Key Biscayne: Mashta, Hurricane Harbor and the bay side of the village

Selling a waterfront house lot on Key Biscayne, 33149

ZIP 33149 covers Key Biscayne and Virginia Key, and its house lots are in the Village of Key Biscayne, with the boating lots on the bay side around Mashta Island and Hurricane Harbor. From there Biscayne Channel, just south of Cape Florida, is about 1.5 nautical miles away in a straight line with no bridge over it, while the Bear Cut bridge at the north end clears only 16 feet. We buy island lots of 7,000 sq ft and up, empty or with a house that is coming down.

Get my cash offer or call Steve, 954.459.1697

33149 at a glance

Postal name and village: USPS uses Key Biscayne as the city name. The Village of Key Biscayne, incorporated in 1991, has about 1.25 sq mi of land, with Crandon Park (a county park) to the north and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park to the south. source
Mashta is inside the village: The Census geocoder matches 250 West Mashta Drive, 33149, to the Village of Key Biscayne. source
Virginia Key shares the ZIP: 33149 also takes in Virginia Key, north of Bear Cut. Census boundaries put the island's beach side inside the City of Miami, not the village. source
Bear Cut bridge: The Rickenbacker Causeway crosses Bear Cut on a fixed span 48 ft wide with a vertical clearance of 16 ft above mean high water. source
Biscayne Channel, past Cape Florida: No bridge. The channel leads through the shoals south of Cape Florida and is lit and marked, but it is only partially dredged and has shoaled. Cape Florida Anchorage, about 300 yards west of the cape, has 12 to 20 ft. source
North to Government Cut: Up the bay past Virginia Key and under the Rickenbacker's Intracoastal span, a fixed bridge with 76 ft of clearance, then to the port and Government Cut: roughly 5 nautical miles from Mashta in a straight line. source
Crandon Park Marina channel: The channel from Bear Cut to the county yacht basin at Northwest Point reported 6 ft in 2003, and the basin 5 ft in 2004. source
Village seawall policy: In 2023 the village administration proposed seawalls 6.5 ft high by 2050, then chose advisory guidelines for owners who rebuild instead of an ordinance. source
County seawall floor: Miami-Dade's County Flood Criteria map, effective 28 October 2022, sets a 6.0 ft NAVD88 minimum top of seawall unless a higher figure is shown. source
Flood zone, bay side: FEMA's flood layer maps 250 West Mashta Drive as zone AE with a 10 ft NGVD29 base flood elevation. source
Flood zone, Atlantic beach: The ocean beach is mapped VE, the wave-action zone, with an 11 ft NGVD29 base flood elevation at the point we checked. source
Storm surge evacuation: Key Biscayne and every island in Biscayne Bay are in Evacuation Zone A, the highest storm-surge risk on the county map. source
2025 single-family sales, whole ZIP: 38 closed sales, down 22.4% on 2024, at a median of $3,975,000 (down 0.6%); 27 paid in cash; median 100 days to contract. ZIP-wide and all single-family, not waterfront only. source

Bear Cut clears 16 feet, so boats go round

The shortest line from Key Biscayne to the Atlantic is through Bear Cut, between the island and Virginia Key. It is also the one most big boats cannot use: the causeway bridge over the cut is a fixed span with 16 feet of clearance and a 48-foot opening.

So owners with larger boats run the other way, south along the bay shore to Biscayne Channel off Cape Florida. There is nothing overhead on that route, but the channel has shoaled and the Coast Pilot asks skippers near its limiting depth to take extreme care. The third option is north under the Rickenbacker's 76-foot span to Government Cut, a longer run but a deep, well-marked one.

Mashta and Hurricane Harbor: the island's boating side

The Atlantic side of Key Biscayne is lined with tall apartment buildings and beach. The single-family boating lots face the other way, onto Biscayne Bay: on the Mashta Island drives, around the sheltered basin of Hurricane Harbor, and along the bay shore itself. The island's canal story goes back to the 1920s, when William Matheson dug a canal from the bay across most of the island.

For a buyer, a bayfront lot and a canal lot here differ mainly in exposure to weather and in the depth at the wall. Tell us whether any footbridge or road bridge sits between your dock and the bay, and we will check it against the boat a buyer would bring.

Seawall guidance, not a village mandate

In 2023 the village administration floated a rule for seawalls 6.5 feet high by 2050. Residents pushed back, and the Village Manager moved to guidelines that owners consult when they rebuild instead of a binding ordinance. The county's floor still applies: the 2022 Flood Criteria set a minimum top of seawall of 6.0 feet NAVD88.

Whatever the village finally settles on, an island lot that is redeveloped will get a higher wall and a new house built to the flood map. We budget for both and buy the lot as it stands today.

Thirty-eight sales and a hundred-day wait

Only 38 single-family homes sold across 33149 in 2025, down from about 49 the year before, at a median of $3,975,000. Homes took a median 100 days to reach contract, slower than any of the mainland ZIPs facing it across the bay.

When the market is that thin, the median moves with whichever houses happened to trade. We price an island lot from its size, its frontage, its flood zone and which way out a buyer's boat would take, and we show you that working line by line.

Questions from 33149

Can a large boat get from Key Biscayne to the ocean without a low bridge?

Yes. Bear Cut's bridge clears only 16 feet, but you can go south past Cape Florida through Biscayne Channel with nothing overhead, or north under the Rickenbacker's 76-foot span to Government Cut.

Does Key Biscayne require me to raise my seawall before I sell?

No. The village chose guidelines rather than a mandate in 2023, and the county's 6-foot NAVD88 minimum applies when a wall is built or rebuilt, not at sale. We take the wall as it is.

Is my bay-side lot in the VE flood zone?

Usually not. FEMA maps the Mashta area as AE, with a 10-foot base flood elevation at the point we checked; the VE strip is along the Atlantic beach. Your elevation certificate settles it, and the village can look up your FIRM zone.

Only 38 houses sold in 2025. How do you value a Key Biscayne lot?

From the lot, not the median: square footage, feet on the water, depth at the wall and what the village code allows on it. With so few sales, one comparable can mislead, so we show every input.

Own a waterfront lot in 33149? Send us the address.

From 7,000 sq ft with a route to the ocean for a big boat, vacant or with a house on it. Not sure it fits? Send it anyway.

Get my cash offer Call or text Steve, 954.459.1697

Know someone selling? Send them our way.

Neighbours, agents, dock builders and captains usually hear a waterfront lot is coming free long before it is listed. Point us at one. If you hold a Florida real estate licence and we buy it, we pay you a referral fee through your broker, agreed in writing before we approach anyone and paid at closing.

Not licensed? Send it anyway. Florida law does not let us pay you for it, but we still want to know.

Refer a lot Or text Steve, 954.459.1697

Nearby on the water

Sources

Facts last checked September 27, 2026. Sales figures are ZIP-wide single-family numbers, not waterfront-only. General information, not legal or tax advice.