John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

No don't go there. You won't like it.
With that said, if you are a boater or kayaker it is a great place.
We like it since it gives us lots of kayaking opportunities.
There are very few places in the Keys where the snorkeling is good without taking a dive boat out to the various reefs.

Jack L

One of the primary functions at the park is the Parks large, multi-person scuba & snorkle swim/diving boat that takes you out to the reef. Not to be missed. The RV campground is not the greatest. All backin sites side by side. Nice small beach at the park for swimming with fake Spanish Gallion canyons sunk in about 6 feet of water. Don't tell the kids they aren't real. Wonderful short canoe/kayak trails thru the mangroves. Can be ren ted at the park.

If you want to snorkel directly off the beach you will need to try Long Key SP, or Bahia Honda SP. The snorkel trip out of JPK is nice and the reef is spectacular. The reef is about 5+ miles offshore everywhere along the keys but there is still some interesting snorkeling in shallow water in places.

Here is some information from the park's website: Link

The park has a group snorkeling boat and you can rent kayaks there also.

Crawfordville wrote:
We're trying to decide where to go for summer vacation. We're considering John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. My question is this - can the water activities such as snorkeling be done without having to rent a boat or a charter deal? I'm trying to get an idea for the popularness of this campground. We are not go sit on the beach type of people. But we also don't want to have to pay a fortune in boat rental costs.

Karen

Karen, the barrier reef is an actual barrier several miles off shore, the only way there is by boat, unless you're a marathon swimmer.

there is a swimming area in the park, I don't remember it being that impressive... there's no coral or "finding Nemo" type fish there.