Bahia Honda, is an island in the lower Florida Keys. U.S. 1 crosses the key at approximately mile markers 36-38.5, between Ohio Key and Spanish Harbor Key 12 miles west of Marathon, close to the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge. An award winning beach and historic bridge, Bahia Honda State Park at mile marker 37 in the Florida Keys has become a favorite destination for visitors to the Florida Keys island chain. The park, encompassing over 500 acres and an offshore island offers some of the best snorkeling and beachcombing in Florida.
Once you're in the Keys, U.S. 1 becomes the Overseas Highway, designated with little green mile-marker signs on the side of the highway. They begin just south of Florida City with number 127 and run all the way down to zero in Key West. Locals use them as address references — here's a quick guide:
|
City |
Mile Marker |
Approx. Miles from Miami |
|
Key Largo |
118-90 |
58 |
|
Islamorada |
90-63 |
76 |
|
Marathon |
63-47 |
111 |
|
Big Pine Key |
47-4 |
128 |
|
Key West |
4-0 |
159 |
Bahia Honda State Park does offer cabin rentals and camping but sites fill up rather quickly so book ahead of time. The best camping sites "ocean front" are sites 62-72. Reservations may be made up to 11 months in advance through ReserveAmerica. Book Online or call (800) 326-3521 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) or TDD (888) 433-0287.
Bahia Honda State Park has several great beach locations to photograph. The park is open from 8am till sunset, a coded gate allows campers to gain access during "closed hours." Bahia Honda State Park faces east so sunrise would be the ideal time for taking photos but the gate is closed until 8am. No worries, if you are not staying in the Bahia Honda State Park facilities the unusually clear blue water that surrounds Bahia Honda Key makes for great mid-day photograpy. The key to those clear blue water shots is "high noon" and low tide.
The provided tides table gives an example of suitable days when the tide and "high noon" correlate to similar conditions when this photo was taken. The ideal conditions for photographing "clear water" is when the sun is directly above. Free tide reports can be found under the "Maps and Resources" tab located in the black bar at the top of the screen and will allow you to time low tide with "high noon."
This location requires minimal route
exploration. Select the green
“View Map” tab to view this location on Google maps. Enter your starting point for detailed
driving directions. Download a free copy
of the Four Factors of Filter Highlight Photography in PDF format by selecting
the “ebook download” tab above. This 37 page guide covers how
to take a single image and apply minor manipulations that will help you produce
consistent reproducible results. You will also learn the processes of camera set-up, image
editing, and advance scouting techniques used by professional photographer
Christian James. Free park maps,
tide tables reports, ebooks and additional information can be found under the
Maps and Resource tab located in the black bar at the top of the screen. The best time to photograph this locations is
"high noon." Nikon D3x 14-24mm Lens @
18mm f16@ 1/50 second ISO 50
Exposure Value 0.0 with a 3 Stop (0.9) Soft-Step Spilt ND Filter. 1/6/12 11:43 a.m.
