All You Need To Know About Miami's Marinas

With its beautiful, clear water and more than 80 miles of coastline largely protected by barrier islands and keys, Greater Miami & Miami Beach is a hugely popular destination for boaters. For those who want to explore the watery world, many full-service marinas are here to help. For people without their own boats, many of Miami’s marinas offer rentals as well as fishing, diving and tour charters. Got a boat? High-and-dry storage and wet slips are available for visitors, people passing through and residents. We have your guide to the destination’s best marinas.

For Easy Access to the Intracoastal & Atlantic Ocean

Bill Bird Marina’s location makes it ideal for both checking out inland waterways and quickly accessing the Atlantic Ocean. It’s across the Intracoastal Waterway from Oleta River State Park, one of Florida's largest urban parks. The marina, operated by Miami-Dade County, is part of Haulover Park and has access to the Atlantic Ocean via the adjacent Haulover Cut. It has one of the largest charter fishing fleets in South Florida, boat and personal watercraft (Jet Ski) rentals, a dive boat, bait and tackle stores and a restaurant.

For boat owners, Bill Bird Marina offers 152 wet slips that can accommodate vessels from 35 to 120 feet, high and dry storage, boat-launching ramps, a fuel dock and pump-out station and boat repair service. All six of the Miami-Dade County-owned and operated marinas are certified by the Florida Clean Marina program for their steps to protect sensitive habitats, manage waste, control stormwater runoff, prevent spills of fuel and other toxic materials, and prepare for emergencies.

Every Kind of Fun on the Water

Black Point Park & Marina’s location in Homestead is convenient for boating adventures: the southern end of Biscayne Bay, across from Biscayne National Park and about 25 miles from Key Largo, the northernmost of the Florida Keys. The marina rents kayaks, canoes, personal watercraft and boats. Tours, fishing and dive excursions are also available. Those pulling a boat on a trailer are served by a boat ramp. Services for boaters include 180 wet slips that can accommodate vessels up to 50 feet long, plus pump-out and fuel facilities. The marina is certified by Florida’s Clean Marina Program.

The park offers a wealth of fun and adventure ashore and afloat: trails for hiking and biking and a Blueways trail for paddling through the mangrove preserve that surrounds it. A jetty reaching a mile and a half into Biscayne Bay means fishing enthusiasts can cast without a boat. Those who bring their own provisions have a large picnic pavilion and grills. The dockside Black Point Ocean Grill offers a menu featuring seafood, burgers and tacos.

Boating and So Much More

Florida Clean Marina-certified Crandon Marina, off the Rickenbacker Causeway in Key Biscayne, has more than 300 wet slips and 60 moorings plus boat ramps, trailer storage and fuel pumps. It is convenient to the mainland yet part of 808-acre Crandon Park, which has a two-mile-long beach with concession stands and picnic areas, a championship 18-hole golf course, and a tennis center plus the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center. There are also several restaurants, a dive center and dive and charter fishing boats. Inside the park, Bear Cut Preserve offers hiking and biking trails through natural ecological communities of hammock, ocean and beach. A Blueways trail for paddlers goes through the mangrove forest.

Your Front Door to Biscayne National Park

Herbert Hoover Marina in Homestead Bayfront Park has 178 wet slips for vessels up to 50 feet long, a large boat ramp, a fuel dock and a pump-out station. It is certified by the Florida Clean Marina program. Homestead Bayfront Park also has an atoll pool of enclosed seawater that protects a beach perfect for young children. It also has picnic shelters and pavilions and a restaurant, La Playa Grill Seafood & Bar.

Homestead Bayfront Park is the land-based front door to 172,971-acre Biscayne National Park and adjacent to the Dante Fascell Visitors Center, the national park’s headquarters and one of the few parts of it that’s not underwater. The Biscayne National Park Institute offers tours and snorkeling boat trips of coastal mangroves and the reef systems, about nine miles offshore. Biscayne National Park has more than 40 documented wrecks, some of which are in the Maritime Heritage Trail, the only underwater archaeological trail in the National Park System.

A Lovely Marina in a Lovely Park

Located south of Coral Gables, Matheson Hammock Marina has 256 wet slips for boats 30 to 50 feet long, boat ramps, a fuel dock and dry storage for boats 30 feet long or less. Certified by the Florida Clean Marina program, the marina is located in Matheson Hammock Park, which consists mostly of coastal mangroves but has a restaurant, Noma Beach, an atoll pool of protected water with a small beach, picnic pavilions and a location of Adventure Sports, which offers kiteboarding lessons and rents kayaks and standup paddleboards. The park is near Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

The Marina in the Middle of Biscayne Bay

Pelican Harbor Marina is perched like its namesake bird on the narrow NE 79th Street Causeway connecting the mainland to North Beach. The Florida Clean-certified marina in Biscayne Bay has 113 wet slips and 27 moorings, fuel pumps, a boat ramp, a pump-out station and easy access to the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic. Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, which cares for sick or injured birds, offers public tours, and Fly Pelican Fly Sailing Club rents sailboats and teaches sailing. There’s also a fishing pier and picnic pavilions. You can take your boat to a 10-acre islet 400 yards offshore that has covered picnic shelters, grills and a sandy area where volleyball nets can be strung.

Miami’s Downtown Marina

In the center of the action on the Downtown Miami waterfront, Miamarina at Bayside has 125 wet slips for vessels 55 to 230 feet plus fuel and pump-out facilities. The marina is located between the Kaseya Center – a 20,000-seat sports and entertainment arena that’s home to the NBA’s Miami HEAT – and Bayfront Park, with the Skyviews Miami observation wheel, and is part of Bayside Marketplace, which has more than 100 stores and restaurants a well as fishing and tour charters.

Boat Directly Into the Atlantic

On the southwest side of South Beach with views of Fisher Island and the ships cruising out of PortMiami, Miami Beach Marina has 400 wet slips with accommodations for vessels up to 250 feet and its own deli shop offering provisioning. Its location next to Government Cut means you’ll have easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. Next door, Monty’s Sunset has a raw bar and serves casual fare, and Texas de Brazil is an upscale Brazilian steakhouse. The marina is certified by the Florida Clean Marina Program and is near all of the hotels, restaurants and nightlife South Beach has to offer.

The Heart of Miami’s Sailing Community

Dinner Key Marina is in Coconut Grove, one of the destination’s oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods and the heart of the area’s vast sailing scene. The marina is big: It has 587 wet slips, more than any other marina on the east coast of the United States, and can handle vessels from 30 to 135 feet. The marina also has a mooring field with room for more than 250 boats, most of them sailboats, up to 50 feet long. In addition to fishing and dive charter companies, the marina is home to popular Monty’s Coconut Grove restaurant, the Coral Reef Yacht Club – host of the annual Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta – the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and the U.S. Sailing Center. The nearby Coconut Grove Sailing Club and 15-acre Regatta Park are the annual homes of Miami Sailing Week.

A Full-Service Marina, and, Oh, Those Views

Along the Rickenbacker Causeway in Key Biscayne, Rickenbacker Marina offers panoramic views of Biscayne Bay and Downtown Miami, 200 wet slips for vessels up to 120 feet long and all the other services you’d expect from a full-service marina. A high-and-dry storage rack can handle up to 350 boats weighing up to 40,000 pounds and 50 feet long. The marina also has space for 130 personal watercraft, a fuel dock and a convenience store. It is adjacent to the iconic Rusty Pelican restaurant.

A Marina in the Center of it All

Venetian Marina & Yacht Club is a 222-boat facility in Downtown Miami, adjacent to the Venetian Causeway to South Beach. It is one of six sites of the annual Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show, one of the largest events of its kind in the world. At the shoreline, you’ll find a cluster of hotels, restaurants and amenities.

The Home Base for Superyachts

Yacht Haven Grande Miami at Island Gardens, a marina serving superyachts, can accommodate 50 vessels up to 550 feet long. It is located on Watson Island at the west end of the MacArthur Parkway Causeway, near Downtown Miami, and is the home of Superyacht Miami, the Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show’s event for large vessels.

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