An hour from Miami, Key Largo sits on the only coral reef in the continental US

It’s an hour from Miami

Key Largo sits about 60 miles south of Miami, the first and largest island in the Florida Keys chain.

You drive there on the Overseas Highway, and once you cross onto the island, you’re right alongside the Florida Reef Tract.

It’s the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States and the third-largest barrier reef system in the world. More than 600 species of fish and over 40 types of coral live in these waters.

The diving and snorkeling here built Key Largo’s reputation, but what’s under the surface goes far beyond what most people expect.

Tourists were dynamiting the coral for souvenirs

By the late 1950s, the reef was in trouble. Tourists and collectors hammered, chiseled, and even dynamited coral and marine life to take home as souvenirs.

Dr. Gilbert Voss of the Marine Institute of Miami and Miami Herald editor John D. Pennekamp led the push to stop it.

Pennekamp had already helped establish Everglades National Park and served as the first chairman of the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials.

In spring 1960, President Eisenhower proclaimed the area as the Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve, and Gov. Leroy Collins named the park after Pennekamp for his conservation work.

America’s first undersea park opened in 1963

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park opened in 1963 as the first undersea park in the United States. It covers about 70 nautical square miles of coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove swamps.

The park earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Inside the visitor center, a 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium and six smaller tanks give you a close look at reef life. If you’d rather stay dry, glass-bottom boat tours take you right over the coral.

Guided snorkeling tours run about two and a half hours, with roughly 90 minutes in the water.

Swim with sea turtles at Molasses Reef

Molasses Reef is one of the most popular dive and snorkel sites, with more than 30 spots suited to all skill levels. You don’t need any diving experience to snorkel here, and guided tours welcome beginners.

On calm days, visibility can reach 30 feet or more, so you see the fish, sea turtles, rays, and coral formations clearly from the surface.

The park also rents kayaks and canoes for exploring the mangrove wilderness trails if you want to mix your time between reef and shore.

A bronze Jesus stands 25 feet underwater

About six miles off Key Largo, near Dry Rocks, a 9-foot bronze statue of Jesus Christ sits in about 25 feet of water.

Italian sculptor Guido Galletti cast it from the same mold as the original, which went into the Mediterranean Sea off the Italian Riviera in 1954.

Italian dive equipment manufacturer Egidio Cressi donated the Key Largo version to the Underwater Society of America, which gave it to the park. The statue went in on Aug. 25, 1965.

Its outstretched arms reach to within eight to 10 feet of the surface, so you can see it clearly while snorkeling above.

A 510-foot Navy ship flipped on the way down

Six miles offshore, the USS Spiegel Grove sits on the ocean floor in 60 to 130 feet of water.

The 510-foot retired Navy landing ship dock was sunk on purpose in May 2002 to create an artificial reef, the largest ship ever scuttled for that reason at the time.

But the ship sank early and rolled over hours before the scheduled scuttling. No one got hurt.

Then in July 2005, Hurricane Dennis shifted it upright, exactly the position engineers had originally planned.

The wreck now hosts coral growth and more than 130 species of fish, including Goliath grouper, barracuda, and reef sharks. You need an advanced open water certification to dive it.

Paddle 50 miles of calm mangrove trails

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park has about 50 miles of mangrove wilderness trails you can explore by kayak or canoe.

The waterways are calm and sheltered, lined with mangrove trees that serve as nurseries for juvenile fish. You glide through quiet channels where the roots tangle below the surface and small fish dart in and out.

Sit-on-top kayak and canoe rentals are available right at the park.

It’s a good option for families and anyone who’d rather stay above water while still being part of the reef ecosystem.

A tropical forest saved from condos

On the northern end of Key Largo, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park covers 2,421 acres of West Indian tropical hardwood hammock, one of the largest remaining tracts in the United States.

Developers once planned to build condominiums here, but decades of environmental activism stopped them. The park honors Dagny Johnson, a local activist who led that fight, roughly a year before her death in 2003.

Over six miles of nature trails wind through the forest, many of them paved and wheelchair accessible.

The park shelters 84 protected species, including wild cotton, mahogany mistletoe, the American crocodile, and the Key Largo woodrat.

Walk a boardwalk past hawks, owls, and pelicans

The Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary in nearby Tavernier houses more than 40 non-releasable birds across about 30 species. You walk a boardwalk through natural enclosures and learn each bird’s rescue story along the way.

Hawks, owls, pelicans, and cormorants are all here.

The sanctuary is open daily from sunrise to sunset, and admission is free, though they welcome donations.

The Florida Keys sit along a major migratory bird route between the Caribbean and North America, and Dagny Johnson Park draws birders looking for tropical species like the white-crowned pigeon, mangrove cuckoo, and black-whiskered vireo.

Volunteer to plant endangered coral on the reef

The Coral Restoration Foundation, based right in Key Largo, is the largest coral restoration organization in the world.

Since 2007, it has planted more than 170,000 corals onto the Florida Reef Tract, focusing on endangered elkhorn and staghorn species.

You can actually volunteer for a day as a snorkeler or certified diver to help outplant corals at one of the foundation’s underwater nurseries.

The visitor center runs presentations and educational displays about reef conservation. It’s one of the few places where you can physically help protect the same reef you came to see.

Cruise Key Largo on Bogart’s original steamboat

The original steamboat from the 1951 film “The African Queen,” starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, is docked right in Key Largo.

The boat was built in England in 1912 and spent years on African rivers before it became a movie icon. It eventually made its way to Florida, where restorers brought it back to life.

The vessel now sits on the National Register of Historic Places. You can take a canal cruise aboard it through the calm, mangrove-lined waterways of Port Largo.

Two coasts, two completely different waters

Sunset cruises leave Key Largo with views of dolphins, manatees, and the vivid Florida Keys sky dropping into the water.

Fishing charters run backcountry flats trips in Florida Bay and offshore deep-sea runs in the Atlantic.

On the Gulf of Mexico side, Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder, a nonprofit that opened in 1979, runs educational dolphin encounters in natural seawater lagoons.

Eco tours by boat take you through the shallow waters of Florida Bay, where you spot wading birds, sea turtles, and rays.

The calm bayside and the open Atlantic give you two completely different water experiences from the same island.

Explore Key Largo’s parks and sanctuaries in Florida

You can reach Key Largo in about an hour from Miami by heading south on the Overseas Highway. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park sits at Mile Marker 102.5 and is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset.

Admission runs $8 per vehicle, plus 50 cents per person.

Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park is on County Road 905, near Mile Marker 106, open sunrise to sunset with a $2.50 per person entry fee paid at the honor box.

The Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary in Tavernier, about seven miles southwest, is open sunrise to sunset with free admission.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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