Bill Baggs Cape Florida Beach, Key Biscayne

Bill Baggs Cape Florida Beach on the southern tip of Key Biscayne is a picturesque beach. The Cape Florida Lighthouse, sea oats, and the little rock jetty make the beach so pretty! Top that off with gorgeous turquoise water and you have a dreamy place to be! The sand, like all South Florida sand, is kind of rugged and not white in color. There is also plenty of dried seaweed and cigarette butts on the beach. But focus your attention on the sea and the lighthouse and the little waves bouncing in to shore. The people at this beach are different to the usual South Florida crowd. Not too many fat tummies, but instead, groups of teens chatting in a circle on the beach and happy, loving couples romping in the waves. This sets the atmosphere and makes you feel really good while you're here. Kids love to play in the sand at this beach and it makes for nice photos, with the lighthouse in the background- like a storybook!

The drive to Bill Baggs Cape Florida Beach is also lovely. You cross two bridges to get to Key Biscayne, over glorious waters and with views of the modern, glittering Miami skyline. There are so many wonderful glass high-rises, you don't know where to look! Key Biscayne itself also has some pretty cool high-rises, one that looks like a Mexican temple in shape. It also has awesome landscaping with silvery palms and all manner of tropical trees. You pass some upmarket shopping complexes on your way- grab a frozen gelato at Bertoni Gelato Cafe. There are many more nice places to eat in this plaza, including Nahuen Gourmet Market, a great bakery with baguette sandwiches and delicious empanadas, and plenty of shaded seating outside. Nearby there is a French bakery called La Boulangerie Boul'Mich.
There is a huge playground with a space net climbey at Village Green Park, a five minute walk from the cafes- super fun for kids! This park also has nice Christmas lights and a nativity scene.
Next, you come to thick tropical vegetation. They must have had a hard time cutting that back to make the road! It is so wonderful after being in the city! You enter the state park, which costs $8. There is a bike path, plus plenty of picnic tables in shady forested areas, though they are overrun with pushy raccoons (beware of raccoon roundworm).
It's super nice to walk the little paths to the tip of Key Biscayne checking out the blue-green water on the other side, and looking up at the white Cape Florida Lighthouse. What a picturesque place! At 10am and 1pm every day except Tuesday and Wednesday you can climb the 110 steps to the top of the lighthouse and check out the beautiful views! It's easy as far as lighthouse climbs go! The lighthouse is well-kept and not musty, plus there is a cute rebuilt lighthouse keeper's house. 
There is surprisingly little traffic on Key Biscayne, considering it is right near the city of Miami. It looked like a nice place to live to me, with all the teens safely hanging out on the beach and in the shopping plazas. Bike riding and enjoying a laidback vacation would also be great here.

Directions

From Highway 95 or US Hwy 1, take Highway 913 to Key Biscayne and the Rickenbacker Causeway. Follow the road all the way to the end where you pay $8 to enter the state park. There is also a small toll charge at one of the bridges which seems to be by Sunpass or Pay by Plate.
Nahuen Gourmet Market, 260 Crandon Blvd, Key Biscayne FL 33149. Open 8am-9pm.
La Boulangerie, 328 Crandon Blvd, Key Biscayne FL 33149, call (305) 365-5260.

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