Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for January 11, 2024. This week’s park was the first undersea park in the United States.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Location
Key Largo, Florida, United States
Claim to fame
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is one of the premier spots for coral reef viewing in the continental US. The park was established in 1963, making it the first undersea park in the United States. It’s 25 miles long and extends 3 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. The park combines with the adjacent Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to protect 178 nautical square miles of coral reefs and coastal mangrove swamps.
While the state park is most known for its coral reef access, it’s also home to an underwater statue, called Christ of the Abyss. Images of the statue, with arms raised to the snorkelers above, have made the park famous. The statue was intended as a memorial to all those who’ve lost their lives at sea.
Reason to visit
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park offers daily glass-bottom boat trips as well as snorkel and scuba-diving boat rides. Park boats will glide visitors through the mangrove swamp and out into the open Atlantic, where they can view stunning and diverse marine life at the site of some of the best-preserved coral reefs in the Florida Keys.
The park also has beaches for lounging and kayaks and canoes for rent. Visitors can paddle through the mangroves or take a short hike through a tropical hardwood hammock. The park protects many diverse and beautiful habitats, and it may take more than one day’s visit to explore them all. John Pennekamp is popular though, so book tickets in advance (especially if you want to camp in its small campground).
Wild Fact
John D. Pennekamp was an editor and columnist for the Miami Herald, as well as an avid environmental conservationist. He was a leading voice promoting the protection of the Everglades, work that led to the creation of Everglades National Park in 1947.
Another passion project for Pennekamp was protecting the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. In the early 1960s he was successful in convincing the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Monuments to set aside land for an underwater park. Today that park bears his name.
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