Some Like it Hot

We had the most interesting beach experience ever while in the Keys.

Let me start by explaining that the Florida Keys are not where you go to have beach time. The same reefs that we snorkeled around protect the Keys from waves, and it's waves that create sand and beautiful beaches.

There are some beaches in the keys, but for the most part they're made of imported sand and are nothing like the beach/sand luxury we enjoy here in North Carolina.

I had read about one natural beach in the Keys, a place called Bajia Honda State Park. It had been voted one of the best beaches in the United States, so I thought it would be a good place to visit on one of our free days.

The drive down to Bajia Honda was long — even farther than the church. One of our favorite sights was seeing this tree growing on one of the old bridges.

Another fascinating sight was seeing a small island that was accessed only by one of the old bridges. What an interesting place to live!

The kids all enjoyed driving over the 7 mile bridge, and I enjoyed looking at the beautiful water.

When we got to Bajia Honda we were not really impressed by the beach. It was pretty narrow, and there was a little dune of what almost looked like pine needles washed up everywhere. There were also plenty of ants, mosquitoes, and no-see-ums. I tend not to spend much time sitting on beaches, though, so I decided to reserve judgement until I checked out the water.

This is where I realized that Bajia Honda was definitely not like any other beach we'd visited.

First of all, the water was very shallow. I think that 200 yards from the shore it was still not more than waist deep. There were some annoying rocks right as we walked in to the water, but after that the bottom was covered with lovely white sand for about 100 yards.

We assume that it was the combination of shallow water + white sand bottom + hot Florida sun that produced the most unexpected characteristic of Bajia Honda.

The water was hot.

You read it right. The water was hot.

I'm a real fan of oceans, and spend as much time in them as possible. My experiences have included the California ocean (cold but bearable in short doses), the Hawaiian ocean in February (chilly even with a wet suit jacket) and lots of time in the North Carolina ocean. Here in NC in the summer the ocean is great. Possibly a bit cool on the skin when you get in, but after that just the perfect temperature.

The water at Bajia Honda was warm when you walked in, and as you walked and it touched your skin, it was downright hot. It was one of the strangest things I've ever experienced.

Everyone was disconcerted at first by the hot, shallow, waveless ocean. We are very good at ocean play, but this was not like any ocean experience we've ever had. It was much more like a shallow very hot swimming pool, now that I think about it!

Some of the older kids decided that they didn't like Bajia Honda (or the pine needle things floating in the water from time to time) and part of our group left fairly soon.

Russ & I and our kids just hung out. We snorkeled a bit in the areas with sea grass and saw some really small fish. We floated on our backs, practiced handstands, and ate granola bars.

And we had a lovely afternoon.

But we were sure glad that we were there in the late afternoon and not in the middle of the day when it was any hotter!

On the way home we watched the sun get lower and lower. Happily we found a nice roadside park just before the sun set and Russ parked so that I could take some pictures.

One of the interesting things about being so close to the equator (either in the Keys or in Hawaii) is that the sun seems to set so much faster. In the last minute before it drops before the horizon you can actually see it descending.

Ironically, the sky was much prettier about 15 minutes after the sunset, after we were driving again. Russ was very patient as I reached my camera across him trying to capture a picture of the sunset that we were driving away from.

I think no one feels the need to go back to Bajia Honda State Park again, though we may long for that hot water next winter when we're freezing cold. But it was an interesting adventure, and any time we have fun together it's a good day in my book!