h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nestled among the more travelled and touristy spots in the Florida Keys is an amazingly beautiful state park called Bahia Honda. It is the first key you reach after you cross the seven-mile bridge from Marathon.

Located at Mile Marker 37, Bahia Honda is next to one of the deepest channels of water between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. This makes for excellent swimming, snorkeling, diving and fishing.

As a Florida State Park, maintenance and amenities are top-notch. 80 campsites are available. The equipment you can rent includes boats, dive and snorkel gear, fishing rods, kayaks, bicycles, and even beach chairs. There is a boat ramp.

The shining jewel of Bahia Honda is the beautiful beach. Most of the Keys are coral rocks with stony shorelines, too much development, and too many people. Not so with Bahia Honda. The campsite faces a sandy shored lagoon, on a natural wild Key. This truly is what most people visualize as paradise.

Fees for admission to the park are nominal: the last time I was there it cost fifty cents per person, or $4.00 per car. Camping and equipment rental fees are extremely agreeable as well.

Bear in mind that the weather can quickly turn wicked between August and November, and total evacuation of non-residents is always required when a hurricane is forecast for the Keys area. There is nothing romantic about weathering a hurricane, and the two weeks afterward are often an invitation to go camping without leaving your home. Our last big blow left us without electricity or water for ten days!

If the peace, quiet, and tranquility start to get to you at Bahia Honda, Key West and all of its temptations are only thirty minutes away.