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Click for more info and Photos of John Pennekamp State Park

John Pennekamp (John Penny to Floridians I'm told.) is the first undersea park in the United States. It is made up of coral reefs, sea grass beds and mangrove swamps. Of course that is the water part of it. There is also a beach and walkways, which I will get into later. The Park extends 3 miles into the Atlantic Ocean and is about 25 miles long. This is a preserved area and the only living coral reef in the continental United States!

John Penny Coral Reef State Park is located in Key Largo at mile marker 102.5. (All of the keys are marked by mile markers.) They can be reached at 305-451-1202.

We were told to give ourselves some extra time because there is often a wait at the gate to get in. I timed it and it took no longer than 10 minutes. This was the end of December on a Sunday.

The park is open year-round from 8:00 a.m.- dusk. The Visitor Center is open until 5:00 p.m. This doesn't include the campground, which, of course doesn't close at 5:00 p.m.

There is plenty of free parking. In fact the parking lot is huge.

What is there to do?

There is so much to do at this park. We spent an entire day here and if the weather had been warmer I would have gone back. The first thing you will want to do is go to the Visitor Center where you will find a wonderful display of sea creatures. It is a mini aquarium really and there are explanations for everything you see. There is a 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium as well as a theater where you will want to watch the short video (15 minutes) about the Park.

You can spend very little money and sit on one of the beaches here. I was not impressed, in general, with the beaches in the upper keys, so I was delighted to find real sand (or crushed up coral actually).

The main swimming area is called Cannon Beach where you will find calm water, picnic tables and the Main Concession area. The Main Concession area is where you will get tickets for tours.

Although you can snorkel here we were told that there is not much to see except remnants of an early Spanish shipwreck 100 feet offshore. What you will see is a lot of sea grass. There are barbecue pits here and a food and gift concession shop which offered things like hot dogs, ice cream and fries.

In spite of signs everywhere to not feed any animals, I did stop a little boy from feeding the birds his French fries and later in the day I stopped another boy from hitting coconuts off the trees while his mother stood and watched him. To me the statement "All plant and animal life is protected in State Parks. Do not remove, deface, mutilate or molest any natural or cultural resources or park facilities." is fairly easy to understand. In fact there is a $100 fine for these acts.

Another beach, which is much smaller, is called Far Beach. It isn't really far and there are very nice wooden walkways throughout the Park. You'll want to walk around there even if you aren't going into the water at Far Beach. Since these walkways are so easy to maneuver, they are wheelchair accessible. There are several rest rooms and I found them to be adequate.

There is a terrific playground, which can be reached via one of these walkways. Truly this is a wonderful Park for children and adults as well.

I must admit I wimped out. The snorkeling at John Pennekamp is supposed to be fantastic because you are taken out to the living, shallow-water coral reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary which is adjacent to the Park and combined with it make up about 178 nautical miles of coral and marine life. There are 2 1/2-hour snorkeling tours.

We camped in the Keys and perhaps part of the reason I didn't snorkel was because I didn't have my equipment with me. In addition, the temperature was in the low 70s, the water temperature was 71 degrees and it is suggested that you wear a wet suit if the water is less than 78 degrees, which I didn't want to do. In addition (Perhaps justifying my decision to go on the glass bottom boat.) I find it very hard to snorkel when the water is so shallow and touching anything will cost me $100.

So the day before we made reservations on the Spirit of Pennekamp, their high speed, air-conditioned catamaran. It leaves 3 times a day for 2 ½ hours. The cost is $18.00 for adults and $10.00 for children. You do want to make reservations for whatever you choose to do. This Park is very, very popular and was crowded. All the tours were full, but this was school vacation week so take that under consideration. There were snacks and soda on board. I did take a Dramamine, which they sell on board and I would suggest it if you are at all prone to seasickness.

My husband and I were very surprised with how much we enjoyed the glass bottom boat. The boat takes 45 minutes to get to this "underwater garden." It is really spectacular. Once we got to the area, one of the crew members talked about everything we were seeing and we could all see very well. There is plenty of viewing space on 2 sides of the boat. The children get preferential seating, but we were right behind them, able to see clearly. We were very lucky. The water was crystal clear and the marine life was active. We saw 2 stingray and I know people swim with them -we were supposed to on a cruise but the water was too cloudy- but these are not "tame" stingray. They are in their native home and are beautiful to watch, as are all the other fish, many of which I had seen while snorkeling but if you haven't you will really be in for a treat. We spotted a couple of barracuda as well. The coral is gorgeous and it is hard to understand that it is living. Coral is made up of tiny animals so it is really important to realize that you can't touch or stand on coral if you are snorkeling or diving.

The captain spends an hour in this 1-mile area. What is nice is that the crew talks with him if we see something and he can go back over the area easily. It is easier to cover more ground and see the stingrays, for example, than perhaps if we were snorkeling over the coral.

Other things to do:

~You can as I said rent snorkeling equipment for the beach area.
~You can rent a canoe or kayak for $10.00 per hour for the canoe trail.
~You can rent boats, which vary in price
~You can go on a sailing tour.
~You can go on a scuba tour. In fact you can take the "Resort Course" will begin at 9:00 a.m. and be diving at 2:00 p.m. with 2 instructor escorted dives. If you do scuba or snorkel you will see what is the famous (so I hear) 9-foot bronze statue, Christ of the Deep. We didn't see this on our trip.
~You can get PADI certified taking 3-4 days.

Make sure you get to any of these tours an hour before they are set to leave. If you are not there within 15 minutes of departure time, they will give your reservation away.

~You can fish but saltwater fishing licenses are required.
~You can camp. There is a 47-site campground off to the side of the Park for both tents and RV campers. We didn't even attempt to camp there because pets are not allowed anywhere in this State Park. You should make reservations but you can't make them more than 11 months in advance. I would definitely camp there if I didn't have a dog.

You should have sunscreen with you, a cap, a camera (waterproof if you are going on the water), bring your own food if you can. The food at the concession isn't that unreasonably priced $1.50 for a frozen ice cream, but there isn't a lot of variety. Don't forget water even if it isn't a hot day and a sweatshirt or windbreaker if you go out on the boat.

My final thoughts:

This is a beautiful State Park and one that shouldn't be missed if you are anywhere in the area or even if you have to drive an hour. It is worth it and you will spend the whole day with a lot to do and see. It is great for children, the water is very safe and the underwater life is truly beautiful.

"Original article can be found at www.epinions.com/use-jo.com"