Matheson Hammock Park & Marina — Attraction in Coral Gables

As s background, I have been visiting Matheson Hammock for 20 years, and my wife’s family for 60 years. While it was impacted by storm surge 11 months ago during Hurricane Irma, nearly a year later, it’s never been in a worse state of upkeep than now (in my experience). The bike/walking path the length of the driveway entrance is becoming overgrown with mangroves that should be routinely trimmed (they aren’t), and the pavement is broken up and literally submerged in water in many spots, even in low-tide. The parking lot has several areas that had 1-3 inches of accumulated rain water that was simply standing water, that didn’t seem to be able to drain. The Red Fish Grill has been closed since the storm, and it’s entrances and windows boarded up in haphazard fashion. The original lifeguard stands were seemingly washed away by the storm surge, and in its place are poor facsimiles. Much of the pedestrian path around the lagoon is closed and marked with yellow “caution” tape, and the beach lots worn out. Over the bridge to the marina, the sailing school concession is now long-closed, a victim of the storm according to staff, and the road that took you by car to the southern tip of the Hammock is now closed. Entrance during normal daylight hours is now $7 for a passenger vehicle, but once inside, there are “Pay by Phone” parking signs literally EVERYWHERE, even on grass, insisting that you must pay to park — there were NO disclosures to suggest anything other than you must pay a SECOND time for parking (this time, $7.20), which I dutifully did as my party assured me a ticket would otherwise result. Later, a lifeguard acknowledged that it wasn’t necessary to pay a second time, but also conceded that there was ZERO signage to make such an understanding clear to a visitor, and that Pay by Phone is only enforced after the park entrance attendant has “closed for the day”. That’s a blatant ripoff and I’m sure many visitors feel compelled to pay a second time.

Matheson Hammock seems a poor imitation of itself from...

Matheson Hammock Park is a massive 630-acres of park with lots of beautiful views. The park is a stunning scenic oasis featuring a man-made atoll pool adjacent to Biscayne Bay. The park offers picnic pavilions, nature trails and a snack bar and restaurant built into an historic coral stone building, which is absolutely beautiful. There is also an onsite marina for boats up to 50-foot long and a fishing tackle shop, boat launch ramps, gas and diesel fuel, and wet-slips.

Matheson Hammock Park is a popular destination for photographers who want to capture the natural beauty of this park for quinceaneras, engagements, and weddings! 😍

Plenty to do at this family friendly park activities include biking, birdwatching, (owls have been spotted), fishing, kayaking, kiteboarding, and walking. 😃

The beach has a small area designated for small children, it is more like a saltwater lagoon and is quite nice. The water is actually quite clean. There are showers and changing rooms in the beach area. The bathrooms are clean and well maintained.

Dogs are not allowed in the park. Many people are confused by the rules since this Google page says otherwise. But, Matheson Hammock Park doesn’t have access to make corrections on this Google platform and has contacted miamidade . gov to do so (on the internet write [miamidade . gov] altogether without spacing…this platform doesn’t allow links in reviews). I contacted them and I encourage everyone to do the same. The more requests they receive from the community the faster it will get updated. Thank you! 😊

The park is open from sunrise to sunset daily. Parking is paid through PayByPhone app.

If you like the outdoors you will enjoy this park. Great for planning events or for a family celebration. Highly recommend!

Thank you Miami-Dade for enforcing the rules and maintaining our parks clean for us to enjoy. 😃

PS Dogs are allowed in West Matheson Hammock Park 9800 Old Cutler Road, just down the...

Great park with many different features! There's boating, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming and probably much more! I had been there for a BBQ years ago, and hadn't been for ever! But today, something told me to get out of my place since it was such an amazingly beautiful day! So along we went...I happened to have taken the wrong road and passed the boat docks to end up at a small secluded water are where people sat along the water and mangroves in beach chairs, in their pick up trucks and sunbathed or just hung out by the water. It wasn't really what we were looking for so we kept going.

We found the beach area right by the restaurant. We found parking right up front and walked right in, parked next to a life guard stand and enjoyed a panoramic vision of the view. The beach area is smaller than your typical open beach but big enough to give everyone there plenty of space to lay out and swim.

We stayed for about 2 hours, swam in the dark green water and had a great time under the beautiful blue sky! What a great way to be at a beach and not have to worry about the hustle and bustle of Miami Beach on a Holiday weekend which equals craziness!! Our time was well spent there and it was exactly the perfect thing to do today! : ). Can't wait to enjoy again.

Parking is paid by the parking app. There was plenty of parking in the lot. There are 3 life guard stands along the beach which now I would refer to more as a 'lagoon' because it is more like a lake like body of water than an open beach with waves! Nevertheless the less, which ever name you wanna call it by, it is a cool little hang out and very close to me! : )

One thing I forgot to mention is that there are no frisbees or other things that you throw, allowed at the beach! Of course we only noticed that after throwing the frisbee around for about 10...