Vista park reef ft lauderdale

Loggerhead Park Vista Park. The northern end is referred to as Oakland Park Reef. The southern end is Vista Park Reef. This dive guide is in reference to the southern portion blue area on the map. In fact, the coral reef found in Fort Lauderdale is apart of the larger, Florida Reef Tract the third longest barrier reef system in the world!

Vista Park Reef is part of this first tier, which also makes it an ideal location for snorkeling! This section of reef also serves as a great area for lobstering and hunting lionfish , while also often used by local shops for scuba lessons!

The two are nearly identical except for one small difference: picnic tables! It may seem silly, but Loggerhead Park is our preferred launch destination because of the picnic tables.

It makes setting up gear WAY easier! Vista Park is just as feasible to get to the reef, though. So wherever parking is available will probably determine which park you go to! But back to diving. Like all other reef tracts in Fort Lauderdale , the reef runs north and south parallel to shore.

Our advice: treat it like a drift dive! Roam around and check out anything that looks interesting! The reef itself is a mostly flat reef with patches of coral, lots of sea fans and scattered fish. Notes For this Snorkel : We pulled pool floaties along with our dive flag so that we could relax on them when we got tired. The ocean was flat but visibility was only decent unless you dived down close to the bottom. Scuba Skills. Dive Guides. Lionfish Hunting. Island Life. Virgin Islands. Sea Turtles.

Spiny Lobster. Reducing Plastic. Removing Invasive Species. City: Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A snorkel site too! Parking: Metered spaces. Directions to lot: Earl Lifshey Ocean Park. Finger Spool See Full Description. Save on all Stream2Sea Products. Enjoy this Post? Pin it! Because of the current we ended up having a bit of a walk back to our car once we got back to shore.

Loading Images Parking : Depending on the day, get there very early or be ready to spend sometime waiting for someone to leave freeing up a parking space.

There is a central parking meter takes credit cards, change, paper money and pay by phone. Amenities : One fresh water shower.