Bahia Honda is one of the few places you can camp in the Florida Keys. There are four state parks in the Florida Keys that have camping: John Pennekamp in Key Largo, Curry Hammock State Park, Long Key State Park, and Bahia Honda. So, needless to say, they’re usually completely booked months in advance.
So, it came to my surprise when I randomly was searching for campgrounds, and happened to find an open spot the next week! We jumped on the opportunity and reserved right away.
Driving down to Bahia Honda in a camper is both beautiful and a little arduous, since it is a one-lane highway most of the way. However, oh how glorious it is to drive over the Overseas Highway!
And then after several hours of beautiful keys, sleepy beach towns, and seemingly floating highways, you reach Bahia Honda.
It is a small state park situated on a narrow key. You can walk from east to west on the key in about 5-10 minutes depending on where on the key you are.
Campgrounds
The campgrounds are cute and small, with some campsites directly on the water. But pretty much any site at Bahia Honda you’re no more than 50 ft from the water so it’s not a huge issue. The ground of the campsites is composed of sand/shell, as any good beachy campsite should be.
When I was there, half of the campsites had been destroyed by Hurricane….Irma? I think it was? We learned about this on our golf cart tour (see below). This makes it even more of a miracle that we got a campsite at Bahia Honda. Buttonwood Campground was the intact campground, and we were about 30 feet from the water. I could easily stroll down to just spend some time near the sea. And it was a slightly longer stroll to the main building and main beach facing those bridges shown above.
Before I left, I googled “Does Bahia Honda have wifi” and at the time it did, but it was not great and only down at the main building by the marina where there isn’t anywhere to sit inside. And it was May so outside was either too hot in the day or too buggy at night. I ended up using my cell phone as a hotspot in the camper which is what I normally do while camping.
Oh by the way, they also rent boat slips where you can boat camp! What! Of course it’s a BYOB (bring your own boat) kind of situation but that is a bucket list item for sure.
What is there to do at Bahia Honda?
I’m gonna list here kind of unique things – you can of course walk/jog, bike, swim, bird watch, geocache, picnic, and view wildlife, but that’s kind of like, all state parks.
Tour the Island on a golf cart
Yep, I’m for real. They have a little tour that they offer via golf cart. It meets right outside the Sand and Sea Nature Center which is right by the main parking lot. The tour was actually pretty interesting because of the recent unwelcome guest of Hurricane Irma. We were able to go to the entire Northeast side of the island, which was closed due to the destruction of the hurricane. The state park ranger taught us about the grounds of the park, some of the types of trees, and we got to go on the beach in the section that was closed at the time. VIP status.
Visit the Sand and Sea Nature Center
We never quite made it there since it always seemed to be closed when we tried….next time! It doesn’t look super big from the outside (it’s the two-story building on the beach below). I mean, there’s definitely no killer whales housed inside.
The Beach!
Of course, the main attraction of a key is the beach. I was mainly able to go to the beach on the Southwest tip near the bridges. The waters in the Keys are known for being pretty tranquil, and I was able to swim the entire length of the little lagoon (from the buoys to the rocks below). The width of the sand is pretty small and it could get pretty crowded especially on the weekend.
Walk up the abandoned bridge
This bridge used to be a railroad and was used up until the 60s when it was abandoned for the more modern bridge to the northwest seen in the pictures above. You can walk up to the top of this bridge but of course there is a fence at the top since there is a gap in the bridge. It offers a pretty incredible view from the top and the sunsets are incredible.
Snorkeling!
I must admit this was my FAVORITE part of the trip, since I love a good boat ride and I LOVE snorkeling.
You catch the boat right at the little marina beside the beach. It cost around $30 per person and is worth every cent. It is an absolutely incredible 3 hour tour. About an hour or so out to the reef, an hour there, an hour back (approximately). Here is all the info.
The boat ride is beautiful, and the reef they take you to is amazingly beautiful, with vibrant coral and active fish. Plus I had a 5 foot shark swim right near me. Sorry if that scared you, but I didn’t find it intimidating. OK, maybe a little. But the shark seemed peaceful and totally uninterested in the humans.
I don’t have any pictures of this trip since I was too busy enjoying it, but if you have the chance to go and enjoy things like snorkeling, DO IT.
Use it as a launching point for the other keys
Bahia Honda is located about 45 minutes from Key West, and right smack dab in the middle of a bunch of other amazing keys – Big Pine Key, Boot Key, No Name Key… The keys have so much to offer!
Must-do 
Quirky 
Old School 
Good for kids 
Insta-worthy
Bring your money bags 
Worth the trip