John Pennekamp State Park

Key Largo, Florida

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The first underwater park in the United States, Pennekamp encompasses 70 nautical square miles boasting underwater snorkeling and scuba diving trails where visitors can view the coral reefs and their marine life. A glass bottom boat adventure is also available. Or, canoe or kayak a 2.5 mile marked mangrove wilderness; both may be rented. A gift shop, counter and snack bar offer breakfast and lunch. This is a full camping facility with 47 sites for both tent and RV campers with electricity. Day showers are available. The highlight of the park is the Visitor Center with a 30,000 gallon saltwater aquarium. The theater offers nature videos and natural history exhibits.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is essential right now. Follow the advice of the health experts. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Heading to the beach should only be considered an option if social distancing practices can be followed. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter the efforts to curb the virus’ spread.

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization public resource on COVID-19.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on October 13th, 2020. The Swim Guide - Florida updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on October 16th, 2020 at 11:48 AM.

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Current Weather

29°C

Mostly clear

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) adopted new water quality criteria January 2016 for the Healthy Beaches program. They reflect the most current recommendations and water quality grant requirements in the 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Monroe County beaches are monitored by the Florida Healthy Beaches Program. Monitoring results are collected bi-weekly on Tuesday and results are posted to the Florida Healthy beaches website on Thursday. Samples are collected year round, however the peak season is from March to November. Swim Guide checks for the latest information daily, Monday - Friday.

The Florida Healthy Beaches Program Categories are:

Good = 0-35 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water;
Moderate = 36-70 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water, and;
Poor = 71 or greater Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water.

The 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria recommends using 70 CFU per 100 mL as the Beach Action Value (BAV) to guide public health advisories. A Single Sample Maximum (SSM) at 70 CFU per 100 ml and a BAV are functionally the same. If the sample result is above the indicated value, the beach is resampled and tested the following day or a beach advisory is issued with the first test result. The Healthy Beaches program no longer uses geometric means to represent recreational water quality data.

On Swim Guide a beach is marked Green when it has a Good or Moderate standing meaning the SSM test results show Enterococci counts between 0- 70 cfu (colony forming units) / 100ml.
Swim Guide marks a beach Red when it has a Poor standing. This means the SSM test results show Enterococci counts exceeds the BAV of 70 cfu/100ml. These conservative advisories better inform vulnerable people (children, elderly, and the immunocompromised) who have elevated health risks due to water quality at the beach.
A beach is marked Grey when no current or reliable monitoring information is available.

Please note: Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, also called flesh eating disease, is a naturally occurring bacteria in some of Florida's waters. This bacteria can be lethal, especially when contracted by individuals with compromised immune systems. Concentrations of the bacteria are higher in the mouths of rivers near oceans. The bacteria is most dangerous when ingested in raw seafood but recent deaths are attributed to individuals who have waded in water with broken skin. Beach goers are urged to use caution and consult a physician if you suspect you have come in contact with the bacteria.

Water Quality Graph