South Inlet Park — Attraction in Boca Raton

Sometimes a shift of plans opens an unexpected path to something better. My scheduled dive canceled, as they couldn’t fill the boat and financially justify the trip. I decided to head to the beach with my mask and snorkel for a swim. I arrived at South Inlet Park Beach in Boca Raton. Upon arrival, I noticed a jetty and thought … this should be teaming with tropical fish. I was correct.

I swam along the rock wall, that sheltered the entrance to the canals, that led to the homes along a venetian style water boulevard. The sun shone bright, allowing good visibility, easy 30 ft, in the shallow, powder blue, waters this day in South Florida. The current and tides, were, gentle and ideal for snorkeling. I entered the water from the beach and swam effortless along the rocks, making my way along the slopping rock wall. My first thoughts, were; focused on how much activity bounced around these rocks. It was a shelter for schools of juvenile, stripped snapper, baby barracuda, tangs, dancing damsels and all sorts of finned creatures.

As I came to the end of the jetty, where it pointed like a finger out to sea, I was suddenly engulfed in a moving school of cigar minnows or round scads. They raced nervously around me just arms-length. Quickly, the cause of their tension, was revealed. At first a few small, Tarpon fish raced below the herded school. Then there were larger ones, some easily weighing as much as I. All of them darting around from different angles and working, together, to corral these bait fish, before launching attacks into the schooling mound. I followed this, excitedly, sucking air from my snorkel in gulps, feeling, fortunate to have swam into this feeding phenomenon. The school moved further away from the rocks and I followed them and their carnivorous caravan into the open water. Soon large barracudas joined the hunt and the feeding frenzy continued. I didn’t see an actual strike, only the darting of these large fish into and out of the wall of swarming fish.

After all this excitement I determined, my hour and a half, metered parking at the beach lot just wasn’t long enough. I exited the water, collected my stuff from the beach and marched back to feed the meter. I returned and went in for swim, round two. I entered at the same spot and began the journey along the rock wall of the jetties. I finned, calmly along the rocks, observing the different fish and their behavior. Currents and waves gently lifted me above the shallow rocks and set me back in place, before exploding in tiny bubbles on the rock wall. The fish scrambling, almost running into me and the bubbles tickling my body. The fish quickly resumed their activity, pecking and feeding on the algae clusters, that encrusted the rock wall, until the next wave disrupted them again. While observing all this activity, I suddenly saw a small barracuda, less than 2 ft, rise out of the rocks holding a scad fish in its mouth. I missed the strike but it had just happened. The barracuda, had the doomed fish midway between tail and head. The barracuda, seemed startled to discover me face to face with it. In that moment, it shook its head with force and the scad was now cut in two. The barracuda, quickly gobbled the tail end as the scad, the head end, bleeding and rudderless, finned hopelessly into the rocks followed by a hungry mob of fish. The natural world isn’t always kind but I find it consistently fascinating and wonderful. I wouldn’t have likely come across this on a dive … so a canceled excursion ended up a much more memorable...

The bathroom had no baby changing table, and the handicap stall is so narrow you can't fit a regular stroller in there, I doubt a wheelchair will fit.

2022 update. The water and sand has been taken over by seaweed, to the point there is no ability to walk, sit or even swim. They do not comb the beach at night to pick up the seaweed and it is causing an awful stench. On top of that it's attracting Nats and if you try to walk through it to go in the water you get eaten alive. I asked the life guard if they comb the beach and he said no because it is a park not a beach. Could have fooled me. They need to start cleaning up the seaweed as it gets stuck on the sand this is becoming an usable beach. They blame the inlet for it. Wither way doesn't matter the parking lot is empty when it used to be hard to find a spot, and it's not a score because you park and pay meter then walk on the beach amd your first though is ewwww. To the point where you decide to leave and go further south to deerfield or ft. Lauderdale because they do comb the beach and keep it clean from rotting seaweed.

It's sad to see this beautiful beach location turn...

Watch out - I rented the pavilion for 165.00 for my Granddaughters birthday party. The view was beautiful when we reserved it and paid 3 months in advance. Well I went by a couple of weeks before and they were dredging the inlet and the beach view was blocked by a huge ugly pipe and a mound of sand. The water was all murky too. I called the City of Boca and talked to the dredging dept and they said they would have it cleared for our party. Then I called the Parks department to have 20 spots reserved by putting yellow cones up until 10:00 AM to give our guests a chance to get a parking spot. Well come party day the mound and pipe were still there and no one had put cones up to hold some parking spots for us. No one was there to help and no one answered any of the City of Boca Raton Parks department phones that morning either. No one knows what anyone else is doing and no one cares. We should have known by all the calls we had to make and different departments we had to talk too to arranged this and then nothing was done. Don't plan anything here find...