Jones Lagoon

Jones Lagoon is a shallow, mangrove-fringed lagoon in Biscayne National Park’s island waters, known for paddling through clear, inches-deep water and watching the life below. Keep it on your list if you want a close-up water experience; skip it if you only have time for roadside stops. There’s no drive-up visit: the lagoon is reached by water, and motorized vessels are barred from the lagoon itself.

A guided outing leaves from Convoy Point, combines a boat transfer with a paddle through the shallows, and supplies paddleboards or double kayaks and life vests. It’s a half-day commitment. Wind and current can make the paddle strenuous. For an independent trip, plan the route carefully; the park describes the channels and lagoons south of Caesar Creek as waters for experienced paddlers. No food service or shore facilities are listed at the lagoon, so bring water and anything else you need before heading out.

The lagoon is closed to all motorized vessels. Small islands where waterbirds nest, plus the surrounding water within 300 feet, are closed to public use. Keep the full buffer even if an island looks empty; you’ll see plenty from the water without disturbing the nesting sites.

The lagoon is known for rays, upside-down jellyfish, schools of fish and wading birds. The water is so shallow that a low view from a paddleboard can reveal movement beneath the surface as well as the mangrove edge. That close look at the lagoon’s living shallows is the reason to make the trip.

Frame the clear water over its sandy bottom with the mangroves behind it, or watch for rays and fish from water level. A paddleboard’s low profile gives you a better look beneath the surface. Don’t paddle toward the nesting islands for a closer shot; those islands and their 300-foot buffer are closed.

Jones Lagoon is separate from the Jones Family Historic District on Porgy and Totten Keys, the former home and farm of Israel Lafayette Jones and his family. They grew pineapples and key limes there. Jones bought Porgy Key in 1897 for $300 and Totten Key in 1911 for $1 an acre. It’s an interesting piece of the park’s island history, but the historic homesite is a different stop from the lagoon.