Stretching across 47 hectares in the far north of Miami Beach, Haulover Beach Park is a popular recreational area in this coastal resort city. It boasts more than two kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean beachfront, with its northern stretch a designated “clothing-optional area”.
While the eastern edge of Haulover Beach Park faces the Atlantic Ocean, the western edge fronts Biscayne Bay and is a popular fishing destination in Miami Beach. The Haulover Marine Center lies on a small bay in the north-west of the park and provides a launching point for recreational boaters, while Yellow Fleet Watersports just to the south rents out jet skis. Numerous sports fishing and deep sea fishing charters operate from the southwestern corner of the park, and food trucks gather here for a unique alfresco dining event. The southern stretch of Haulover Beach does require bathing suits and is ideal for families, with a kite shop nearby which keeps this long-established Miami Beach tradition alive. Visitors can hire beach chairs and umbrellas along the coast of Haulover Beach Park, and there are lots of palm tree-backed picnic grounds throughout which are popular with locals on weekends and holidays.
Collins Avenue is the main thoroughfare which runs north to south through Haulover Beach Park, with numerous public bus stops along its route. There are a number of paid parking lots available, from where it’s just a short walk east to the beach. Haulover Beach Park is also a picturesque spot to explore by bicycle or on foot along its walking trails.
Previously home to a lighthouse restaurant and charter boat piers, the land was purchased by the Dade County Commission in 1940 with plans to design a public park. While developments were put on hold during World War II, they resumed in 1945 and Haulover Beach Park was officially opened in 1948.