Palmetto Bay Life

posted by Jeanne on Jan 17

One of my favorites places is Biscayne Bay. As you drive onto Key Biscayne you will first need to pay a toll of $1.50 to get onto the key. There is no toll exiting Key Biscayne.

Before driving over the bridge, there is a place to the right where you can pull off and park. Here you can rent water toys such as wind surf boards. There are also food vendors and such.

On the left hand side is another place you can pull off which you can reach as you exit the key. However, the beach area is really gross with moss, seaweed and lots of rocks. There are a lot of pine trees in this area instead of palm trees. You do have a great view of Miami from this side. It’s like a New England state park, but with seaweed – an interesting contrast to the pull offs on the right side.

After crossing the bridge, there is another set of pull offs on the right hand side. One of them is in the process of being completely redone. The other is probably going to be fixed up once the other one is done.

I like going here to sit near the water in the sun next to a palm tree.  It  appeals to me.  I can pull my car up near a plam tree and near the ocean.  I pull out my chair, sunscreen, a good book and can sit for hours.  It’s really very convenient – just pull your car into one of the “slots” created by palm trees.

My youngest daughter likes going to poke around in the water, look for shells, use her metal detector, play in the water and meet new friends. She found a bunch of hermit crabs which I made her put back. She thought she was going to bring home some new pets!

As you can see in my picture, there can be a lot of cars and people so if you are looking for a really quiet spot to sit, this may not be it unless the weather is fairly cool. People bring their barbeque grills, children, dogs and spend the day here. There is roughly 15 feet or so of space for each spot.

At this particular pull off there are a couple of food and drink vendors including an ice cream truck. Their prices tend to be very high and you would do well by planning ahead a little bit by bringing your own food and drinks. Glass bottles are not allowed on the beach. There are plenty of trash cans available to throw your trash away.

So, you get a small bit of beach to spend time on with a palm tree for some shade. You can go swimming, windsurfing, shell hunting, or just sit and soak up some Florida sun – all for a small $1.50 toll.  Not a bad deal for a lazy afternoon.