A rarity among national parks, Biscayne National Park is primarily aquatic. Of its 173,000 acres, 95 percent are under water. Teeming with sea life and plants, the park encompasses the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay, the longest stretch of mangrove forest left on Florida's coast, living coral reefs, and 40 of the northernmost Florida Keys. Congress, led by longtime Florida representative Dante Fascell, created Biscayne National Monument (as it was originally called) in 1968 to protect "a rare combination of terrestrial, marine, and amphibious life in a tropical setting of great natural beauty." At the park, getting out on the water is the key to discovering the wonders of the landscape. At the Dante Fascell Visitor Center, visitors can join glass-bottom-boat tours, snorkeling and dive trips, and island excursions, or rent canoes and kayaks. Fishing is excellent, especially for snapper, snook, and barracuda. Patch reefs provide a snorkeler's paradise. In waters less than 10 feet deep, the living coral is home to a variety of sea life, including tropical fish, sponges, and the spiny lobster. Manatees, dolphins, and five species of sea turtle call the waters of Biscayne Bay home, as do moray eels, stingrays, squid, starfish, and hundreds of other varieties of fish.

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