Sombrero Beach Park, Marathon, Florida Keys
by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels
Sombrero Beach in Marathon, Florida, may be the quintessential example of a multi-use beach. Am I talking swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing, picnicking, volleyball, barbecuing, and climbing on playground playground equipment? Well, all those things can be done at this beach, but that’s not what I was referring to.
Sombrero is a multi-use beach because humans are not the only ones that use it. Between April and October each year, Loggerhead turtles crawl up onto the beach at night to lay their eggs in the sand. During these months, city workers remove tables and park benches from the beach, nesting areas are roped off, and local officials and volunteers patrol the beach at least once a day to ensure nests are not disturbed. The rest of the year belongs entirely to humans and their canine friends, who are welcome as long as they are leashed (the dogs, not the humans).
With soft white sand, gentle waters, and no crowds, Sombrero Beach is a favorite with locals and visitors.
Tags: florida keys beaches
Categories: Beaches, Marathon, Seaturtle Tags: florida keys beaches
Smathers Beach in Key West Renourished
BY Les Neuhaus Citizen Staff
Fifteen to 30 trucks a day bring in fresh veneer of sand. Smathers Beach is recapturing some of its former good looks with a massive infusion of silicon.Key West city officials say the makeover — “renourishment” in beach-speak — consists of a fresh new veneer of lily-white sand, and has been a long time coming.
Tags: Beach
Heavy equipment staging for the project began on June 7, but it wasn’t until Thursday that crews began spreading 17,500 tons of sand to restore aspects of the popular man-made beach.
Mother Nature is responsible for the beach’s loss of luster, city spokeswoman Alyson Crean said.
“The Smathers Beach renourishment is a project to replenish sand that wears away over the years from storms and erosion,” Crean said. “It’s a $749,000 project with 50 percent grant funding from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The other 50 percent of the cost is split by the city and by a grant from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council (TDC).”
The TDC’s capital improvement fund helps sustain areas and resources that attract tourists to the Keys — such as beaches, she said.
“It’s been over seven years since the last full renourishment,” she said. “In the intervening years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has funded occasional berm repair projects after tropical storms.”
The project will continue through early July, said Janet K. Luce, the on-site inspector for Atkins Global, a London-based global engineering and design consulting firm that recently acquired the Tampa firm PBS&J.
“We provide construction oversight and permit compliance,” Luce said. “We have an environmental-services contract set up with the city of Key West.”
The project is moving west to east along the beach, which will remain open to the public, said Doug Bradshaw, senior project manager for the city’s Engineering Department. “There may be periodic closings of small sections of the beach for safety, but we’re trying to keep everything there operating normally.”
Between 15 and 30 trucks a day are bringing loads of sand to the beach, he said.
Beaches at Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys
by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels
I’d often driven by Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys, but had never stopped. During a recent trip to Key West, determined to rectify that oversight, I carved out a couple of days on the end of my trip, specifically for beach time.
Bahia Honda contains three separate beaches, each of which is completely different from the others. Caloosa Beach is tucked into a gentle cove at the foot of the old Overseas Railway trestle at the southern end of the park. A portion of the old bridge has been maintained as an elevated walkway that offers spectacular views of the beach and inlet. Caloosa is popular with families because restrooms, a snack bar, and ample parking are all located adjacent to the crescent.
At Loggerhead Beach, located in the center of the park, a submerged sandbar emerges at low tide. Sunbathers deposit coolers and perch folding chairs on these exposed sand hills and wade far out into the shallow aqua water to search for shells and sea glass. At low tide, the amazingly clear waters of Loggerhead Beach recede to reveal half a mile or more of sandbar flats.
Tags: florida keys beachesCategories: Bahia Honda Key, Beaches Tags: florida keys beaches