Biscayne National Park Visitor Guide for Miami

Biscayne National Park charges no entrance fee, and its Dante Fascell Visitor Center at Convoy Point is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (NPS hours page).

The rest of the schedule depends on where a visitor goes. The Convoy Point grounds, including the canoe and kayak launch and the greenspace, are open 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, the navigable waters are open 24 hours a day, and Adams Key is open from 9 a.m. until official sunset (NPS). The park has no entrance fees (NPS fees page); the fees it lists are for docking and camping at Boca Chita Key and Elliott Key.

Day Use Docking at Boca Chita and Elliott Keys costs $25.00 on Fridays through Mondays and federal holidays, and Overnight Camping and Docking costs $60.00 per night, which covers up to two tents and six people (NPS fees page). Payment goes through the Recreation.gov app, which has to be downloaded before reaching the island; QR codes are posted at the harbor kiosks on both keys, and fees are due on arrival or by official sunset (NPS).

Holders of the America the Beautiful Senior Pass receive a 50% discount on fees for Boca Chita Key and Elliott Key (NPS camping page). Because entry is free, the Dante Fascell Visitor Center sells only the 4th grade, Access and U.S. military passes; Senior or Annual passes are not available at the park, and the NPS points buyers to Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve or Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (NPS). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the National Park Service website.

The Dante Fascell Visitor Center sits at the east end of SW 328th Street in Homestead, reached from Florida's Turnpike exit 6 or from US 1 (NPS directions).

The NPS gives the street address as 9700 SW 328th Street, Sir Lancelot Jones Way, Homestead, FL 33033 (NPS). From the north, the directions say: from the Florida Turnpike take exit 6 (Speedway Boulevard), turn left and continue south to SW 328th Street, also signed North Canal Drive, then turn left and drive four miles to the end of the road (NPS). Drivers on US 1 instead turn onto SW 137th Avenue (Speedway Boulevard) and continue south for five miles to SW 328th Street. From the south, the route turns from US 1 onto SW 344th Street (Palm Drive) and curves north near the Homestead Speedway before reaching SW 328th Street (NPS).

The landmark to watch for is the marina: the park entrance is on the left just before the entrance to Homestead Bayfront Marina (NPS). Next door is Homestead Bayfront Park, a Miami-Dade County park whose Herbert Hoover Marina sits at Convoy Point beside the Biscayne National Park headquarters, with its own gate fee of $5 per car on weekdays and $7 on weekends and holidays, a Bus/RV rate of $15 a day, and an atoll pool open sunrise to sunset (Miami-Dade County Parks). The NPS places the national park entrance on the left just before the marina entrance, and the park charges no entrance fee (NPS fees page).

The Biscayne National Park phone line is 786-335-3620 (NPS). The NPS FAQ says the park is near Miami and that snorkeling in the seagrasses close to shore is possible, but the coral reefs are over ten miles from the mainland by boat (NPS FAQ).

Without a private boat, the islands and reefs are reached on guided trips run by the Biscayne National Park Institute or by other operators the NPS lists as authorized to operate in the park (NPS guided tours page).

The NPS describes the Institute's trips as snorkeling at a Maritime Heritage Trail wreck and on coral reefs, cruises to Boca Chita Key and its lighthouse, sailing on Biscayne Bay and paddling in Jones Lagoon. Trips may be booked online, by calling 786-335-3644 or at the park store, and advance reservations are advised (NPS).

The Institute's own site lists departures from Dinner Key Marina 3400 Pan American Dr, Miami, FL 33133, in Coconut Grove, and from the Dante Fascell Visitor Center (Biscayne National Park Institute). Its listed prices, as of October 15, 2026, include a four hour Boca Chita Key Heritage Cruise from Coconut Grove at $83 that also passes Stiltsville, a 3.5 hour snorkel trip from Homestead from $115, a Jones Lagoon Eco-Paddle at $109 and a 1.5 hour Kayak the Mangroves outing at $39 (Institute site).

The NPS also lists other businesses authorized to operate in Biscayne National Park, among them sightseeing boat tours in the Stiltsville area, snorkeling and scuba charters, fishing guides and two kiteboarding outfits (NPS guided tours page). The NPS gives each listed operator's phone number on that page.

Camping in Biscayne National Park happens only on Boca Chita Key and Elliott Key, both reached by boat alone, with no reservations and $60 a night per site (NPS camping page).

Boca Chita Key is the park's most popular island, with a grassy camping area, picnic tables, grills and toilets but no showers, sinks or drinking water. The harbor entrance at low tide is approximately four feet (NPS). Pets, with the exception of service animals, are not allowed on Boca Chita Key, including on boats docked there (NPS).

Elliott Key, the park's largest island, has restrooms with sinks and cold water showers and drinking water, though the NPS advises bringing water in case the system goes down. Its harbor is about 2.5 feet deep at low tide, and there are 33 boat slips in the marina (NPS). Leashed pets are allowed in developed areas of Elliott Key. One trail runs across the entire seven miles of Elliott Key (fourteen miles round trip), and a one mile loop crosses between the bay and ocean sides from the marina (NPS).

On Boca Chita Key and Elliott Key, camping is limited to fourteen consecutive days or no more than thirty days within a calendar year, quiet hours run 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., ground fires are not permitted and there is no trash pickup, so everything is packed out (NPS camping page). Slips and campsites on both keys are first come, first served (NPS fees page).

Fishing in Biscayne National Park follows Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules, with some limits stricter inside the park and a lobster sanctuary in Biscayne Bay and Card Sound (NPS fishing page).

A valid Florida fishing license is required with limited exceptions, and children under 16 years of age do not require a license. Extra permits or tags are needed for shore-based shark fishing, reef fishing from a private vessel, and targeting snook, spiny lobster or tarpon (NPS). The taking of lobster is prohibited in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary, which includes the creeks between the islands and along the mainland, and cast netting is prohibited along the Convoy Point jetty and foot bridge (NPS).

Biscayne National Park covers more than 250 square miles of water, and personal watercraft are prohibited, including jet skis and waverunners (NPS boating page). The NPS names NOAA chart 11451 for park waters, asks boaters to use mooring buoys, obey slow speed zones and never anchor on coral, and gives the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline, (888) 404-3922, for reporting a strike on a manatee, sea turtle, dolphin or smalltooth sawfish (NPS). The NPS FAQ adds that manatees are more common in Biscayne National Park during the colder months (NPS FAQ).

Biscayne National Park's best known history sits on the water: the stilt houses of Stiltsville and a Maritime Heritage Trail of six mapped wrecks plus the Fowey Rocks Lighthouse (NPS Maritime Heritage Trail).

Stiltsville began in the 1930s with the first shack on stilts above the shallow seagrass, and at its peak in 1960 there were 27 structures on the flats (NPS Stiltsville page). The State of Florida deeded the bottom land to the federal government in 1985 as part of the park, and in 1992 Hurricane Andrew left only seven buildings standing. A 2003 agreement created the Stiltsville Trust to rehabilitate them; public access to the structures is by permit only, through the Trust (NPS).

On the Maritime Heritage Trail, access to every site is by boat only (NPS). The Fowey Rocks Lighthouse, built in 1878 and known as the Eye of Miami, is good for snorkeling around its base, but the structure is closed to the public. The Lugano, which sank in 1913, lies 25 feet underwater on Long Reef, and the Erl King, Alicia and Lugano suit scuba divers, while the Mandalay, a steel-hulled schooner lost in 1966, is the wreck the NPS singles out as an unparalleled opportunity for snorkelers (NPS). On land, the lighthouse on Boca Chita Key was built by Mark Honeywell in the late 1930s (NPS history page).

Several official Biscayne National Park pages carry old update dates, and the park line listed on them is 786-335-3620 (NPS hours page).

For Biscayne National Park, the NPS operating hours page still shows a last update of April 28, 2021, and the directions page March 24, 2021, while the fees page was updated September 18, 2026 (NPS hours; NPS directions; NPS fees). The newest visitor numbers on the park statistics page are from 2019: 709 thousand visitors who spent over $46 million in nearby communities and supported over 600 local jobs (NPS park statistics).

Phone numbers differ too. The NPS guided tours page gives 786-335-3644 for the Biscayne National Park Institute (NPS), while the Institute's own site lists (786) 465-4058 (Institute site). At the county marina next door, the Homestead Bayfront Park page lists a trailer launch fee of $17 on weekdays and $24 on weekends in one place and $20 and $30 in another, with boat ramps open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Miami-Dade County Parks). The same page lists park office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and marina office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Miami-Dade County Parks).