by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels
I’d often driven by Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys, but had never stopped. During a recent trip to Key West, determined to rectify that oversight, I carved out a couple of days on the end of my trip, specifically for beach time.
Caloosa Beach at Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Bahia Honda contains three separate beaches, each of which is completely different from the others. Caloosa Beach is tucked into a gentle cove at the foot of the old Overseas Railway trestle at the southern end of the park. A portion of the old bridge has been maintained as an elevated walkway that offers spectacular views of the beach and inlet. Caloosa is popular with families because restrooms, a snack bar, and ample parking are all located adjacent to the crescent.
At low tide, the amazingly clear waters of Loggerhead Beach recede to reveal half a mile or more of sandbar flats
At Loggerhead Beach, located in the center of the park, a submerged sandbar emerges at low tide. Sunbathers deposit coolers and perch folding chairs on these exposed sand hills and wade far out into the shallow aqua water to search for shells and sea glass.
A young mother contemplates the loveliness of Sandspur Beach
I was impressed by both Caloosa and Loggerhead beaches, but when I drove up to Sandspur Beach on the northern end of the park, I was stunned. Sandspur is achingly beautiful, with pure white sand that ran through my fingers like powdered sugar and crystal clear turquoise waters stretching to the horizon. Sea oats and razor-sharp grasses atop low dunes swayed in the gentle breezes and puffy white clouds scudded across the sky. I cannot imagine a more exquisite beach. Sandspur is, hands down, the most beautiful beach in the world. Who knew I would find it right in my own backyard!
Stunning, achingly beautiful Sandspur Beach at Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Bahia Honda State Park is located on the southern tip of Big Pine Key. A limited number of camping sites are available in the park, although reservations must be made months in advance. Most visitors choose to stay in one of the numerous hotels or motels in nearby Marathon.
Photos courtesy of Barbara Weibel
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11 Responses
I looked at your pics from May 09 before I left for my Florida vacation. I made a special point to carve out some time for Bahia Honda beach, largely from your wonderful pictures and descriptions.
BIG MISTAKE! When we went (Aug 09) the beaches in this park were covered in the smelliest, nastiest seaweed you can ever imagine! My family and I spent about 30 minutes in the park before the smell started to make us sick. I am glad that we were close enough to Miami so that we were able to change plans and drive to a really beautiful beach. I look at the pics that you took and compare them to the ones I took in the park and I gotta laugh. WOW what a difference!
We are staying in Key Largo should we not go to Bahia Honda?
Bahia Honda State Park/Sandspur Bech is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been! Your’re so close..it’s worth the drive! I’ve never sene any stinky seaweed there. As a matter of fact, I’ve never seen seaweed there period, but I’ve never been in the summer either. I’m thinking maybe it’s a combination of more rain and lower tides? Big Pine Key is probably the nicest of the keys. Just call and ask if they have any stinky seaweed!!
I was there the third week of April 2010 and found it beautiful. We will be back. As a note to S Miller. I’d chill at Bahia Honda with stinky dead seaweed any day before I’d venture my butt to Miami Beach. Just me, just sayin!
Anyone recommend somewhere nice to stay in Bahia Honda please?
OK, so we stayed in Miami beach for a week and I convinced my girl lets drive to the keys….We are beach experts (in my opinion), have been to Greece, St. Barts, Hawaii, Fiji, Bora Bora, etc….
+ positives of Bahia Honda:
Sandspur beach is the nicest in the park
Water is warmer than Miami
Water is calmer than Miami
usually less wind
More intimate tropical beach feel , palm tree lined..
Negatives:
No drinks/beer/alcohol margaritas served (unless you carry it in in and are discrete)
Some sea weed.
All in all I loved it, my wife didn’t….
Some sea weed..
I think it is probably the best beach in keys….
We went there, then went to South Beach in Key west, clear water if you swim past the pier, soft sand, lounge chairs, drinks, little music, etc…
ALL OF BAHIA HONDA is my favorite beach(s) and I have been all over Florida ….. LOTSSSSSS……as an FYI … the e coli bacteria count in the sand at Miami beach is STAGGERING…lolol… and the view of all the big cruise ships dumping bilge really doesn’t do it for me… bring on the sea weed and this GORGEOUS NATURAL BEACH….
Just so you know I am from summerland key and all the sand on the beaches in the keys like that is imported in, its not natural “key’s” sand. They put it there on big dump trucks every so offtin the real sand there is actually all shells and its hard on your feet.
I will be going to the keys in March with my family and love snorkeling and was wondering where around here or anywhere in the keys is good?
On Fathers Day, we went to Loggerhead and Sandspur beach at Bahia Honda State Park. It would have been beautiful if we would have been able to see the sand underneath all that stinky sea grass. Yuck! I will never go there again. There was no place to play frisbee and hardly anywhere to sit. I feel so deceived that I traveled all this way to see these beautiful beaches, and all I found was a stinky beach.
Went to Bahaia Honda once after a hurricane and found floating raft of feces ringed with dead fish about 30-50 ft. wide and 200-300 yards long…stinky and gross