bay side in the key (North or West)
Confirm that it has a “beach” or “lagoon”
Look at the property photos to see what they show as far as water access
Look on Google maps satellite view to confirm there is a cove, dock or jetty that’s a part of the resort
If you can confirm these things, the resort or hotel likely has good snorkeling. I say to look on the Bay side because it’s more calm and usually doesn’t have a problem with the sargassum seaweed infiltrating the areas you’ll want to swim. It’s not guaranteed because rides bring in all sorts of marine wash, but you have better chances of clear water on the Bay side.
With that, here are our picks for tried and true GOOD snorkeling from the hotel:
Amoray Dive Resort, Key Largo
Bayside Inn, Key Largo
Bakers Cay Resort, Key Largo
Island Bay Resort, Tavernier
Casa Morada, Islamorada
Bayside Villas (Islander Resort), Islamorada
Coral Bay Resort, Islamorada and it’s AMAZING SNORKELING
Lime Tree Bay Resort, Layton
Banana Bay Resort, Marathon
Tranquility Bay Resort, Marathon and they have a great cove
Courtyard Faro Blanco, Marathon
Parmer’s Resort, Big Pine Key
Galleon Resort, Key West
Hyatt Centric, Key West
Pier House, Key West
There are a few others, but these are the ones we’ve snorkeled at or have visited and know they have snorkeling from the property.
Favorite Florida Keys Snorkeling Tours
Of course we have snorkeling tour recommendations for the Florida Keys! Over the years we’ve gotten to both partner with thoughtful tour operators and book our own adventures underwater. I’ve picked what I think are the ten best snorkeling tours in the Florida Keys, and each of them has a booking link (if I have a partnership with them) to make it easy if you’re ready to add a day on the water to your Keys trip.
Key Largo snorkeling tours:
Horizon Divers - they do snorkeling, diving and free diving
Marine Lab - unique marine biologist led near-shore or lagoon snorkeling
Silent World - double reef trip, potential for Christ of the Abyss
Islamorada snorkeling tours:
Morada Mermaid - sandbar & snorkeling, we’ve not done THIS tour but did their Marathon one and loved it
Angelfish Tours - they go out to Alligator Reef Lighthouse
Middle Keys / Lower Keys snorkeling tours:
Starfish Catamaran - forever my favorite snorkeling tour in the Florida Keys
Captain Hook’s - Looe Key Reef is really cool with kids
Key West snorkeling tours:
Honest Eco Tours - kayaking and snorkeling, I love these humans
Sunset Watersports - Rise and Reef tour, going out while the water is most calm
That’s all I wanted to share about snorkeling in the Florida Keys today. It’s truly the most fun we have and each time we go below the surface it’s just a beautiful adventure. If you have any questions or need other recommendations, please let us know by leaving a comment or sending us a note. We love to help other people plan their Keys adventures!