John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

About John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

It covers about 70 nautical square miles and while it offers visitors a unique experience, it is the coral reef and related marine fauna that bring most visitors to the park. Many enjoy the picturesque view from the glass boats with bottom, but visitors can forget the view up close to the reef for diving and snorkeling.

The visitor centre has a 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium and its theatre is used for nature videos.

Canoeing, kayaking and water parks are popular activities and fishing is allowed in designated areas. Visitors can swim and walk on the beach, canoe and kayak in the water park, snorkel and go boating.

Beach wheelchairs are available free of charge, and the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park visitor center has full facilities for youth groups and campsites.

All parks in the state of Florida have committed to providing equal access to all facilities and programs. If you need assistance to participate, please contact the park or your park directly.

The Florida Keys consist of over 200 islands and islets and are home to the only living coral reef formations on the American mainland. Wildlife is possible in the Keys, but also in other parts of the state of Florida and the US Virgin Islands. Dr. Gilbert Voss became aware of this extent of damage to reef structures during a visit to the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in 1990.

A biological conference was held to discuss the conservation of South Florida's natural resources. At the meeting he described reef structures he had discovered during his research on the Keys, as well as a number of other coral reef formations.

Dr Voss then suggested that a more profitable scientific project could be carried out than protecting the area. Tourism has demonized coral structures as souvenirs for visitors, and ruthless sellers have quickly decimated coral reefs, which took thousands of years to form. Some were hammered, chiseled or even blown up to please tourists.

Without reef exploitation restrictions, commercial interests would have been easily wiped out. Dr. Voss successfully recruited conservationists to support his claim that the reef needed to be protected, and eventually his most powerful ally was John Pennekamp, the founder of the Florida Department of Natural Resources. He played a key role in the state commission charged with implementing the Everglades National Park creation and was a member of a civilian advisory team that was reviewed in 1954 and received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). He was the first director of Florida's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The efforts of Dr. Voss and Mr. Pennekamp were critical to the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials designating the reef as a permanent protected area. The road forward was not easy, and the sanctuary's advocates fought hard for the park's approval, successfully resisting commercial interests that wanted to rid the reefs of looting. When the two men joined forces, they used their political influence to organize a coalition of conservationists to launch a project to protect this precious marine resource.

In the spring of 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared Florida's Coral Reef National Marine Sanctuary a national park, and in the spring of 1961, Governor Leroy Collins made a small change.

When the inauguration ceremony took place on December 10, 1960, he renamed America's first underwater park, after the founder of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Governor Collins named the park after John D., or Pennekamp, in recognition of his contributions to conservation and the continued editorial support Penekamp received from the Miami Herald.

The highlight of the park's visitor center is the John D. Pennekamp Aquarium, which houses the largest coral reef aquarium in the world. Visitors can watch the fish eat, swim and swim, and observe coral reefs and other marine life in the background.

There are also six additional aquariums, ranging in size from 100 to 200 gallons, that offer visitors a different view of the park's marine life. The Visitor Centre also displays a variety of natural history exhibits that interpret the different biological communities in the parks. There is a museum with a large collection of photographs and artifacts from around the world, as well as an exhibition on the history of John D. Pennekamp State Park. In this building there is also a theatre where visitors can watch nature videos about the park and its surroundings.

Assisted hearing and hearing aids are available for the auditorium on request, and assisted hearing with hearing aids is available in the auditorium.

There is a well stocked gift shop, and you can buy breakfast and lunch at the bar and snack bar.

Snorkeling and beach equipment are also available, as well as things you might have forgotten at the last minute. The campsites in the park offer a variety of amenities such as picnic areas, picnic tables, showers, toilets, bathrooms, fireplace and much more.

Some places also have picnic tables and barbecues, and some places offer picnics, such as the John Pennekamp Campground, a great place for picnics and barbecues.

The main toilets have ADA-compliant toilets and hot showers, and next to the group campsite there is an ADA-accessible family pool with a pond toilet. The sewage station is located in the middle of the campsite, not far from picnic tables and picnics, but not near the pool. There is a public toilet, a hot shower and a toilet, both located in middle campsites. ADA accessible, the pond toilets at the adjacent - to - group campsites behave like family baths.

A coin operated washing machine and dryer are also located near the main toilets, and pets are allowed (see "pet camping" below).

All campers must register at the entrance of the park, reservations are recommended three to eleven months in advance. Group campsites are available for organized groups of all ages, but require at least one adult to accompany you. The accompanying person must be at least 21 years old, at least two adults and two children under 18 years of age.

Each group campsite can accommodate up to 24 people, toilets and hot showers are available, but there is no electricity on the site. This place needs to be well behaved and a safe place to have a good time with friends, family and other campers.

Organized youth groups can reserve their camp up to 60 days in advance, but group representatives must check in at 5: 00 pm on the day of arrival. For more information about John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, call 305-451-1202 or email reservations @ JohnPennecamp.com.

All rules and regulations of the park apply to all campsites, except those in Coral Reef State Park and all other state parks in Florida.

Swimming is a popular activity at Cannon Beach and Far Beach, and the swimming area is located in a tropical lagoon, which is a good place for young swimmers to enjoy the water. To fully explore all the diving possibilities in the park, we recommend a boat trip to the reef. New divers and divers in need of a refresher will find a great place to improve their knowledge of coral reef diving.

The mangroves and the crystal clear waters surrounding them provide habitat for a wide variety of fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and birds of prey.

Boaters should exercise caution when approaching areas where divers are flying flags, floating bodies or moored boats. Always obtain permission to use a privately owned kayak, canoe or other kayak or canoe before sailing in open water. A good base for kayaking or canoeing in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a private, privately owned kayak or canoe park in the parking lot at the park entrance.

For boaters who do not own a boat, the park concession has a marina where boats can be rented for a day or two-day stay. In the marinas there are moorings and berths for overnight stays. On the banks of the park, where the water is less than four metres deep or offshore, combustion engines are not allowed.

When renting buoys and slides, the parking facilities, including refuse collection and pumps, are fully utilized. The slip is located in the marina and has two berths for overnight stays and one for daily and daily rentals. For more information about the sliprental and the berths on the park shore or at the entrance to the beach, please contact the harbour master of Pennekamp on the numbers 604 - 567 - 4200.

Four different types of boat tours are offered to ensure that all park visitors have the opportunity to experience the park's coral reef system. The Encounter, a wheelchair-friendly snorkeling ship, has access to a variety of coral reefs in John Pennekamp State Park. These tours allow you to get a direct view of the living corals and the related marine fauna. Glass - Excursions and snorkeling on the beach start at least two to three hours, depending on the weather.

The park also has a course that offers a four-hour dive, where divers can experience four hours of diving in two locations with two diving pools. Courses are offered at the John Pennekamp State Park Diving Center in the park parking lot. They offer a variety of diving courses, including a three-day diving course, a two-week dive and a one-month dive.

The park has a very good deep water ramp, located at the marina, which can hold most boats up to a length of 36 feet.

Fishing is permitted in designated areas under Florida State law, but no license to fish saltwater is required. Fishing of any kind in the park, except for commercial or recreational purposes, is prohibited in the park and fishing outside the designated area of Florida State law is not permitted.

Cannon Beach is one of the most popular beaches in John Pennekamp Cannon Beach State Park, where visitors can find a variety of activities including swimming, fishing, kayaking, boating, canoeing and much more. It is a relaxing place to swim or sunbathe and has a number of picnic areas with picnic tables, picnic benches and picnic chairs. Mobi mats spread out on the sandy beach improve access to the water for wheelchair users.

The area is located in a tropical lagoon and offers a view of the various seagrass meadow communities in the park. Besides snorkeling tours in this park, there is an area within the park that is designated for snorkeling. In this area there are natural rocky outcrops that harbor interesting marine life. Swimming in designated bathing areas at John Pennekamp Cannon Beach State Park is prohibited unless a diver with a Down flag is properly displayed.

There is also an early Spanish shipwreck, which is located about 100 meters off the coast, about 1,000 meters from the coast.

There is a designated picnic area in the park, and barbecues are available, but fireplaces are not allowed, so barbecues are not allowed.

The park has 12 gazebos, and reservations for each gazebo are accepted, but only for the first-come service that is served first.

The largest gazebo has eight tables for rent for the day, plus taxes, and the smallest for $1.50 per table for a day of service.

None of the pavilions are equipped with electricity or water, and users of each pavilion must keep the area clean of waste. AA - There are picnic areas accessible throughout the park, but none of them is equipped with electricity and water.

The park has hiking trails, and the Mangrove Trail is a circular route along the waterfront that allows visitors to see the estuary and its mangroves and estuaries, where peace thrives and where it thrives.

The Grove Trail also winds through hardwood hammocks and ends at the Grove, and the observation tower also offers a wide view of this very important ecosystem. A loop along the Wild Tamarind Trail leads through the park's beautiful tropical hardwood forests and hammocks, allowing visitors to admire many of the area's native hardwoods. These cultural resources were reforested by the early pioneers who originally planted them in Key Largo.

Back to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida to learn more about the park and its many attractions.

Nature walks under the guidance of rangers are possible, prior registration is not required, but the rest period must be observed from 23: 00 to 20: 30. All pets must be kept to themselves at all times and not pets that are not tied up or unattended for more than 30 minutes.

Florida law requires that all pets be vaccinated against rabies, and their owners must pick up their pets and return them to the park for vaccination.

Animals that are noisy, dangerous, intimidating or destructive must not stay in the park and must be locked up.

Animals may not be kept on the grounds of the park and any violation of this rule may result in campers being asked to remove the animal from the park or leave the campsite. The John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park 2 campsite is located at the northern end of the John Pneumatic Campground, next to the parking lot.