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Aspire Yacht Sales
Boats lying alongside at a South Florida dock at dusk

Dock and dine

Waterfront Restaurants You Can Reach by Boat

Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach: the three boat show towns, and the places in them you can arrive at in the boat rather than leaving her on the hook. Anybody can find a good dinner down here. What is harder to find out is which of them you can tie up at.

Fort Lauderdale

10 places

  • Three slips, up to 65 feet and 20 feet of beam. Free with a table, held against a $200 minimum, booked at least a day ahead. No overnight.

  • On the Intracoastal, free dockage seven days a week and first come first served, so it goes early at a weekend. One of the easiest tie ups in town.

  • A hundred and eighty feet of dock, first come first served, and they will raft you when it is busy. Tables inside can be booked; the patio cannot.

  • South side of the New River with their own dockage: twelve feet on the face dock, six inside. First come first served.

  • Inside Lauderdale Marina on the point just north of the 17th Street bridge, a few minutes from the inlet. Ring ahead for a slip.

  • Free dockage, and a handful of slips only. Long a favourite with people who arrive in something small.

  • Near the inlet, by the Bahia Mar. Rafting is expected at their dock, so come prepared to lie alongside somebody.

  • North side of the Dania Cutoff Canal, next to the county boaters park. Dockside arrival, and garlic crabs with a mallet.

  • Limited dock space, confirmed when you book: tell them you are arriving by boat or there may be nowhere to put you.

  • At Sands Harbor, on the Intracoastal near the Hillsboro inlet. The marina takes fifty boats to 120 feet, with fuel and ice; arrange the slip with them on 954 788 1730.

Miami

9 places

  • On the docks of Miami Beach Marina, at the south end of the beach. Dockage is free while you are there.

  • At The Standard on Belle Isle. Dockage is $100 for up to four hours and $50 an hour after that, first come first served. Book a table before you leave the dock.

  • At the Mondrian. Four hours free for members; otherwise a $250 minimum on food and drink or a three hour dockage charge. Tender pick up is priced by length, from $75. Marina open 7am to 10pm.

  • Twelve slips directly in front, taking up to 50 feet. The largest boat they will take is the thing to check before you set off.

  • In No Name Harbor inside Bill Baggs state park, at 25 40.547 N 80 09.711 W. You tie to the harbour wall rather than a restaurant dock, and the harbour is a state park with its own fee.

  • On the Miami River, built around dockside dining. Ring ahead with your length, beam and time of arrival: the river runs hard and the dock is met by their own man.

  • At River Landing on the Miami River. The dock fee is waived on a table over $500, otherwise $5 a foot an hour, booked through Dockwa under River Landing.

  • Coconut Grove, on the water at Dinner Key. Docking is by reservation through their dock master, so ring before you leave.

  • Coconut Grove, on the docks at Bayshore Landing. Moorings for diners, arranged in advance with the dock master on 305 854 7997.

Palm Beach

10 places

  • Thirteen slips on the Jupiter waterway, six to eight feet through. The limit is overhead, not alongside: both bridges are fixed at 12.5 feet at high water. Shirts and shoes ashore.

  • Sixty slip marina behind the restaurant, just inside the Jupiter inlet with no bridges to it, taking boats over 100 feet. Transient slips for diners; dock master on extension 2.

  • On the Jupiter inlet, sharing the sixty slip marina next door, which keeps transient slips for people dining here. Arrange it with the dock master on 561 406 2210 extension 2.

  • At Castaways Marina on the inlet, 26 56.766 N 80 04.865 W. Dockage is paid, not free with a drink: $2.75 a foot a day with a $150 minimum, first come first served. Over 21s only, bring photograph identification.

  • Public docks at Jupiter Yacht Club Marina sit directly behind, at 26 55.8 N 80 04.78 W, first come first served. Walk ins only, no table booking.

  • On the Earman River with a full service dock for guests arriving by water.

  • The closest marina to the Lake Worth inlet, four docks, with fuel. Dockage is free while you are eating: call the dock attendants on VHF 68 for a slip.

  • At Harbourside Place on the Jupiter waterway. Ten of the marina's thirty one slips are public, open 8am to midnight; the marina office is on 561 935 9533.

  • In Boynton Harbor Marina, a few minutes inside the Boynton inlet, with their own slips. Ring the restaurant for one before you come.

  • On the Intracoastal just north of the Atlantic Avenue bridge, east side. Pull up, tie off, and they will serve you on the dock.

Before you go

Three Things Worth Knowing

Can I really just turn up by boat?
At most of these, in daylight and out of season, yes. In season and at a weekend, no: the dock fills by noon and the good spots are taken by boats that rang ahead. Call on the way, and ask what they can take at your length and draft rather than whether they have room, because a dock that takes a 40 will tell you it is free and then watch you try to get an 80 alongside it.
Is the dockage free?
Usually while you are eating, and usually with a minimum spend, which is a fair trade and rarely written down. Some charge by the foot after a couple of hours. Overnight is a different question and a different price; ask when you call rather than when you leave.
What should I check before I commit to the approach?
Depth at the dock at low water, not at the channel, and whether it is a face dock or slips. Wind and current do the damage: a face dock with the current running and a crosswind is a manoeuvre worth deciding on before you are committed to it. If in doubt, take the dinghy in.

Still deciding where she lives? The marina guide has the dockage, the depths and what to settle before signing.