Bill Baggs Beach, Miami

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park occupies the southern tip of Key Biscayne, and it is the most natural beach experience within easy reach of Miami. Instead of towers and bars, you get a long, pale, woodland backed beach, the historic Cape Florida Lighthouse standing over the cape, nature trails through restored pine and palm, and the quiet inlet of No Name Harbor on the bay side. The water on the sheltered sides is often calmer and clearer than the open city beaches, and the whole park feels like a genuine escape.

The honest framing is that this is a protected state park, so you pay an entry fee per vehicle and you come for nature rather than service. There is no beach club, no loungers for hire on the main sand and no nightlife; the comforts are picnic areas, restrooms, the trails, the lighthouse tour and a relaxed waterfront cafe. The beach can be breezy and the sand is natural rather than manicured, which is exactly what its regulars love about it.

It suits nature lovers, couples, cyclists and families who want quiet, history and calmer water over a scene. If you want a softer, more sheltered family beach on the same island, Crandon Park is just north. For the Art Deco scene and nightlife you would head back across the causeway to South Beach, and for resort beaches the Miami Beach island stretches lie further north up the coast.