Best Time to Visit Biscayne National Park

Pick a month. Best months are in bold.

The best months to visit Biscayne National Park are January, February and December — computed from official NPS visitation (2021–2025 average), NOAA weather normals and daylight. May is the crowd peak (61,658 monthly visits); October is quietest at 59% of peak.

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Best months for fewer crowds

The quietest months at Biscayne, leaving out harsh weather and months when main access is typically closed.

Monthly crowd curve

Average monthly recreation visits, 2021–2025 (NPS Visitor Use Statistics). Amber bar = current month.

Biscayne month by month

Crowds: NPS Visitor Use Statistics, mean of 2021–2025 (2020 excluded as a COVID-19 anomaly). Weather: NOAA 1991–2020 monthly normals, station CAPE FLORIDA, FL US (12 mi from park coordinates). Daylight: computed for the 15th of each month at the park's location. Methodology.

How many people visit Biscayne each year

Biscayne National Park had 486,567 recreation visits in 2025, 5% fewer than 2024 (NPS Visitor Use Statistics). The busiest year since 2015 was 2019, with 708,522. Over 2021–2025 it averaged 595,339 visits a year, which makes it the 28th least-visited of the 63 national parks.

Calendar-year recreation visits as published by NPS Visitor Use Statistics. 2020 is shown here but left out of the monthly averages above, because the COVID-19 pandemic makes it unrepresentative. See how every park compares: all 63 parks ranked by visits.

What to pack for Biscayne in January

Computed from January's weather normals — Biscayne's best month above. Visiting another month? Each month page has its own weather-computed list.

• Packable rain jacket — 2.4″ of precipitation is normal this month
• Sturdy broken-in footwear, navigation and a basic first-aid kit — every park, every month

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Common questions

Biscayne month by month: notes from the park service

• January: January is in Biscayne's dry season. The park describes its winters as normally dry and mild, with an average January high of 77°F and about 1.93 inches of rain for the month.
• February: February is one of the colder months, and the park's FAQ says that is when manatees turn up more often; ask a ranger about recent sightings. Collisions with boats are the leading human-caused threat to manatees, which is why slow speed zones are marked across so much of the Florida coast.
• March: March is the final month of the regular spiny lobster season, which runs from August 6 to March 31. In Biscayne you may only take lobsters east of the islands.
• April: April ends Biscayne's busy season, which the park counts from late November through the end of April. Both campgrounds sit on islands reached only by boat, with no ferry, and neither takes reservations: sites are first come, first served.
• May: May is the last month before hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, and the park expects heavy insect populations through the warmer months. Mosquitoes and no-see-ums (biting midges) live on Elliott Key all year, so repellent belongs in the bag in any month.
• June: Hurricane season starts on June 1 and lasts until November 30, and summer here is hot and humid with scattered thunderstorms in the afternoons. Paddlers can put in at Convoy Point, whose canoe and kayak launch is open daily from 7 AM to 5:30 PM, and snorkeling in the seagrass near shore is allowed, though the reefs are a boat ride of more than ten miles.
• July: July brings lobster mini-season: two days over the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of the month, from 12:00 a.m. Wednesday until 11:59 p.m.
• August: August is the wettest month the park lists, at about 9.17 inches of rain, with an average high of 90°F, and it falls in the middle of hurricane season. The regular spiny lobster season opens on August 6 and runs until March 31, with the same limit of six lobsters per person per day as mini-season.
• September: By September the Elliott Key trails can be overgrown in places, because the park notes that foliage grows all year and fast in the warm, humid climate. There are two: a one-mile loop between the bay and ocean sides that starts at the marina, and Spite Highway, which runs about six miles down the middle of the island through tropical hardwood hammock.
• October: Columbus Day weekend in October used to draw large crowds of boaters to Biscayne, and the park brought in special safety measures for it. Its advice for that weekend still holds: take extra care after dark, when other boats, swimmers and shallow spots are harder to see; hold on to your trash and get rid of it ashore; watch the depth so you do not run aground; and name a designated driver if anyone is drinking.
• November: Hurricane season ends on November 30, and late November opens the busiest part of the year at the visitor center, which lasts until the end of April. Biscayne charges no entrance fee.
• December: December's dry, mild weather suits the guided trips if you have no boat of your own. The Biscayne National Park Institute runs cruises to Boca Chita Key and its lighthouse, sails on the bay, explores Jones Lagoon and snorkels a shipwreck on the Maritime Heritage Trail; it advises booking ahead, by phone at 786-335-3644 or at the park store.

Each month page carries the full note and the NPS page it comes from.

Dive into a month

Comparing parks for the same trip? See how Biscayne ranks against all 63 parks in January, February and December.

Last verified 2026-09-24 · all parks