Q: Hi there. My husband and I are avid snorkelers. We have a 2-year-old, however, so a boat trip to a snorkeling area isn't feasible for us. Is there good snorkeling accessible from the beach? We'd like a fairly nice non-polluted beach for our daughter to build fabulous sand castles on while one of her parents enjoys the water. Thanks for the info! -- Linda
A: I understand your concern, Linda. And I appreciate that you and your husband continue to do the activities you love even though you have a young child.
As an "avid snorkeler," you probably want to see a lot of fish and even some coral. A few coral reefs exist quite near Florida's beaches -- check out the Florida coral reef map here. You also may want to visit some artificial reefs along Florida's coastline. And as you know, you'll want to visit the beach at a time when the water is calm and not churned up, which decreases your visibility.
As for a clean beach, I'd suggest just about any state or national beach. Some that come immediately to mind are Canaveral National Seashore in Titusville and New Smyrna Beach, Gulf Islands National Seashore near Pensacola and St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in Port St. Joe. In fact, St. Joseph is listed as the #2 beach in the United States, as named by the famed "Dr. Beach" (Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman of Florida International University). Other top Florida beaches on Dr. Beach's list are Caladesi Island State Park near Dunedin, Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park near Miami, Bahia Honda State Park in the Lower Keys, St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach (near a coral reef close to a beach) and Grayton Beach State Park near Santa Rosa.
Read the current Q&A
Do you have a question? Contact the editor.
