Stuart Beach

Stuart Beach is where the island goes when it wants everything in one place. The park has lifeguard stands, a café on the dune that serves breakfast and fish sandwiches, basketball and beach volleyball courts, a playground, showers and a raised boardwalk through the sea grapes that is the easiest way onto the sand with a cart or a stroller.

The beach itself is wide and straight, with a sandbar a hundred yards out that makes the surf break twice on a bigger day. Surfers use the north end, families the middle, and the south end thins out toward the small access points that the locals prefer. The water is clear in winter and greener in summer.

It is the island’s busiest beach and the easiest to reach: straight across the Stuart causeway, left at A1A and the lot is on the right. The Elliott Museum and the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center are across the road, which makes this the natural base for a day that mixes sand and museums. Dogs are not allowed on the sand, but the raised boardwalk through the sea grapes is a fine short walk with one on a lead.

Good to know

• The café opens early and the breakfast crowd takes the picnic tables by 8 am.
• The north end is the surfing end; swim between the flags in the middle.
• Showers and restrooms are at the top of the boardwalk.
• The lot is the biggest on the island and still fills on winter weekends by 11 am.
• Dogs are not allowed on the sand.