Anne's Beach

Anne's Beach carries the name of Anne Eaton, a local environmentalist who lived on nearby Lower Matecumbe Key and became one of the most determined voices against the overdevelopment of the Keys. She campaigned to protect the islands' fragile shoreline and helped raise the funds that turned this stretch of beach into a public county park rather than another private development. She lived here until her death in 1992, and the beach was dedicated in her honor.

That history gives the place a quiet meaning. In a region where waterfront is endlessly valuable and endlessly built upon, a free public beach preserved by one person's stubborn conservation work is a small monument to a different vision of the Keys, one that left room for mangroves, wading birds, and anyone who wanted to stop and enjoy the water without paying for the privilege.

The water at Anne's Beach is its signature. The Atlantic side of the Keys here is a broad, shallow flat, so the sea stays warm, clear, and knee-deep for a remarkable distance offshore. It is a paradise for small children, for wading and looking for small fish and crabs, and for simply standing in the water on a hot afternoon. Water shoes help, since the bottom is a mix of sand and turtle grass.

Connecting the beach's two ends is a raised boardwalk about a quarter mile long that curves through a thick stand of red mangroves. Six shaded pavilions with picnic tables line the walk, giving families a cool place to eat and rest between dips, and openings in the mangroves frame views out over the flats. It is a short, level, stroller-friendly walk that makes the mangrove ecosystem accessible to everyone.

Like much of the Keys, Anne's Beach took a hard hit from Hurricane Irma in 2017, which tore up the boardwalk, the parking lots, and the restrooms. Rather than let the park fade, the community rebuilt it over the following years, funding a new accessible boardwalk and refreshed facilities so the beach came back better than it had been before.

That effort matters because it kept a free public beach free and open. The rebuilt boardwalk is designed to be wheelchair and stroller accessible, extending the beach's welcome to visitors who could not easily reach it before, and the whole small park stands as proof that the local commitment Anne Eaton started has outlived her.

Anne's Beach lies right on the Overseas Highway near mile marker 73.5, at the south end of Upper Matecumbe Key in Islamorada, an easy pull-off whether you are driving down to Key West or up toward the mainland. There is no entrance fee. Two small parking lots, one at each end of the boardwalk, connect via the mangrove walk, and they fill fast on weekends and holidays, so plan an early or midweek visit.

Come prepared to be self-sufficient. The park has restrooms but no lifeguards, no rentals, and no food, so pack water, sunscreen, shade, and anything you want to eat at the picnic pavilions. It is best treated as a relaxed hour or two, a swim for the kids, a walk through the mangroves, and a picnic in the shade, rather than a full beach-club day, and that simplicity is exactly its charm.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.