Haulover Park Beach
Just past the northern fringes of Bal Harbor is a relatively recent newcomer to the official beach system of the county. Haulover Park Beach became a maintained and protected park and beach of the Miami-Dade Parks back in 1991, since then it's also become a favored haunt of all kinds of beach and water sports enthusiasts. If you're whizzing along the AIA in this area and have time for a beach visit, you could stop off for the entry fee of five dollars and enjoy yourself in relative serenity compared to the often crowded and glitzy atmosphere of the sands along Ocean Drive to the south.
It's a much more local scene here on weekends, when families will arrive to take advantage of the picnic facilities and grills. On a weekday though, you can find vast amounts of available parking, and all the room you need on the one and a half miles of beaches. The park sits between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, and so there are activities tailored to both inland and oceanfront, with a full-serivce marina, boat ramp, sport-fishing tour boats, dive shop, restaurant, kite shops, six lighted tennis courts and even a 9-hole family golf course. If you want to rent chairs or kayaks, there are also concessions for these. Call ahead in the spring high season if you plan to rent chairs. Surfers occasionally favor the wave conditions on sections of the beach here. As a county preserve, the entire beach is guarded by well-trained lifeguards, who will also be your source for existing weather and surf conditions if you need those. There are restrooms, showers and a restaurant over in the marina area. Even if you have no intention of doing anything more than a swim, the clean long sands and dunesalong the shoreline is a pleasure to stroll for many locals and vsitors who discover this fine stretch of Miami's coast.
Getting there: Take I-95 to exit 13, then head east for six miles to Collins Avenue. Turn left on Collins and go over the bridge to the park. Call 786-336-6990 for the beach safety patrol and beach conditions.
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Haulover Park Beach - 10800 Collins Ave., Miami: Tel: 305-947-3525