Key Largo
Overview
Key Largo is the first and largest of the Florida Keys, running some 50 kilometres south-west from the mainland along the Overseas Highway. It is billed as the diving capital of the world, and that description is accurate in a way that shapes everything about a visit: the attraction here is offshore rather than at the waterline.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, established in 1963 as the first undersea park in the United States, sits at the northern end and protects the reef tract, which lies a few miles out and needs a boat to reach. Dive and snorkel operators work from marinas along the highway, and most visitors spend their time on a boat rather than on sand.
Natural sand beaches are few and small. Harry Harris Park at Tavernier, at the southern end, has a man-made beach with a protected swimming area; non-residents pay a $15 vehicle fee at weekends and on holidays. The state park has small beaches facing the calm water of Key Largo Sound, but anyone arriving expecting a Florida strand should recalibrate. The shoreline here is mangrove, rock and shallow flats.
Our current condition score for this beach is .
Photo summary of last month
Each photograph is published unedited and in date order, and is replaced as newer submissions arrive, so what appears here is the most recent view of the beach rather than a promotional photograph.
Photographs are published unedited and in date order, and they replace themselves as new submissions arrive.
Position relative to the Atlantic sargassum belt
Sargassum carried out of the Caribbean turns north through the Florida Straits in the Florida Current, which passes south of the Keys before becoming the Gulf Stream.
The water is very shallow for a long way out and there is almost no wave energy, so sargassum that reaches the shore can stay there until it is cleared.
Conditions on the reef and at the shoreline are not the same thing, so a report of clear water on the reef says little about the shore.
The sargassum season
Within the season the wind matters more than the calendar, so the dated record is worth checking close to a visit.
The Florida picture in full, including how the season has changed, is set out in our Florida sargassum season guide.
Swimming conditions and safety
The swim here is shallow and calm, with no surf to speak of, over a bottom of sand, seagrass and rock. Water shoes are genuinely useful rather than optional, and grass beds hide urchins.
The real hazards are boats rather than water. This is one of the busiest recreational boating corridors in the United States, with dive boats, fishing craft and channel traffic working constantly. Swim inside marked areas, and if snorkelling from a boat use a dive flag.
Lifeguard cover is limited to a few park beaches during posted hours; most of the shoreline has none.
On sargassum: fresh weed in the water is harmless. The strong sulphurous smell this shoreline can develop comes from thick material decomposing on hot sand and rock over several days and releasing hydrogen sulphide. Where mats have been sitting, walk around them rather than through them, since small stinging organisms live in the weed.
Choosing a hotel on this stretch
Accommodation on Key Largo runs along the Overseas Highway: dive lodges, mid-range hotels, a few resorts with their own small beaches, and vacation rentals on the canals. Almost none of it is on a natural sand beach, because there is very little natural sand beach to be on.
The question to ask a property here is not about the beach but about the water access: whether it has a dock, a swimming area, or a boat ramp, since that is how the Keys are actually used. Properties with their own maintained sand tend to clear it, which matters during the season.
Visitors whose priority is a beach rather than a reef should look at Bahia Honda State Park further down the chain, which has the best natural beach in the Keys.
Access and parking coordinates
Harry Harris County Park (Key Largo)
Harry Harris Park is a Monroe County park in Tavernier, at the south end of Key Largo, with a free on-site lot, a small swimming beach, a boat ramp and ball fields. As a county park it keeps daytime hours, and non-residents may pay a small weekend day-use fee.
50 E Beach Rd, Tavernier, FL 33070, USA
Key Largo is reached by the Overseas Highway from Homestead and Florida City, around an hour from Miami. There is no rail service and public transport is minimal, so a car is effectively necessary.
Check live conditions before you go
The Keys accumulate what arrives rather than passing it on, so conditions here change over days and clear slowly. On the live map we track Key Largo with dated photographs and a current condition score, so you can compare it against Islamorada, Marathon and Key West on the same morning.
See live conditions, photos & cams →