Swimming beaches are in short supply in general throughout the keys for the general public. This one was the most spacious and had real sand as well. There was a fair amount of stinky seaweed. Waves were gentle. We found parking across the street that was free.

A nice enough beach. Umbrella and 2 chairs $50 for all day. Calm, shallow, great place to swim but no place to buy food anywhere nearby that we noticed. Bathrooms were clean!

Pretty beach...not very many people...but we were there during the week. So maybe busier on the weekends. Winds were high during our time in Key West...so there was a lot of seaweed in the water, but otherwise a beautiful quiet place to spend a day in the sun.

Quick beach walk in the morning just to dip my feet in the beautiful water before headed out. Quite the tropical paradise of a beach. They do sell a variety of items to make your beach day all you need. For me, just the water and the showers were perfect. Warm beautiful soft waves, palm trees, and sunshine gave me the perfect hour of walking along the shore. Was not very crowded while I was there. Also the parking situation seems a bit confusing because of the construction on the road out front. I don't think there was a sign making the beach, other than my GPS marking the spot I may have missed it. This is the biggest of Key West's four beaches and very enjoyable. Great place to bring a cooler and stay for the day! I do have a blog featuring things to do when in the Florida Keys, as I've been there so many times. I do enjoy some of the good spots and have some itinerary suggestions in my site, which can be found in my profile.

Gorgeous clear water - minimal waves - bring water shoes to navigate any seaweed areas. Not crowded ! Margaritaville Beach House Resort is directly across. Great place to stay !

While staying for a week in Key West our condo was within walking distdistance of Smathers Beach so we came by and used several times. My family and I enjoyed hanging out here as it was a very relaxing environment and was not over crowded at all. The only negative was seeing homeless people sleeping on the beach about every 30-40 yards but there wasn’t any issues when we were there (but be careful just in case); no lifeguards are on duty but there really isn’t a need since the water is so shallow; worth visiting if you are staying nearby.

Beautiful beach, but recommend going early in the day before the seaweed washes ashore. Many reviewers recommended this beach based on the food availability, but we did not see any food trucks the whole week we were there. Bring water shoes as the ocean floor is very rocky. Unable to see the sunrise or sunset from the beach at this time of year

Good public beach and there were seaweeds at the time we visited which makes it a little unpleasant. Not many people on the beach(I guess it depends on the time of the day). Fresh water showers are available to use. Umbrella available for a charge and we did not have to pay for parking.