7 Reasons To Visit This One Underwater Trail In Florida

If you live in Florida, chances are you've taken advantage of some of our incredible trails. You have probably followed trails through forests, swamps, or prairies, but what about underwater?

The Maritime Heritage Trail in Biscayne National Park features several shipwrecks for visitors to explore, plus an impressive reef lighthouse. Many of the wrecks are perfect for snorkeling, but a few are better suited for scuba diving. The park offers guided snorkeling trips, but visitors are also welcome to explore the trail for themselves. Take a look at some of the features of this awesome underwater adventure:

1. Fowey Rocks Lighthouse

Also called the Eye of Miami, this iron-pile lighthouse was constructed from 1875 to 1878, to keep ships from running aground on the razor-sharp reef. Visitors are free to explore the area around the lighthouse, but the interior is off limits.

2. Arratoon Apcar

Arratoon Apcar sank in 1878, just a few hundred yards from where Fowey Rocks Lighthouse was being built.

3. Erl King

The remains of Erl King, which sank in 1891, can be explored in 20 feet of water off Long Reef. The outline of the ship's collapsed hull reflects the beginning of the transition from wooden sailing vessels to steel steamships.

4. Alicia

When the steamer Alicia hit Long Reef during a storm in 1905, many fine household items like silks, linens and silverware went down with it. Eventually U.S. salvage laws had to be rewritten following the violent battles over this sunken treasure.

5. Lugano

When the British steamer Lugano ran aground on Long Key in 1913, it was the largest vessel ever to wreck in the Florida Keys.

6. Mandalay

This schooner, nicknamed the "Red Carpet Ship of the Windjammer Fleet," ran aground on Long Reef on New Years Day, 1966. Now, it sits in shallow water and has become one of the best snorkeling dives on the trail.

7. The "Schooner Wreck" (unknown 19th-century wooden vessel)

Though it's not actually known if this mystery wreck was once a schooner or something else, there are ballast piles, rigging elements and some remaining wooden structures that appear to have belonged to a typical small to medium-sized 19th-century sailing vessel from the Florida Keys. The remains sit in 15 feet of water.

Have you explored the Maritime Heritage Trail or any other shipwreck trails in Florida? Please tell us about your experiences!