Bahia Honda

Tom Buhring

Bahia Honda State Park is a treasure to behold. When heading to Key West this is a must stop. Crystal clear waters, sandy beaches, balmy gulf breezes and wonderful sunsets make this one of my most favorite stops Along A1A. You can rent snorkeling gear and kayaks. Make sure to walk over the old railroad bridge that Henry Flagler built. The cost per vehicle is $8. The park is open from 8am til sundown.

Jackie E

Love its shallow waters and its colors! If you go early, you can admire its peaceful sight and find easy parking. On the weekend it is very busy but it is worth it. Definitely, put a lot of sun protection as there is no shade or trees to be under.

Derek Hyland

Beautiful beaches… but there’s a really nice short trail at the North end of the park that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s a short walk with beautiful tropical and subtropical plants and ends at the beach. Take a slow and quiet walk down the beach and keep your eyes on the shallow areas near rocks as many creatures live here: Queen Conch, lots of varieties of crabs and fish, as well as aquatic plant life. This is a gem of a state park and shouldn’t be missed by anyone visiting the Keys.

Stephanie Martinez

Extremely well run and managed. Incredible beaches. We tried out the beach near the marina a couple times on our recent trip- great swimming beach, very shallow water for kids with a very gentle slope to deeper water. It was very popular on a Sunday afternoon but we were able to find parking and a spot to lay our blanket. We returned mid week to a much smaller crowd- soaked up the sun and floated around the same ropes off swimming area after a short hike to the old bridge to look at the view and see both the Atlantic and the gulf sides of the beach. Our third visit was to the very far end of the Atlantic side park access- again, phenomenal beach and IMO a better area to swim if the wind and weather conditions are right. They were for us! Many people were snorkeling and we did see some fish and even a ray skittering across the bottom close to shore. It’s also has gentle fade into deeper water and tons of sandy area to swim and relax. Paddle boards and other boats are permitted in this area so there was much to see and as many beaches- great people watching. It was a bucket list beach for me and it did not disappoint

David Lieu

We visited on a Wednesday in late December 2024 (Christmas Day). They were open. We arrived around 10AM and there were 3 cars waiting in front of us at the gate and plenty of parking in the parking lot by Calusa Beach (facing Florida Bay/to the North). We heard this was the best place to snorkel. They weren't wrong. While we didn't try the other beaches, there were plenty of small fish in the rocks by what I think is a small jetty. Many people were walking on top of it to take pictures but there were enough fish here to keep my kids entertained for the better part of an hour. There were a lot of hermit crabs as well. If you went to the end of the jetty you have to be more carful as it gets pretty deep pretty quick 8-10 ft. Also boats and coming in and out of the marina and not all are following the rules. The Calusa Beach was great with great sand and relatively flat. They have a number of picnic benches with pergolas. Some have seen better days however. There was shade available too with trees. We had a great day here. The water was a little colder than we would've liked but the sun was out. Younger kids didn't stay in water long and mostly played on the beach. We did take a break to head up to the snack bar/gift store/dive shop. At the time of our visit the bay side was closed due tot renovations and you had to walk around to the other. Not a super short walk either. You had to go around the entire construction area. Inside the store they had multiple areas. Entering from the South or street side you have gift store to the left and snack bar to the right and on the other side of the store to the Bay side was the Dive shop where you could book all your excursions. We did not buy anything from the snack shop. The gift store had a number of good items. We ended getting a clearance sarong and a couple of hiking medallions. Sadly they were sold out of pins. At the dive shop area the one cool thing I saw we that they offered prescription googles of all magnifications but they were not cheap. Luckily i had purchased mine from Amazon for like $30 before our trip. Life changer if you wear glasses and want to snorkel. We did also hike the old railroad bridge. It was a very short hike with pretty gradual elevation. No bikes are allowed and the trail is gravel at the beginning which makes it difficult for wheelchairs or some strollers with smaller tires. The bridge itself is concrete and is easier to maneuver at the end. The views were amazing from up there. Totally worth the short hike. The bathrooms were also pretty nice. They had a number of outdoor showers although some worked better than others and access here was all concrete so easier for wheelchairs and strollers. Overall we enjoyed our trip to this park for the first time. We wish we had more time and would definitely come back. There are other hikes we really wanted to do and also explore the other beaches on the ocean side like Loggerhead Beach and Sandspur Beach.