Summer fun at social boating sandbars
Social Boating sandbars are the stuff of warm-weather legend with tales of hundreds of boaters frolicking on the shallow beaches, often in the middle of a populated area, and epic parties lasting through holiday weekends.
Depending on the sandbar, you’ll see everything from paddleboards to Jet Skis to megayachts nuzzled onto the bar, with bowriders, center consoles, pontoon boats, and go-fasts scattered around. Many sandbars drop off quickly into deep water, allowing larger boats to anchor close, while others are inches deep or even exposed sand at low tide. Whatever your boat, there’s a sandbar for you.
Be Prepared
Like most outings, prepare for a day in the sun and in the water. Have plenty of UV sunscreen and lip balm because the sun’s rays can fry you when the cool seawater lulls your senses and reflects the sunlight.
Take long-sleeved shirts for the same reason: The sun just doesn’t feel as hot when you’re in the water. For sandbars that dry out at low tide, take a beach blanket or even non-rusting folding chairs. An umbrella will save you from the mid-day sun. Don’t forget your sunglasses, and take reef shoes because while most sandbars are soft sand, others have sharp shells embedded that can cut your feet.
A social boating sandbar is really a nautical tailgate party, and you can’t “do sandbar” without food. You will recognize serious sandbar aficionados by the bracket for a portable barbecue mounted on the stern so the chef can stand in the water while torturing burgers and hot dogs. Make your fixins beforehand, such as chopped onions, bacon, or cheese, and store them in a cooler.
You may be playing in saltwater, but heat and saltwater cause you to lose not only fluids but electrolytes and even salt. You’ll need beverages like Gatorade or similar aboard, but go easy on the booze. The U.S. Coast Guard and local harbor police are well aware of what occurs at sandbars, and they have a total lack of humor for any skippering after boozing.
One of the most important items to have in your sandbar go-bag are drawstring trash bags that you can use for everything. Remember the adage: “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.” Please, for the sake of others and the environment, clean up your trash.
Here’s a look at some popular sandbars.
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Florida Social Boating Sandbars
We mention Haulover Sandbar out of respect for the many boaters and paddlers who used this sandbar over the years. Unfortunately, Haulover Sandbar was dredged to restore the Bal Harbour beach out on the Atlantic side. A new one is shoring up just south of the inlet and goers still enjoy the time, so check it out the next time you’re on the water.
Known for its party vibe on weekends, Nixon Beach Sandbar is always crowded, in part because of its popularity with day charter boats from Miami. Just west of Hurricane Harbor on Key Biscayne, it’s named after former President Richard Nixon’s south Florida home.
A local secret, Bear Cut Sandbar is small, but it doesn’t draw the big crowds. Part of Crandon Park, it not only has good shallow water but also coral reefs and wrecks nearby for snorkeling or diving. Great for small children and for learning to snorkel. Meditation seems to be another popular pastime, so don’t bother folks in folding chairs in the shallow water with Zen books in their laps.
Often marked by larger yachts firmly aground after they cut the (well-marked) corner from the New River into the Intracoastal Waterway, The Triangle in Fort Lauderdale tends to attract smaller boats and families from the zillions of waterfront homes surrounding the New River and the Intracoastal Waterway.
The Loxahatchee River Sandbar and the Indian River Sandbar (pictured above) are near the Jupiter inlet—Loxahatchee west of the Highway 1/A1A bridges and Indian River on the ICW north by Tequesta County Park. Both are just inches deep at low tide, so you need to anchor off and then put an anchor ashore at the drop-off point.
Covering some 80 acres, Peanut Island (pictured below) is a scenic and wooded island in the middle of Lake Worth Lagoon between the cities of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. The sandbar is located off the end of the island and has a view of yachts coming and going on the Intracoastal Waterway with good marinas nearby and the Phil Foster Park Underwater Snorkel Trail near the Blue Heron bridge.
Just off the Intracoastal, Lake Boca Raton draws hundreds of boats every spring for the “Boca Bash,” a floating party of music and adult beverages. Insider tip: Anchor in deeper water and swim onto the knee-deep bar to keep from being blocked by later arrivals.
Next to the Fort Pierce inlet on the north side of the channel, the Fort Pierce Sandbar is near the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park which has reefs and seagrass meadows for snorkeling. The park has several boat ramps as well as bait and tackle shops.
Also known as the Whale Channel Sandbar, Islamorada Sandbar off Islamorada is at Mile Marker 84. Still a few inches deep at low tide, it appeals to people who want to wade around or lie in the shallow water. This is mostly a family spot and, for unknown reasons, it seems popular with dogs.
Beer Can Island is an island with a sandbar located in the middle of Tampa Bay. Officially known as Pine Key, it’s two miles from the mainland, and if you’re interested in owning a share of the island, contact russ@beercanisland.com.
The Northeast
Billingsgate Island is located at the mouth of Wellfleet Harbor off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This is simply the shallowest part of Billingsgate Shoal. It’s a classic sandbar setup for Massachusetts, exposed at low tide and covered at high water. It’s well offshore which makes it pretty cool since it has a 10-foot tide change. Local boaters love this place for relaxing, having fun, and clamming. People of all ages visit this location, and there’s plenty of room for play during lower tides.
Browns Bank (pictured below) is located just a half-mile offshore off Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts. People pull their boats up here at low tide, but at high tide it’s just gone. You can enjoy the hard-pack, but soft sand. Smaller than Billingsgate, it can get busy on summer weekends. The rising tide comes in quietly, so keep an eye on your boat.
One of the best social sandbars boaters enjoy on Long Island is on the southwest corner of Robins Island in Peconic Bay. It’s popular, beautiful, and easily accessible. Strongs Marina in Mattituck holds a rendezvous there every summer.
Sand City Island in Northport Bay on the north side of Long Island is more of an island than a sandbar, but just off a long peninsula. It was the site of a sand mining and sifting plant that is no longer part of the long sand spit. The official name today is Hobart Beach Park, and the tip is a bird sanctuary.
Great Lakes Social Boating Sandbars
Through the work of advancing and receding glaciers over thousands of years and the glacial melt (not the work of tidal flow), a high ridge of sand formed along the southern shore of Torch Lake (pictured above), Michigan’s longest inland lake. In addition, sand from dredging during the lumbering era was deposited at the west end of the sandbar. The Torch River continues to push sand to the bar and because it is a few hundred feet from shore, it’s best reached by boat or paddling vessels. The sandbar is one of the most popular destinations during the summer months.
There are a number of other sandbars along the Eastern Seaboard, such as on the ICW south of Wrightsville Beach Bridge near Masonboro Inlet in North Carolina, or in Little Bay on the eastern side of Fleets Bay just north of Rappahannock River across from Red #2 buoy in Virginia. Let us know your favorite sandbar and we’ll include it online.
Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. Be safe, watch out for propellers, and most of all, have fun.
-by Chris Caswell
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