This national park is often overshadowed by the big fort but this one is free! There is a ferry over to the fort and great guides explaining how life was in a Spanish fort in the 1500-1600s. Go early and get a reservation for the ferry, they run about every 30 minutes.

Small fort compared to Castillo de San Marcus, but still a must visit when in St. Augustine! Full of history and beautiful sites!

I was with a middle school field trip. We really enjoyed our visit.

We arrived early and parked in line at the gate before the park opened. Had one older guy run in get spots on a later water shuttle to the fort. Interesting process not for the faint of heart. We opted to drive in once the gate was open. Got our free tickets for the shuttle to take us over to the fort later. Explored the area and made it back in time to catch the safety briefing and cruise on over to the fort. Great history lessons and even snuck in some birding along the way. Imagine it can get toasty during the summer. Early March treated us well. Enjoyed the time at the fort. Good experience overall. Park staff are excellent and knowledgeable. We would do it again. Don’t take your fishing poles with you. The boat captain does not appreciate it. It makes you look creepy too. You can’t fish at the fort. Folks can be creepy and strange.

Wow-- this was an out fort to the really big fort in St. Augustine, and for a history buff, this is as good as it gets due to the unspoiled setting, competent Park Service employees, and the pure fun of a boat ride to a spectacular setting. Arrive earlier than you think to need to be, as its free, but you need a ticket to get into the boat, and they run out of tickets for the next boat trip, which is hourly. Between the boat rides and the time at the fort, they do it in about an hour. You may have to wait another hour for tickets to come available for the next tour, but they have a short nature tril to take up some time. Gift shop is small but nice. You have to take a ladder to go up to the very top above the gun deck, which can get a little crowded and full of rugrats, but some people older than my old, retired, self did it without issues. For a history person, this is a must, but almost anyone will have fun with this whole adventure. Parking can be a challenge at the main site itself so you may have a five-minute walk from the entrance parking.