Beach · Overseas Highway
Snorkel a Spanish wreck display just off a compact Keys beach.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Overseas Highway Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Overseas Highway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Overseas Highway audio tourRecorded for this place
John Pennekamp: Aquarium and Cannon Beach“You're coming up on John Pennekamp's visitor center, a useful reef introduction without taking a boat offshore.”
Plays as you drive up to Cannon Beach in the Parkwolf Overseas Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Cannon Beach is one of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park’s two human-made beaches on Largo Sound and its primary snorkeling beach. Choose it for a short swim with a specific underwater target. If you’d rather sit beneath palms, the park points visitors to Far Beach; Cannon is the better fit for snorkeling.
The park places artifacts from a 1715 Spanish shipwreck underwater, about 100 feet offshore, for visitors to view. It does not identify the vessel or give a full inventory, so think of this as a nearshore artifact exhibit. Marine creatures may be found among the seagrasses, and reef fish occasionally pass by. There are no lifeguards; swimming is at your own risk.
From the shore, frame the pale rocks along the water with Largo Sound and the mangroves across it. The artifacts are offshore, so photographing them means snorkeling out with a waterproof camera.
Wildlife
18 sightingsCrocodileMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
255 sightingsAlligatorMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
55 sightingsManateeMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
70 sightingsCommon Bottlenose DolphinMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
51 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
1,120 sightingsKey DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Overseas Highway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyGrove Trail0.6 mi · 20 min · 0.1 mi awayA short hammock walk to a historic fruit grove.
EasyWild Tamarind Trail0.4 mi · 24 min · 0.1 mi awayA short shaded loop through the Keys' tropical hammock.
EasyPort Bougainville Trail2.1 mi · 1.5 hr · 4.1 mi awayA shaded hammock walk that opens onto mangroves and tidal water.
Visitor center · 0.1 mi awayJohn Pennekamp Visitor Center and AquariumA reef introduction on land, with a 30,000-gallon saltwater tank.
Beach · 0.2 mi awayFar BeachPalm shade and a mangrove boardwalk frame this small swimming beach.
Campground · 0.3 mi awayJohn Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park CampgroundA full-hookup base for Key Largo's reef and paddling days.
Campground · 1 mi awayKings Kamp RV Park and MarinaA waterfront base with a marina, small beach and sunset docks.
Campground · 1.1 mi awayKey Largo Kampground & MarinaA waterfront camp with marina access and mangrove routes nearby.
Sight · 2.9 mi awayThe African QueenRide a movie-famous launch through Key Largo's canals.
Restaurant · 3.4 mi awayMrs. Mac’s Kitchen (Original)All-day breakfast and Key lime pie in a quirky Keys diner.
Visitor center · 4.3 mi awayREEF Ocean Exploration CenterA dry-land hunt for more than 100 reef fish.Parkwolf’s Overseas Highway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
