The puffy clouds characteristic of Florida catch the first glints of sunlight for the day. Pelicans wheel overhead on patrol. Water gently laps at my feet. It’s a serene peaceful setting—the kind you hope for in a sunrise.

April 8–9, 2024

The Florida Keys are a long chain of islands off the tip of Florida extending south and westward into the gulf. Biscayne National Park sits on the eastern coast of Florida marking the top of the keys while Dry Tortugas National Park lies 200 miles southwest denoting the end of the keys, so naturally, on my way down to Dry Tortugas, I must pause for a sunrise at Biscayne. Though the rest of the day is reserved for Dry Tortugas, this is my first glimpse of Biscayne.

Parking at Dante Fascell Visitor Center, I stroll Convoy Point and find a short trail leading out to the end of a jetty through a line of red mangroves protruding into the bay—the perfect place to watch sunrise. As I make my way down the pier, the sky lightens to a purple hue. The sun, just moments from rising illuminates the horizon in oranges and pinks. The puffy clouds characteristic of Florida catch the first glints of sunlight for the day. Pelicans wheel overhead on patrol. Water gently laps at my feet. It’s a serene peaceful setting—the kind you hope for in a sunrise.

As the sun climbs higher and higher, I take a few more photos and start back to the car to drive down to Dry Tortugas National Park. I’m definitely coming back here tomorrow before I fly home.

Well, fast-forward 24 hours and I’m back at Dante Fascell Visitor Center for another beautiful sunrise, much like yesterday. The jetty is abuzz with the day’s activities getting underway. Boats from the nearby Homestead Bayfront Marina hum out to sea. The anticipation builds knowing I will be on one of those boats this afternoon to visit the famous Boca Chita Key.

But first, at 9:30 a.m. I check in for a kayak tour in the coastal mangrove forest. It’s really a glorified rental, if I’m honest. Just a chance to putter around the bay close to the visitor center looking for manatees among the mangroves. As I check in, the guide alerts me winds have been strong this morning (something I also noted to myself earlier), almost canceling the kayak tour. Because of these unfavorable conditions, all the other guests on the tour took a refund and did not show up, leaving me alone. Well, I didn’t come all this way for nothing, and I’m always up for a little adventure. I reassure the guide I’m still interested in paddling out on the water.

So after we suit up and launch the boats, the guide and I make our way north toward Mowry Canal. This is supposedly where manatees have been spotted before. However with the present winds, the waters are once again murky and hardly visible. Not much chance of seeing anything swimming around in the bay. This pushes us to spend more time exploring the intricate passageways of the mangrove forest. The guide leads me through channels of water under a canopy of leaves. Confident in my kayak abilities, the guide leaves me to tool around the bay by myself and heads back to the visitor center. Back here, the wind is almost nonexistent and the water is hardly choppy. In fact, I can spy fish below my kayak. A crab scoots by swimming from root to root among the mangroves.

Capturing the essence of the mangroves, I start the paddle journey back to the boat launch. Against the wind, the route is arduous and exhausting. I’m making progress, but little ground. Eventually, I make it back and return the rental. It’s nearly lunchtime with my boat tour to Boca Chita shortly after. I find an open table and pull out my sack lunch watching families enjoy the beachfront.

At 1:30 p.m., I board a small vessel for the “Heritage of Biscayne Cruise” with about six other tourists. We set sail over the bay towards Boca Chita and the ranger gives us a rundown on the history of these islands. Once occupied by homesteaders who earned a living on the keys harvesting limes and produce, these lands now belong to the park to preserve and protect this marine haven for wildlife and recreation.

As we near Boca Chita, I can see the iconic lighthouse standing tall in the water. Although it has become a symbol of the upper keys, it is not a functioning lighthouse. It was built for decorative purposes before the park was established. Today visitors can climb the structure for panoramic views of the bay and surrounding islands. . . well, not today, specifically. Apparently construction on the lighthouse has prohibited access to the top. No problem. The view from the ground is still stunning with it’s white coral masonry and green manicured grass.

A small island trail circumnavigates Boca Chita Key. Taking this, I find a small secluded beach with no one else around. A little slice of paradise just for me. I dunk in the cool Caribbean water and swim for a little bit among the seagrass and coral before returning to the boat for our return journey.

The cruise back to the mainland takes us by way of Sands Key, a larger island dominated by mangroves. The ranger points out a few possible manatee hotspots, but we see nothing in the water. From here, we press on back to the Homestead Bayfront Marina. The salty air dries my face and plasters my hair as the boat speeds along the bay. We pull into the harbor and disembark, thanking the ranger and all agreeing it was a worthwhile tour.

It’s 5:00 p.m. and my flight home leaves in 4 hours. Thinking about it more, it was a bit risky to schedule a flight home after a tour like this, but with plenty of time to make it to the airport, I’m grateful to spend my time this way. Driving the hour back to Miami International Airport, I drop off the rental car and make my way to the gate. Looking back on this past week has me in disbelief at all that I was able to see and do. Catch birds roaming the grasslands, kayak mangrove forest in two parks, fly a seaplane to a remote historic fort, and swim among coral reefs in Biscayne Bay. Florida’s parks have a lot to offer and it has me basking in gratitude at the chance to not just see it, but experience it all.