Anne’s Beach

This is a lovely beach that is dog friendly! Our pup had such a fun time playing in the water that runs out shallow for quite a distance. It was our dog’s first time at the ocean and it was the perfect experience for him — shallow, not too many waves, temperate water.
An environmentally friendly boardwalk snakes through the woods and has little huts where groups can bring their picnic gear and then go down to the water. I like that this controls the amount of damage done to the mangroves and also allows for private nooks along the beach. For those who weren’t thrilled about a dog on the beach, they could simply go further down the boardwalk and be totally separated from us.
From a distance the water is that beautiful Florida Keys blue but closer up it’s a bit murky. The sand is very squishy and sometimes a little stinky, probably because the beach runs along mangroves. For those upset about the «comfort» of the sand, remember that this is a beach along an incredible ecosystem and appreciate that the silt is there for a reason. I don’t think the snorkeling was very good because of the silt, but it was fun to watch the kitesurfers and to poke around the mangroves and watch the birds.
This is not the type of beach for lounging in the sun all day, but it was was perfect for a half day trip with a picnic at the end.

I don’t know… I am spoiled when it comes to good beaches. We come from the Boston area where we have a number of amazing beaches within an hour drive in any direction really, we also frequent Puerto Rico which has amazingly beautiful beaches. This was pretty, a nice little walkway, and had huts with picnic benches. The water was lovely. We saw lots of crabs and iguanas. But the sand was like quick sand… I hate that feeling!!! So you couldn’t walk along the surf we had to walk on the walkway, which was really not a long walk at all. I could see how in the heat, you would need a dip and this would work, but this isn’t really where I would pack the family up for the day to hang out on.

Loved this little beach/​state park. There is a old wooden bridge connecting two ends of the beach with multiple nooks of picnic tables along the walkway. If you take any set of stairs down from the walkway to the beach, you are just a few steps away from your own ‘private’ beach. There are multiple little books where you and your party can settle in without having too much disturbance from everyone and everything else around you.
Dog friendly — big bonus for S and me! Our two pups enjoyed their warm dip into the ocean.
Will be back for sure!

Horrible beach! Water is disgusting you can’t do anything no fishing nothing! Waste of time stopping by

The beach is as narrow as it gets, rocky with seaweed if you wade out 2 or 3 feet. Dog friendly, but must be leashed. The beach beauty is elipsed by the loud traffic noises of the road it sits directly on.

For the Keys, I guess this is as good as it gets. Yes there’s a great view, but don’t the other beaches in FL? There’s a cute little walkway with quite a few shaded picnic benches to park it for the day. We laid our towel on the beach, and boy… I couldn’t handle the bouncing bugs, the crab shells everywhere and the seaweed. It’s not South Beach clear water. You must come here with water shoes… I couldn’t even get in the water at all. I asked a local, and yes it hurts to walk in there barefoot. To just lie there? manageable but hard to find a spot. I’d rather stay in South Beach or even Key Biscayne.
The park ranger/​guide was so helpful though to help us find parking (very limited)!

If you are headed to Key West, Marathon, Duck key or any other Key past Islamorada and you get the munchies or need to rest your feet after a long drive this is a great stop. They have really nice and newly improved huts with a picnic table and incredible elevated view to the waterways.
A lot of Kite surfers use this beach since its never too overcrowded and they can feel free to roam without distance limitations. People like to come here for the snorkeling or just recreational swimming. Passing the mangroves the waters are pristine and no rocks just stretches of clean white sandy bottoms.
Its open and it never closes. As it gets darker I do recommend that you bring some light because it gets pretty pretty dark.
We stopped shortly after finishing at Robbie’s and catching some fresh fish, which we cooked right along the shoreline. You cannot have fresher fish than this. Our fish were out of the water and less than fifteen minutes onto our plates.
Highly recommend this spot, very secluded, very relaxing, and very peaceful.

Florida Keys are dog haters, which is sad bc we love to travel with our furkids. We found this place on
, Very cool, low key, little beach enclaves. I can’t wait to go back!

The kids were really anxious to find some sand and we were happy to have found this place. The tide was still up, but we had enough to dig in. You can walk forever… the sand out farther was a little squishier then I like, but you get used to it.
Luckily we went early in the morning and there were spots to park, but there is probably only 12 spots total.
The huts and walkways were great, but very full by 10am.

Natural beauty. Dog friendsly with walking deck trails. Many picnic spots. Has public clean bathroom.
The beach has several clean areas where you can walk into the ocean with out being merky.
Recommend & will return :)

We were staying nearby and were looking for a place that our dog could take a swim. Parking is very limited. You might have to wait for a spot.
If you walk south along the beach, you can find an area that your dog can romp in the water off leash. If well behaved that is. Please be sure to clean up after your pup.
We played with our dog for an hour in the water, she was pooped.

Most beaches in The Keys are «Man Made». This one doesn’t have much sand, but it does have a nice boardwalk, covered picnic areas, good parking.

Current address on Unilocal is incorrect. The address lead u to a private road. And there’s no access.
Look up on google, and use google map, they will lead you to the correct location.
You have to pass Hananas Ocean Front
Then it’ll be on your left side in ½ mile.
Good luck!

Nice and secluded. Not much beach front but still relaxing. The only downside is it was right next to route 1 and a bit noisy. Get there in the morning to grab a good spot and avoid the crowds

This was SO disappointing. Maybe we came at high tide with more clouds than earlier in the day, but this was awful and I can’t imagine getting excited about it even on the sunniest of days. The water was a disgusting brown at the shoreline, there was no beach, there were those spikey plants that dig into your clothes and skin. There were lots if little biting bugs. For a beach that is touted as «secret», the parking lots were full and there was even a tour van parked. Not a secret. Unless you’re just looking for a scenic place to eat food that overlooks the water, do not waste your time here! We wish we had looked at some of the photos closer… Aside from 1 or 2 you can see how nasty the area is :/

Three stars solely on appearance. Impossible to swim. Silty bottom kicks up whenever you walk, and stepping into it pulls you down.
On a positive, it really is a beautiful looking location, with several enclosed picnic tables for eating by the water.

Parking is bad so leave early but it’s so worth it! Loved it!
Make sure you take the walk down –it has far less mud and more sand.

From what I hear, Anne’s Beach might be the bomb as far as public beaches go in the upper Keys (if you know of better options, let me know!). However, from the beaches I’ve been to in South Florida, I was a bit disappointed. It might have been a bad day, but the beach had a strange feel to it. It’s different because there are no waves similar to a lake… I think I was told due to the coral reefs.
The most interesting part was when our group came across a couple going at it in the water. We let the family know that was walking down the path, and they decided to turn around and head back to the car looking for the next beach. We weren’t sure if it was a 5 star beach because of the entertainment or 2 star because of the quality of the beach or 4 stars for a public beach in the upper Keys.

Definitely not what I expected. Maybe I’m just used to the beaches in Fort Lauderdale. There wasn’t any sand and the water was really murky. There was plenty of parking when I visited but I can see it being pretty packed during peak hours.

The water is clear blue, warm, shallow enough to tread through for a good length, but I can imagine the parking can get terrible, and there really isn’t much of a beach either. There’s a pinic/​park type area where you can have a nice quiet lunch. Oh this may be one of the very few non-​tourist trap/​free/​non private beaches in the FL keys.
Bottomline, if you want a beach-​beach, stick to Southbeach.