Boca Chita Key
Miami, FL
Boca Chita Key sits inside Biscayne National Park, a small island reachable by a 45 minute boat trip from the mainland, with a decorative 1938 lighthouse and a protected lagoon beach that's calm enough for an easy swim. The lighthouse was never a real navigational aid, built by a wealthy industrialist as a private landmark, but it's since become the island's signature feature.
A real lighthouse and a genuinely calm, protected swimming lagoon make it a distinctive stop inside Biscayne National Park, though needing a boat and often a scheduled tour limits how spontaneous a visit can be.
How we score beachesBook through the Biscayne National Park Institute's guided boat tours if you don't have your own vessel, they run select weekends with departures around 10:30am and 1:45pm. Leave pets at home entirely, they aren't allowed anywhere on the island, even aboard a boat docked there.
There's no vehicle access. Guided boat tours from the Dante Fascell Visitor Center run on select days, or arrive by private boat, which requires no separate fee beyond the park's general entrance.
The dock leads onto flat paved paths around the small island, including up to the lighthouse. The beach and lagoon are a short, easy walk from the dock.
Pets aren't allowed anywhere on Boca Chita Key, including aboard boats docked there, a stricter rule than most of the rest of the park.
Winter and spring bring the calmest boat crossings and the mildest walking weather on an island with little shade. Summer heat and hurricane season, June through November, make the trip out rougher, with more unpredictable boat schedules.
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