John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park - Key Largo, Florida

Katy C.

We kayaked through the mangroves and canals with our own kayaks. Easy in and out access. We even saw an osprey nest with a baby in it. They have maps of the area so you don't get lost. Well kept park with lots of amenities. Nice clean showers and bathrooms. Interesting visitor center. We plan on coming back to bring our grandkids for one of their snorkeling tours and to spend time on the beach with them.

Veronica M.

I don’t know about you but I don’t have the extra money to spend on a snorkel tour. But I do have a paddleboard and a commitment to exploring the world. I went out about five miles out from the park to find the coral reefs - if you go out on a board or kayak I highly suggest making the days plan and heading out early with a big bottle of water and plenty of snacks, following a nautical or google maps to find the reefs you want to explore and be prepared for a full 8 hours of exercise. There is amazing wildlife to see up close if you’re on a board and I think it’s definitely worth the workout to experience it up close and personal and without all the extra boat pollution. However just visiting the aquarium at the visitor center and exploring the mangroves or ‘lake’ area is definitely worth visiting- many kid friendly snorkel areas there with lots of wildlife and a couple short trails to walk through.

John K.

We went to kayak the mangroves and had a really great time! It cost ($9) to enter by vehicle and another ($45) for the double kayak for 2 hours. We were able to kayak the whole map in that time. We did make a couple wrong turns, there could be some more signage but no big deal. Make sure to look in the water to discover all types of wildlife. We saw jellyfish, crabs, starfish, stingray as well as corral and fish of course! Staff was friendly and helpful. Highly recommend!

Dawn T.

It was a beautiful place to visit. We went in to the beaches and visitor center. They have camping, snorkeling, glass bottom boat tours and kayak rental. They have all the gear you need to rent. Take your own towel and swim shoes the main beach is rock and crushed coral. The Far beach during our December visit was full of turtle grass but more sand than rock. The mangroves have trails and they have bike paths. Check the website for when they are open.
The visitor center was in English and there were many multi language visitors. You can spend 20mn or more reading and learning about the local reef and shipwreck artifacts.
They have a shower/changing house. They have separate rinsing showers too.

David L.

We visited on a Thursday morning in late December 2024. There was plenty of parking when we arrived around 9:30AM. There were 3 cars in front of us waiting to get in. We drove straight to Cannon Beach and got a pretty nice spot under a tree near the beach.

Cannon beach has great snorkeling if don't have the time or want to pay for the snorkeling tour. We brought all our own snorkeling gear. The trick for us was to snorkel near the rocks on the right hand side of the beach. The water was pretty clear for us as long as you don't kick up a lot of the bottom and messing it up for yourself. The rocks go pretty far out. The best spot was behind the mangrove patch at the further out island. The floor is very rocky so water shoes are also a must. The back side of the mangrove had as many and different variety of fish as we saw in Fort Zachary Taylor and Bahia Honda State Park. Possibly slightly more but that is also weather dependent. It was sunny all day when we were here and kind of overcast and cloudy when we visited the other 2 parks. I still think the snorkeling in Biscayne and Dry Tortugas National park was better. But this was a fraction of the cost.

There was plenty of space on the beach for those who just wanted to lay out and sun bathe. This was a much more natural beach and I don't think they sweep it like many other public beaches but I find that way more interesting as it's teaming with wildlife.

There was plenty of tree shade and shelters at this beach as well at right by the water. When you walk from Cannon Beach over to the bath houses, there is also benches you can sit on and just look out onto the water.

The showers were a bit far away from the beach at the bath houses. The showers are located outside and some shower heads were better than others. They also had changing rooms inside.

We visited the giftshop as well well also had the place to check in for any excursions or tours you may have booked. The store was much bigger than we expected with a number of cool merch.

The Visitor Center aquarium is further up the parking lot and is surprisingly well done. It's great that it's included with your park entrance fee. There were a number of very nice exhibits and also a large theater with a video playing (90 min film).

By the time we left around 11:30 the parking lot was almost full. There were like 8 or 9 cars in line to get in.

Overall if we were in the area of Key Largo or maybe even as far as Miami, I'd consider doing a drive to John Pennekamp State Park just to do some snorkeling. We wanted to also hike a couple of trails but we just didn't have the time as we had a afternoon guided tour at Everglades National Park.

Mandy F.

Small, family friendly beach but rocky surface. They have a mock shipwreck the teens loved exploring. Great for snorkeling.

Billy W.

Had a wonderful time walking the nature trails and the aquarium exhibit was beautiful!! The two beaches, Cannon Beach and Far Beach, were nice but kinda crowded and not a lot of sand to relax on. Overall it was a pleasant experience and would recommend visiting if you are interested in the ocean life and plant life of the Florida Key's.

Linda J.

Only here for 2 weeks. Wish we could stay longer. Sites are small and close. But it's still nice. Picnic table and grill. No firepit. 2 small beaches. Beautiful aquarium in the visitor center. You can rent kayaks and boats. Places to put in your own kayaks. We're only in day 2. So I'm sure I'll add more pictures.