Fort Matanzas National Monument Inlet West Parking Lot — Local services in Palm Coast

Matanzas River inlet is the perfect nature spot, far away from the crowded places where vehicles are allowed on the beach. There are two sides to explore (ocean + river), each with a parking lot off A1A. You can walk from one to the other and cross A1A to get back if you like. Right now (7/2018), the boardwalk to the ocean is CLOSED for repair, but hopefully will reopen soon. Off the West parking lot, you can get a decent look at Fort Matanzas, even though the actual National Monument parking area puts you closer to it. Low tide on the river is fabulous, revealing dozens of sand bars. Walk out to your own private "island" - just make sure to walk back before the tide gets too high. Find crabs, minnows and whatever else. Walk underneath the bridge, watch people fish. The ocean side has waves, tidal pools and shorebirds (please respect nesting areas). We felt we had the whole place to ourselves and didn't...

My son and his family came down from NY with their 3 yr old and let me just say wow so beautiful, get there early as it fills up fast, the baby could walk out in the water with Rose our #3leg chihuahua the water was never to my knee on the river side. Good thing not sure if Rose would be able to swim straight or just in a circle seeing her front leg is missing. You won't regret it,bring a bag for shells best found on the ocean side across the street, you don't have to leave the water to.get there you can walk around. Be safe sun block sun block and keep applying it. Have fun. Get a waterproof camera, I'm a little sad I only had my phone and kept it with out chairs most the day. Free parking and portA potty in the parking lot....

The whole fort experience and boat ride is about 45 minutes. That may seem short, but the fort is very small. 45 minutes is plenty of time to do everything. We arrived in Monday around 9 to get the 9:30 ferry tickets. Tickets were almost gone so you may want to arrive 45 minutes before the next boat. Tickets are free but you still need to go to the shop to pick them up. There are no bathrooms or water at the fort so be prepared. At the fort, there is an 8 foot ladder to climb to the top lookout (optional), so be prepared. There is also 2 trails that are about 15 minutes long. There also bathrooms and soda machines...