Which is the best area to stay in the Everglades in terms of places with choices of restaurant, bars and diners within walking distance of motel's in the evening and acces to decent airboat (?) rides?
Many thanks
Many thanks
1
Let's start with this:There is no lodging within the park, aside from a couple campgrounds.
There are no restaurants inside the park.
Airboat rides are illegal inside the park, due to environmental damage.
The main gateway city is Homestead. That is about as close as you'll stay without camping.
The second gateway city is xEverglades City. This is mainly for those intending to use a boat, so not likely for you.
2
BN3, you may have some misperceptions about what Everglades National Park is and what it isn't. I suggest you do some homework before your visit. You don't want to arrive expecting one thing only to find something completely different.3
Thanks chaps. I remember going there with my folks when I was a kid & enjoying an airboat trip but you're right, I obviously don't have a clear recall of the park as a whole. I'm just in the process of pencilling out a route for an upcoming trip, a leg of which will take us from Key Largo to Naples. I'd thought of sloting a night in either at east or west side of the park but it may that we'll just be best driving through/round in one day.4
There is only one road that penetrates the interior of Everglades National Park for any distance. That is the road from Homestead to Flamingo. It is a single road. There is one way in and the same way out. You can find airboat rides along the Tamiami Trail between Miami and Naples. The Tamiami Trail, US-41, crosses the area still called "the everglades" but it is outside the national park boundary.5
The drive from Key Largo to the main park entrance is not that long (around an hour or so). The drive from the main park entrance to Shark Valley (the other main area to explore within the park) is also not that long, and finally, the drive along theTamiami Trail from Shark Vally to Naples is only a bit over an hour.The upshot is if you left Key Largo moderately early in the morning you could see pretty much all of both the main areas of Evergaldes National Park and still make it to Naples early that evening for dinner.
Have a fun trip.
6
It's abnormally dry in the western Everglades so water levels could be low.
