Anchorage

Boca Chita Key

Shelter: NE, E, S, SE
Seabed: mud
Anchoring: Allowed

Anchorage off Boca Chita Key in Biscayne National Park, Florida, 22 miles south of Miami, with a mud and sand bottom.

Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

The key sits on the western edge of Biscayne Bay. Anchor on sand or mud clear of seagrass and coral, where anchoring is prohibited. The anchorage is open to the NE through SE and to the south; it gives little shelter from the eastern sector.

Practical

A small harbour with a stone basin sits beside the anchorage, with a docking fee paid through the Recreation.gov app. There are restrooms, picnic tables and a primitive campground ashore but no fuel or fresh water.

Ashore

Boca Chita Key Historic District covers 110 acres. A 65-foot coral-rock lighthouse, built in 1938, stands above the harbour, with self-guiding trails leading around the key.

History

Industrialist Mark Honeywell, founder of Honeywell, owned the island from 1937 to 1945 and built the lighthouse and stone structures. The Coast Guard never approved the tower as a navigational aid.