Boating In Fort Lauderdale
Often called the “yachting capital of the world,” Fort Lauderdale provides ample opportunity for visitors to get out on the water, either along the Intracoastal Waterway or on the open ocean. If your hotel doesn’t rent boats, try Aloha Watersports, across from Casablanca Café, 3008 Alhambra St. (tel. 954/462-7245). It can outfit you with a variety of craft, including jet skis, WaveRunners, and catamarans. Rates start at $100 per half-hour for WaveRunners ($15 each additional rider; doubles and triples available), $80 to $125 for catamarans, $30 an hour for paddleboards or $100 for a 1-hour lesson, and $105 to $125 per person for a 15-minute parasailing ride. Aloha also offers a thrilling speedboat ride for $50 for a half-hour or $100 for a 90-minute excursion, a surfing school ($100—though the waves are hardly rippin’ here), and a water playground with trampoline and water slide for $25 for a half hour or $40for an hour. Treasure hunters can rent a metal detector here for $25 for an hour or $30 for a longer hunt.
For larger bareboats, often the most effective way to book costwise is via marketplace sites Boatsetter.com or GetMyBoat.com.
Fishing in Fort Lauderdale
The newly revamped Fisher Family Pier, 222 N. Pompano Beach Blvd. (tel] 954/532-9724; daily 7am-10pm) in Pompano Beach is a fun place to drop a line. Look closely and you’ll notice the end of the pier is shaped like a–wait for it—pompano fish! Snapper, mackerel, snook, and cobia are the popular catches here. Daily fishing rate is $6 and you can rent rods for $27 which includes bait, bucket, towel and knife.
Over at the 976-foot Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier, 200 NE 21st Ave. (tel. 954/480-4407) you can rent rods, bait, and other fishing accessories. Check for conditions at this pier’s three live cameras with views of the pier, the beach and even an underwater camera! And in laidback Dania Beach, the fishing pier (daily 6am-11pm) is a relaxing spot to cast your line or look at what the locals are catching. Fishing is $4, rod rental is cash only from $18 to $25.
Golf in Fort Lauderdale
More than 30 golf courses in all price ranges compete for players in this area. Among the best is Eagle Trace Golf Club, 1111 Eagle Trace Blvd. West, Coral Springs (tel. 954/753-7222), located east of the Sawgrass Expressway in west Broward County, and featuring six sets of tees. The course also has an island green, three greens surrounded by wooden bulkheads, and it doesn’t have a single palm tree on the property— a rarity in these parts. Greens fees start at $65 per person and include cart.Designed by famed golf course architect Donald Ross in 1924, the Hollywood Beach Golf Club, 1600 Johnson St., Hollywood (tel. 954/927-1751) is situated on a 110-acre property far from commercial and residential areas, and features a, tree-lined, 18-hole par-70 layout, including five par-3s. Greens fees are a bargain, from $20 to $65, including cart.
The Pompano Beach Municipal Golf Course, 1801 NE 6th St. (tel. 954/786-4111) has two 18-hole courses, including the recently redesigned Greg Norman Signature Pines Course that has already gained a reputation as a golfer’s paradise. Greens fees start at $50 with cart, $44 without.
Scuba Diving in Fort Lauderdale
In Broward County, the best dive wreck is the Mercedes I, a 197-foot freighter that washed up in the backyard of a Palm Beach socialite in 1984 and was sunk for divers the following year off Pompano Beach. The artificial reef, filled with colorful sponges, spiny lobsters, and barracudas, is 97 feet below the surface, a mile offshore between Oakland Park and Sunrise boulevards. Dozens of reputable dive shops line the beach. Ask at your hotel for a nearby recommendation, or contact American Dream Dive Charters, at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina (tel. 954/577-0338).
Tennis and Pickleball in Fort Lauderdale
There are hundreds of courts in Broward County, and plenty are accessible to the public. Many are at resorts and hotels. If yours has none, try the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, in Holiday Park, 701 NE 12th Ave. (off Sunrise Blvd.), Fort Lauderdale ([tel] 954/828-5378; parks.fortlauderdale.gov; daily 6am–9:30pm), famous as the spot where Chris Evert trained with her dad. There are 18 lighted clay courts and 3 hard courts here. Nonresidents of Fort Lauderdale pay $9 per hour before 5pm and $10.50 after. There are also six pickleball courts here; cost is $4.50 per person before 5pm, and $6 after 5pm.
In early 2024, the city announced it was breaking ground near the Fort Lauderdale International Airport within Snyder Park to open The Fort, a pickleball stadium featuring 43 professional courts—14 of them weatherproof—as well as lakefront beach area, bocce, shuffleboard, and more. It should be completed by the time we go to press. For information on pickleball courts throughout the Fort Lauderdale area, go to the website run by the FTL Pickleball Club, which has a comprehensive list of courts in the area.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.