Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sponge Rocks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sponge Rocks and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sponge Rocks
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Sponge Rocks:
- 25.443444, -80.289219
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Sponge Rocks
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Miami-Dade County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Miami-Dade County
- Since Sponge Rocks is near Monroe County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Monroe County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sponge Rocks ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Cutter Bank
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cutter Bank have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutter Bank
- Cutter Bank is located in Miami-Dade County
- Dynamite Docks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dynamite Docks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dynamite Docks
- Dynamite Docks is located in Monroe County
- Gables by the Sea
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gables by the Sea
- Gables by the Sea is located in Miami-Dade County
- Gables by the Sea has also been known as:
- Coral Bay
- Gold Key
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Homestead
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
- Homestead is located in Miami-Dade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69,292 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homestead <2>
- Howard
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Kings Bay
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Leisure City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leisure City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure City
- Leisure City is located in Miami-Dade County
- Peters
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Rockdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Silver Palm
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Palm have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Palm
- Silver Palm is located in Miami-Dade County
- Silver Palm Place
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Palm Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Palm Place
- Silver Palm Place is located in Miami-Dade County
How Far From Sponge Rocks to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sponge Rocks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Sponge Rocks and extending to:
- Miami, which is the Seat of Miami-Dade County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<3> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sponge Rocks to Miami, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 422 miles [679.1 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 948 miles [1,525.7 km] to the north (N). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,628 miles [10,666.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,275 miles [11,708 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,195 miles [8,360.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sponge Rocks. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Miami-Dade County: www.miamidade.gov/
The official website for State of Florida: https://www.myflorida.com/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sponge Rocks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sponge Rocks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 25.4434, Longitude: -80.2892 In this case, the coordinates for Sponge Rocks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <5> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Sponge Rocks to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.525 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.376 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.754 degrees. |