Recommendations? Bill Baggs State Park or Everglades?

Hello! My wife and I are super pumped about our upcoming 8 night southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Vista. We have not told the kids yet and do not plan to tell them until we wake them up the morning we leave. The shock and awe factor should be great. I do plan to video tape it. lol. Anyway, we are flying into Miami two nights early with a room in Miami Beach. I found a great deal on a rental SUV to fit our luggage and be our transportation and wanted to get off the beach this time. I've been thinking of two options and would love to get input if you would be so kind to offer your thoughts?

#1 Get up early on our full day in Miami, grab breakfast on the go and head down to Bill Baggs. Take our time, enjoy the drive and spend some time on the beach and in the park down there. Maybe a late lunch/supper in Key Biscayne on the way back and explore the Bayside Marketplace and Port area. Watch some cruise ships embark and yell and holler and clap at them. Then head back to the hotel (Miami Beach Holiday Inn on the beach).

#2 Get up early on our full day, grab breakfast on the go and head to an Everglades tour/gator park (any recommendations?). Then stop by the Bayside Marketplace and Port area if it works out from where we are at on the map. And head back to the hotel and spend some time at the beach and hotel pool there. Grab lunch and/or supper nearby.

I'm half thinking #2 because we love national parks and this may be our only chance to see the Everglades. We go to lots of beaches on cruises and in Mexico.

Thanks for any suggestions of your own in advance!

Everglades National Park is our favorite place to take visitors BUT ONLY in the dry season (December thru April) when the wildlife congregates around the waterholes. In the wet (late spring thru early fall) season it is hot, humid, and mosquitoes may be the only 'wildlife' you see!

So assuming that this is a dry season cruise, you have two choices of what to visit in the park within an hour/1 1/2hours drive from Miami Beach: Shark Valley or Royal Palm (https://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm). If you chose Shark Valley, make sure you take the tram ride (extra fee) and go up the observation tower. You can rent bikes as an alternative to the tram. There are also airboat rides (extra fee) along the approach to Shark Valley. If you chose Royal Palm, make sure you stop at the Ernest Coe Visitors Center first and either en route to or out of the park stop at Robert Is Here (https://www.robertishere.com/) - a wonderful farm stand with home made milkshakes/smoothies. If you have time after visiting Royal Palm take a very short drive south on Route 1 to the northernmost Key - Key Largo (https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/cities/key-largo.html).

Thanks! We're talking August. :D:D:D:D: P But we can handle the heat. We're from Minnesota so its welcome. Thanks for the suggestions. I think we will do one of those. Also looked at Holiday Everglades Park but that looks a bit more touristy?

Thanks! We're talking August. :D:D:D:D: P But we can handle the heat. We're from Minnesota so its welcome. Thanks for the suggestions. I think we will do one of those. Also looked at Holiday Everglades Park but that looks a bit more touristy?

Holiday Everglades Park is more touristy and isn't part of the National Park but it might be a better choice in August. Another nearby attraction (which we belong to) is Flamingo Gardens (http://www.flamingogardens.org/), a botanical gardens and Everglades wildlife sanctuary. There is lots of shade so that is an inviting alternative on a hot, humid day.

Regarding the heat in the Everglades (actually in all of south Florida in August), even the National Park Service cautions wet season visitors that

I just hope you and the kids aren't disappointed if you see very little wildlife. The first time we took our son and girlfriend to Royal Palm in October they were less than impressed. When they came for another visit a couple of years later in March they couldn't believe the difference. That time we went to Shark Valley and even saw baby alligators - something his Florida born and bred girlfriend had never seen in the wild.

Thanks! We're talking August. :D:D:D:D: P But we can handle the heat. We're from Minnesota so its welcome. Thanks for the suggestions. I think we will do one of those. Also looked at Holiday Everglades Park but that looks a bit more touristy?

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity that is the killer! The Everglades in August will be extremely hot and humid and it’s also rainy season. It’s not the best time of year to see the animals as capriccio pointed out with their excellent advice.

Just have a plan b in place in case it’s not a good day to visit the Everglades.

One of the best places to watch the cruise ships leave is actually down at South Pointe Park.

Thanks. I think we'll likely do the Holiday Everglades Park or Flamingo Gardens then. Or the more I think about it, Bill Baggs and Key Biscayne. Stick with what was the original plan. Spend the morning down there and be back by mid-afternoon to relax on the beach at the hotel. I would even switch hotels to one that isnt on the beach but I arranged this whole thing so I could return the rental car across the street from the hotel the evening before the cruise. That way no need to deal with it in the morning and a quick uber or lyft ride to port. I also got the valet parking package at the Holiday Inn so I won't have to pay for parking there.

Another thought is head a bit west on 41 and take an airboat ride :)

Or head into the Keys. Feed the tarpon at Robbies Marina in Islamorada, do the dolphin/sea lion shows at Theater of the Seas. Many great places to eat in that area.

Thanks. If we're doing the Keys, I'd want to go all the way down to Key West and would pretty much consume the day. But I thought about that earlier. I would wonder if we couldnt stay in a hotel off the beach right by port and return the car to another location close by. I may check into it.

Don't do Holiday Park. Sawgrass Recreation is better and they have a really cool little zoo that is included. Flamingo Gardens is pretty nice as well. We get the annual passes every year as we live nearby. But if you are only visiting for a day, I am not sure I see the point in doing both. And as a visitor, you'll see everything you want and do an airboat ride as Sawgrass Rec.

I'm also going to piggyback on bouhunter. The Keys is an outstanding day trip. The idea that you would need to go all the way to Key West doesn't make sense. Have you been to the Keys before? There is a TON to do in the upper keys for the day and it's a pretty easy day trip where you can be back in the afternoon.

Robbie's tarpon feeding is awesome. Theater of the Sea is great. And John Pennekamp for sure. Rent a kayak or do a snorkel boat tour... you can also snorkel at their little beach. Not sure how old your kids are, though.

Thanks! I am seriously thinking about the keys. Key Largo is only an hour an 15 minutes from the hotel and I may investigate rebooking a hotel closer and cheaper to the port so it may be even better from a timing perspective.

Ok, so my new plan may be cancelling our Miami hotel and booking one in Key Largo. Thought being, our flight lands at 4 pm Thursday afternoon. Pick up the rental car by 5 and be at the hotel and settled by 7. Then be in a good position to explore the keys, maybe even all the way down to Key West on Friday. We've never been. Feeding the Tarpons looks awesome the more I research things. Anyway, I looked at booking the rental car and it is only $20 more than the original plan and the hotel would be less. Saturday morning we would get an early start to return the car in downtown Miami before ubering to the Port. Unless the rental car place shuttle is easier. If we do this, thoughts on anything else we need to see/do in the Keys in our one day? Of course, I'll research more too on my own. THANKS!

Ok, so my new plan may be cancelling our Miami hotel and booking one in Key Largo. Thought being, our flight lands at 4 pm Thursday afternoon. Pick up the rental car by 5 and be at the hotel and settled by 7. Then be in a good position to explore the keys, maybe even all the way down to Key West on Friday. We've never been. Feeding the Tarpons looks awesome the more I research things. Anyway, I looked at booking the rental car and it is only $20 more than the original plan and the hotel would be less. Saturday morning we would get an early start to return the car in downtown Miami before ubering to the Port. Unless the rental car place shuttle is easier. If we do this, thoughts on anything else we need to see/do in the Keys in our one day? Of course, I'll research more too on my own. THANKS!

I will warn you that you will be leaving the airport in the height of rush hour. The traffic will be horrendous and bumper to bumper as you leave the airport and heading south on the turnpike will also have lots of traffic as everyone is heading home.

Yea, just carry your extra patience on that drive at 5pm. Traffic will be horrendous at 5pm. An hour and 15min drive can easily take two and half hours in that traffic.

The keys is a good idea though. Don't like one evening drive scare you. The weather is August is brutal and going anywhere in the Everglades in August sounds terrible. I did it once, never again.

Thanks all. I rebooked the rental car to drop off the morning of the cruise in downtown Miami. And booked the Hampton Inn in Key Largo which has a pool and tiny beach (reviews claim manatees swim by now and then) and free breakfast. I am hoping traffic will be light Saturday early. We'll plan to hit the road no later than 8 am as we have FTTF on Carnival and dont want to wait around to get on board any longer than we have to really. By the time we drop off the rental car and get to port, I'm thinking it will be a little after 10 am.

As for rush hour, totally understand. I've landed at 4 and picked up my rental car at 5 in Boston a few times. Talk about Dante's Inferno. Perhaps we'll find a restuarant on the way for dinner and wait it out a bit too. Like has been said here, patience will be a virtue but still want to go with this plan. Hit Robbie's for sure for feeding and maybe lunch and meander throughout the Keys that Friday. Looking forward to it!

Lazy Days for lunch, then Robbies for shopping and feeding the tarpon. It's a little market, too. Lazy Days has an amazing location, you won't regret it and it's on the way to Robbies.

Thanks!

Without traffic, it usually take me about 1.5 hours to get from the Brickell/downtown Miami area to Key Largo. You should find that's about what it take on an early Saturday morning.

Thanks. Like I noted, we are currently booked at the Hampton Inn. It looks nice, has got good reviews and has a free breakfast, which is nice to get going in the morning. PLMK if you have any other hotel recommendations as well. I looked at Drop Anchor nearby but wasnt sure they really had what we needed logistically. Looks great though. I will have the family moving by 8 at the latest as we have a 9:30 return time for the SUV we're renting. We used SixT. Never used them before but gets good reviews and seemed to be less expensive for what we needed than most places.

One last question. Thoughts about going to Key West for part of the day with my new plan? On one hand, I'm like, you're there, why not get up early Friday, hit the road by 9 at latest, get there before lunch, look around, have lunch, then head back so you are back in Key Largo a few hours before dinner. Hitting Robbies on the way back. Thought being the drive besides Key West would be pretty and a good scouting trip. But on the other hand, I'm thinking, just relaxing and not straying too far from Key Largo and Islamorada would be a nicer experience vs trying to cram it all in this trip.

Clearly you really want to go to Key West, and since you are already in Key Largo, it's not THAT far. I think you should just go. If you skip Key West you will end up regretting it, seemingly. It's totally doable if you want to make the drive and since you don't mind the drive, then why not?

Head out early (I'd say before 9AM). Get to Key West, I think you should do the hop on/off trolley and see everything, get a nice tour which only take 60 - 90 minutes. Then grab lunch on Duval, hang out for a few more hours, then head back before dinner.

Thanks. I drive a lot for work. Two hours each way is not uncommon for work some days. So long as the family doesn't mind getting up that early. Just don't want it to feel rushed. I hate being rushed on vacation. I would have been more proactive about planning for the keys, I would have made it three nights pre-cruise vs two.

But we may not get a chance for a long time to visit the Keys again is my thought and I can force my kids to stand next to the cheesy southern most point marker for a photo. lol. This is a also a rare occurrence for us that we can get a few extra days pre-cruise since my wife is a teacher.

We usually take a spring break cruise if we can (and a Summer road trip to a National Park or something) but spring break this year was church every day as my daugher had first communion and my son is in confirmation training. So we switched the cruise to Summer. We joke that once those are over, church is never stopping spring break again. A few years back, our pastor passive agressively joked about us being gone over Easter week. I told him that they had Easter services on the ship (which they did) and my wife gave me a hard time about it. Why did you tell him that? Now he'll ask for a report? lol

Thanks again!

I don't think you'll be rushed at all if you plan accordingly. Key Largo to Key West is about a 2 - 2.5 hour drive. It's not that bad. I'd leave around 8AM personally, get there around 10:30. Park, walk around and check out the Duval area. Maybe even check out the aquarium. Grab lunch. Then jump on the hop on/off trolley (it's right downtown near aquarium as well). See all the sights. And you would have all afternoon before heading back around 3:00 - 4:00 with a stop at Robbies. You can have dinner at Robbies as well or anywhere else along the way like Lazy Days. Also consider Sunset Grille in Marathon or The Island Fish Company in Marathon, which are both fairly popular and iconic places for waterfront dining (and reasonably priced!).

It'll be a pretty long day but certainly not rushed and you can easily do everything in a single day and be back at the hotel at a decent hour. Really, go for it. Why not?

Thanks. I think we will do that and thanks for the recommendations. I will be researching those tonight!