Coral Castle — Attraction in Leisure City

The people who work there are pushy and rude. They force you to take their big awful black umbrellas for shade. I didn’t need it as I live in South Florida but they made me take one. I ended up carrying it around but never opening it. Then, they followed us around and kept saying things like, “Remember, these umbrellas are just for use in the park; you must return them.” As if I want to keep this umbrella that you forced upon me. There was a video that they showed before you go into the park that showed the history but they wouldn’t let us see it first. Instead, they insisted we join a tour where we missed the first 15 minutes of it. After the tour that we missed the first half of, we finally got to go back out to the beginning and watch the video which presented the history and mystery behind the attraction so much better than their tour guide had. After actually getting the history of it we wanted to go back in and see the structures again and take pictures but when we did we were accosted by this super annoying woman who kept trying to talk to us instead of letting us talk to each other and just take pictures. She wouldn’t let us just take in the views in peace but kept saying inane things about their stupid umbrellas and “You should come here and meditate under the trees.” Like I would ever drive all the way there and spend $20 per person just to sit under their tree to meditate as if there are no other shady trees anywhere else. We certainly were not dealing with the A team of employees here. It was overpriced for what it was and maybe if they had fewer annoying and rude people working there, they could price it...

Didn't even make it in the entrance. I traveled from it off town with my son to spend time in South Florida. We seen this place in YouTube, and my son and I really wanted to see and experience it. We pulled into the parking lot five minutes before it opened. We were checking it out on line while we were waiting. This old security guard guy comes up beating in my driver's side window. He's yelling at us in Spanish, about parking in the wrong spot and we can't be there before they open. My wife is from Puerto Rico, and my son and I can understand much better than speak Spanish. I tried telling him we were looking up the price and trying to buy tickets on line before they open. He was screaming at us about moving and buying tickets at the door when they open. Which I totally would've been ok with and tried apologizing as best as I could I'm Spanish (and English). He wanted no part of it and was relentless, to the point my boy and I just wanted out of there. So we just left and went to the botanical gardens instead. Where the people were much more civilized. I'm so glad my wife wasn't there, because she would've exploded and it would've been a scene. Maybe someday we will try again, I hold nothing against the establishment, and still hold interest seeing and experiencing the attraction. But that old man ruined it for us that day, and found it best that we just leave. How unfortunate of an encounter to have with someone, when you're excited to see someone historical. An old man in a security uniform throwing his weight around is not what we...

This is one of those attractions that seems gimmicky and that many would dub to be cheesy or kitschy on paper when considering a visit. But, in reality, it's actually quite a worthwhile thing to put on your agenda in my opinion if you're passing through Homestead. Built in the first half of the 20th Century by a Lithuanian immigrant, Edward Leedskalnin, his ability and his chosen methods used to build this coral complex without help or without conventional tools is still a mystery. The cryptic nature concerning how it was built, the symbolism of the construction and the impressive nature of the structures make this place special and a very interesting visit.

Your experience starts with a short informative orientation film. You then receive a guided tour of the grounds. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave an interesting presentation explaining all of the structures on display. There are several items with interesting stories including doors on swivels, chairs/thrones and solar representations just to give examples. But my favorite was the polar telescope built into the coral. That was a brilliant addition to the features of the castle and is related to Leedskalnin's interest in astronomy.

If you're in the area and have time, I'd recommend making a stop here. It takes two hours or so to take it in. It is an attraction you won't see elsewhere. It's worth the $18 (adults, $8 for kids, under 6 free). At the time of this writing, it is only open Thursday...