The campsites are TINY, there is very little foliage between the campsites, and the gravel is vicious. If they were going to rock all the campsites, they could have at least used smaller pea gravel instead of the sharp, rocky crap that POKED A HOLE IN OUR AIR MATTRESS THROUGH THE TENT FLOOR. We had to wear flip flops inside the tent and/or use our sleeping bags as padding to walk on. It's THAT bad. We have bruises on our legs from sitting on the rocks. Ridiculous. There are two group tent areas that were not used the entire time we were there, and they refused to let us move there where the ground was grass/dirt/more humane gravel. If you're in an RV, fine. You'll love it. Now I know why we were one of only 2-3 tent campsites out of 47. It looks more like tailgating than camping. Since the water was rough there were no snorkel or glass bottom boat excursions being booked. Not the parks fault, better to err on the side of caution. The staff was friendly, even when they're being uncooperative. The restrooms, showers, and grounds are all extremely clean. Very dog friendly. The raccoons are abundant and refuse to take "no" for an answer. In the span of time that it took to hike down to the restroom, one of those little masked flea bags managed to steal a bag of cornmeal. They stole my daughter's flip flop and dragged it 15 feet into the woods. The camp has nice equipment for sale and rent, and is located near lots of other stores and restaurants - including an XXX adult store just across the street. Be prepared to explain to your little ones that just because it says "Toys on Sale!" on a banner out front doesn't mean we will be shopping THERE.

We made a reservation and then showed up 2 hours before our scheduled trip on the Encounter. The crew was really friendly and professional - they went through the safety talk quickly but thoroughly. Our trip saw barracudas, sting rays, and puffer fish. 2.5 hours felt like just the right amount of time - we came back when we felt ready to stop and they rang the bell 5-10 minutes later. The boat is really nice, clean with cold drinking water provided and upper deck to take in the view.

Corrective mask rentals are available for those who wear glasses for $5 - the same price as regular mask rentals. They also have snorkels (I recommend at least a semi-dry since the water was choppy on our trip) for purchase and fins for rental.

I booked a plot for one nights camping. Due to a delayed flight i arrived after dark. Fortunately i had phoned ahead for the security code to get into the park outside of business hours.

From that point on, nothing went well.

The code i was given was wrong. It was only that i managed to flag down the final employee leaving that i was able to get in. I wish i hadn't been able to.

I booked the plot to camp in a tent, but that simply wasn't possible. The plot was a completely hard, with nowhere suitable to pitch a tent. I spent half an hour trying to come up with something, but i couldn't get any pegs into the ground. By that stage it was ridiculously late, so i thought i would cut my losses and sleep in my car. I quickly established it was far too humid to do that. My only option left was to sleep on the floor in the shower block. It was as horrific as it sounds.

Even if i had managed to pitch a tent, things wouldn't have been much better. My pitch (13) was next to some sort of small swamp. It meant that there were mosquitos and flies everywhere. The pitch itself was ridiculously close to that of my neighbours and if able to pitch a tent i would have ended up sleeping right next to the sewage pipe from their RV.

I'm sure if you are in an RV, this place is fine. IT IS SIMPLY NOT SUITABLE FOR TENTS. It's an outrage that they advertise it as such.

I left before the office had opened in the morning, and after no response when i tried to phone i sent a series of e-mails and filled out forms online to voice my complaints... I'm still waiting for a response and a refund.

Do yourself a favour. Don't stay here.

If you are in the upper keys and are looking for a place to camp this is a good choice. However the camp spots are a little close to each other. As far as the snorkeling, if you take the tour out its great, if not you'll be wadding in mangroves and grasses and not much else. To truly appreciate this park, you'll have to do some legwork, but it can be great.