Trip Advice: Everglades & Miami

nczoofan

nczoofan

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Originally I was planning to spend my winter break in Israel, yet I felt as if my trip there would be rushed and wanted to avoid the colder months. Therefore I pushed that trip off to summer 2019. Instead I am planning on doing a smaller trip around Christmas time. I looked into flights and hotel rooms, and Miami really came in at a great price for this time of year. It also happens to be next to the Everglades which is a wildlife nerds paradise.

I plan to spend about 4 or 5 days in South Florida and will have a rental car the entire time. I do not want this to be a zoo trip. My focus is mainly nature and wildlife, so seeing the different ecosystems and species that are unique to Southern Florida. I plan on doing Zoo Miami as my only zoo as of now, yet if their is another high quality zoo/aquarium with unique species in the area I would not be opposed.

Mainly I would like advice on what to do in the Everglades. I imagine several members have been, yet this is my first time visiting. I would also not mind advice regarding what cultural institutions are the best in the city and what areas are best to visit. Thank you.
 
One word of warning about driving in Miami - some of the freeways have tolls. You can buy a toll pass from your rental car company, or do what I did and plan routes ahead of time that avoid toll roads.

About four summers ago I did a week in the area. There are two entrances/sections to Everglades National Park and they do not connect. The northern section, where I spent most of my time, is along Highway 41 (aka Alligator Alley). There is one part that is technically Everglades National Park, a section called Shark Valley, but continue on the highway and you are surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve which is where I explored and more scenic and forested than the somewhat barren Shark Valley. In Shark Valley, you cannot drive the loop - you park and then take their tram (or rent a bike at the visitor center). I stayed several nights in Everglades City, at the west end of Big Cypress and a good base for exploring.

You are wise to visit in winter when lots of birds migrate in. I visited in summer and saw a lot less, though still had good sightings (red shouldered hawks were fairly common and of course alligators).

The southern/main section of Everglades National Park is accessed by driving south out of Miami and going through Homestead/Florida City (where I spent one night). This section is better than Shark Valley and ends at Flamingo Visitor Center near the ocean. I saw both manatees and American crocodiles right from the boat dock. I also did the boat tour up the river which was interesting and provided good views of crocodile and alligator and osprey. This is one of the only places in the world where American alligator and American crocodile can be seen in the same waterway. Apparently there is a lake nearby with flamingos, but I did not have time to explore it.
 
I did the Everglades trip that you are doing in January 2015. I agree with everything that AZD is saying. I would recommend visiting the main Everglades visitor center in the middle of the park to orient yourself and see what programs and talks are going on. Nearby the main visitor center is the Anhinga Trail, which is the showcase trail of the park. There are huge alligators that you pass by within a few feet of as you walk down the trail. The rangers and docents assure you that it is safe, but it is freaky - and thrilling to see them close up. There is a boardwalk system that takes you over the waterways on the Anhinga Trail so you can see alligators swimming. There are anhingas, herons, and other waterfowl all over the place there.

Flamingo at the southern end of the park is a must also as AZD noted. If you go to the visitor's center they can tell you where the canal in the nearby marina is to see American crocodiles. There are also manatees in the marina. One of them came right to the edge of the marina dock so I was about 18 inches from it. I swear it looked up at me like a huge dog that wanted to be scritched. There are warning signs all over saying that there is a $5000 fine for touching the wildlife, so DON'T SCRITCH THE MANATEE, no matter how much it implores you to do so. I highly recommend the boat ride through the canal and out into the mangroves. It is the only place on Earth where you can see alligators and manatees together. We saw all of the mangrove tree species and Atlantic dolphins too.

The Big Cypress Preserve is very much worth seeing. The cypress swamp is iconic swamp from textbooks and movies. I'd recommend visiting their visitor center as there is a canal outside it with fantastic alligator viewing. There is a nearby boardwalk trail through the cypress forest that was fantastic where we saw a wood stork and several other water bird species and alligators.

You will be near the Florida Keys. We are not divers, so took the glass-bottomed boat tour of the coral reef at John Pennekamp State Park. It was really good. Saw many species of coral and tropical fish, including barracudas.
Glassbottom Boat Tours | John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park
There is a small aquarium in the park that is worth seeing.

The only zoo I visited on that trip was Zoo Miami on our last day before we flew home. It is a very good zoo, and very big! I reviewed the zoo here: Zoo Miami - Put Me In The Zoo: Zoo Miami Review
 
There is a third entrance into Everglades Nat'l Park past the Redlands and an area the local birders call "Sparrow Fields". Tropical Audubon's website is a great way to plan your trip. Birding Locations - Tropical Audubon Society

Well worth the trip down to Key Largo or as far as Marathon to get the Black-whiskered Vireo or White-crowned Pigeon.

Maybe worth driving up to Palm Beach county to try your luck with Florida Scrub Jay. If you do go that far, check out Butterfly World in Coconut Creek.

In the winter, there may be tours available for the Nike Missile Base in the Everglades.

Key Biscayne is also a great place to check out for wildlife. The old remains of Crandon Park Zoo are interesting to walk around too. At the tip of the island in Bill Baggs State Park you can see Stiltsville.

Zoo-wise, I would also check out the new Frost Museum of Science. Their aquarium exhibits are supposed to be quite unique.

Top things to do in Miami:

Vizcaya Museum
any Cuban Restaurant or bakery
Fairchild Botanic Garden (if you like interesting plants)
Get a milkshake and try the honey at "Robert is Here"
Wolfsonian FIU art museum

Keep an eye on eBird close to your trip to get an idea of what Caribbean vagrants might be around.
 
Arizona Docent said:
One word of warning about driving in Miami - some of the freeways have tolls. You can buy a toll pass from your rental car company, or do what I did and plan routes ahead of time that avoid toll roads.

About four summers ago I did a week in the area. There are two entrances/sections to Everglades National Park and they do not connect. The northern section, where I spent most of my time, is along Highway 41 (aka Alligator Alley). There is one part that is technically Everglades National Park, a section called Shark Valley, but continue on the highway and you are surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve which is where I explored and more scenic and forested than the somewhat barren Shark Valley. In Shark Valley, you cannot drive the loop - you park and then take their tram (or rent a bike at the visitor center). I stayed several nights in Everglades City, at the west end of Big Cypress and a good base for exploring.

You are wise to visit in winter when lots of birds migrate in. I visited in summer and saw a lot less, though still had good sightings (red shouldered hawks were fairly common and of course alligators).

The southern/main section of Everglades National Park is accessed by driving south out of Miami and going through Homestead/Florida City (where I spent one night). This section is better than Shark Valley and ends at Flamingo Visitor Center near the ocean. I saw both manatees and American crocodiles right from the boat dock. I also did the boat tour up the river which was interesting and provided good views of crocodile and alligator and osprey. This is one of the only places in the world where American alligator and American crocodile can be seen in the same waterway. Apparently there is a lake nearby with flamingos, but I did not have time to explore it.
Click to expand...

The bird migration is one of the big reasons for visiting in winter for me, plus the warm weather compared to the rest of the nation. I plan on spending at least a day doing shark valley/big cypress. Shark valley sounds very touristy, yet it seems to have some really nice birds during the winter months. I also will be spending probably a day or two in the main section. Wishing to see manatees and American croc's. Need to look more into the small population of flamingo on ebird to see if they are their in December.

DavidBrown said:
I did the Everglades trip that you are doing in January 2015. I agree with everything that AZD is saying. I would recommend visiting the main Everglades visitor center in the middle of the park to orient yourself and see what programs and talks are going on. Nearby the main visitor center is the Anhinga Trail, which is the showcase trail of the park. There are huge alligators that you pass by within a few feet of as you walk down the trail. The rangers and docents assure you that it is safe, but it is freaky - and thrilling to see them close up. There is a boardwalk system that takes you over the waterways on the Anhinga Trail so you can see alligators swimming. There are anhingas, herons, and other waterfowl all over the place there.

Flamingo at the southern end of the park is a must also as AZD noted. If you go to the visitor's center they can tell you where the canal in the nearby marina is to see American crocodiles. There are also manatees in the marina. One of them came right to the edge of the marina dock so I was about 18 inches from it. I swear it looked up at me like a huge dog that wanted to be scritched. There are warning signs all over saying that there is a $5000 fine for touching the wildlife, so DON'T SCRITCH THE MANATEE, no matter how much it implores you to do so. I highly recommend the boat ride through the canal and out into the mangroves. It is the only place on Earth where you can see alligators and manatees together. We saw all of the mangrove tree species and Atlantic dolphins too.

The Big Cypress Preserve is very much worth seeing. The cypress swamp is iconic swamp from textbooks and movies. I'd recommend visiting their visitor center as there is a canal outside it with fantastic alligator viewing. There is a nearby boardwalk trail through the cypress forest that was fantastic where we saw a wood stork and several other water bird species and alligators.

You will be near the Florida Keys. We are not divers, so took the glass-bottomed boat tour of the coral reef at John Pennekamp State Park. It was really good. Saw many species of coral and tropical fish, including barracudas.
Glassbottom Boat Tours | John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park
There is a small aquarium in the park that is worth seeing.

The only zoo I visited on that trip was Zoo Miami on our last day before we flew home. It is a very good zoo, and very big! I reviewed the zoo here: Zoo Miami - Put Me In The Zoo: Zoo Miami Review
Click to expand...

Anhinga trail seems like a good starter to the park from what I have heard. Growing up going to the Bronx Zoo I was lucky to see the only anhinga in captivity (I think), so seeing wild ones would be great. I will also make sure not to touch a manatee, can't afford that fine :D The boat ride through mangroves sound amazing, as I have never seen a mangrove forest.

I don't know if I will make it to the keys this time around, as I only will have a few days. But that glass-bottomed boat sounds rather enticing. Zoo Miami appears to be a great zoo, having great collections of hoofstock and asian birds (two of my favorite kinds of animals).

gerenuk said:
There is a third entrance into Everglades Nat'l Park past the Redlands and an area the local birders call "Sparrow Fields". Tropical Audubon's website is a great way to plan your trip. Birding Locations - Tropical Audubon Society

Well worth the trip down to Key Largo or as far as Marathon to get the Black-whiskered Vireo or White-crowned Pigeon.

Maybe worth driving up to Palm Beach county to try your luck with Florida Scrub Jay. If you do go that far, check out Butterfly World in Coconut Creek.

In the winter, there may be tours available for the Nike Missile Base in the Everglades.

Key Biscayne is also a great place to check out for wildlife. The old remains of Crandon Park Zoo are interesting to walk around too. At the tip of the island in Bill Baggs State Park you can see Stiltsville.

Zoo-wise, I would also check out the new Frost Museum of Science. Their aquarium exhibits are supposed to be quite unique.

Top things to do in Miami:

Vizcaya Museum
any Cuban Restaurant or bakery
Fairchild Botanic Garden (if you like interesting plants)
Get a milkshake and try the honey at "Robert is Here"
Wolfsonian FIU art museum

Keep an eye on eBird close to your trip to get an idea of what Caribbean vagrants might be around.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. All those attractions seem cool, especially the botanic garden. As a bit of a plant nerd, I might need to make a stop there. eBird has been great in beginning to plan this trip. Using the maps to find spots where I have the best luck to see the most unique species. Will keep looking at it for rarer species.
 
nczoofan said:
Thanks for the suggestions. All those attractions seem cool, especially the botanic garden. As a bit of a plant nerd, I might need to make a stop there. eBird has been great in beginning to plan this trip. Using the maps to find spots where I have the best luck to see the most unique species. Will keep looking at it for rarer species.
Click to expand...

There are some nature trails along the main road through the Everglades that focus on the plant communities. Highly recommended if you like plants. They should be able to point them out for you at the visitor's center.
 
DavidBrown said:
There are some nature trails along the main road through the Everglades that focus on the plant communities. Highly recommended if you like plants. They should be able to point them out for you at the visitor's center.
Click to expand...

Will check that out. I would to hit up the major plant communities of the everglades. :D
 
Speaking of plants, on the boat tour upriver from Flamingo Visitor Center, the guide pointed out a manchaneel (spelling?) plant which is the most toxic plant in the world. If you touch the leaves you will get tumors on your skin. The park service removed them from the hiking trails to protect visitors.

You may or may not be interested in Flamingo Gardens in Miami, which has a large tropical plant collection as well as some native wildlife exhibits (including an excellent Florida panther exhibit).
 
Arizona Docent said:
Speaking of plants, on the boat tour upriver from Flamingo Visitor Center, the guide pointed out a manchaneel (spelling?) plant which is the most toxic plant in the world. If you touch the leaves you will get tumors on your skin. The park service removed them from the hiking trails to protect visitors.

You may or may not be interested in Flamingo Gardens in Miami, which has a large tropical plant collection as well as some native wildlife exhibits (including an excellent Florida panther exhibit).
Click to expand...

I looked into that boat tour and it appears to have been suspended due to the 2017 hurricanes :( I want to get up close with the mangroves so potentially I will find an alternative tour to do. Yet I have heard about Manchineel and its insane. Definitely good that it was removed from trails, given the dangers.

Definitely will see if I have time for flamingo gardens, as seeing a Florida panther is a goal (Obviously a captive one, as finding a wild one is like finding a needle in a haystack). Zoo Miami has at least one as well.
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