John U Lloyd Beach State Park

I love this place. Great beach with lots of different spots, lots of parking and bathrooms, outside showers, rentals. The gate people are generally pretty friendly. You will usually see a cute racoon or two, you can have dogs on the path and picnic area (not the beach, but it’s like 5 ft away). Generally not too crazy busy. We like to snorkel here.

John U. Lloyd Beach State Park is a huge compound with lots to see and do. I’ve been here so many times and have yet to grow tired of coming here. There’s a restaurant, there’s kayaking, boat ramps, huge pavilions, picnic tables, a boardwalk, tons of parking, and a beach that will make you forget where you are. In a good way.

This place is better than Oleta for kayaking. Be prepared to wait in your car to get to the entrance. Kayaks a little off the beaten path, but cheaper and a nicer day out.

The perfect beach and state park. They lose a star for the beach erosion so very little beach in some spots. Perhaps they should guide you where there is beach to lay out in and where not to go. Otherwise it is great plenty of parking even in season on a holiday week. The beach itself and surrounding areas are clean. Plenty of places to bar b q.
This beach is particularly special as I got married here earlier this year at sunset. Suggested by our photographer perfect for photo opportunities.

Finally a great place to rent a kayak in Hollywood. Good location, helpful and fast staff. Will come back soon.

DONT BOTHER GOING TO THE HAUNTED TRAILS! It is a complete joke. Lol
I called during the day to see how much admission was for the hunted trails, the lady told me $ 10 .
Suddenly it rises $ 5 dollars at night? So you have to pay for the admission of the park at the gate also the admission of the CRAPPY trail lol total of $ 33.00 for 2 people.
Lol the lady (little girl) at the entrance of the trail was super rude about me telling her what the other lady told me.
Their make up was horrible, lol it’s a whole bunch of little kids screaming at you at the trail. And it’s really disorganized, you just don’t know which way to go .
You basically get robbed paying $ 15.00 at the entrance for the trail.
Id rather much go to flamingo gardens trails !

Perfect beach! We have two younger kids, 2 and 4, and it was a blast. We’re staying in Pompano beach, and while a really nice beach, it drops off fairly quickly. This beach was shallow for quite a ways out, and the water was really calm (probably depends on the day for that of course). Within site there were only 3 other people, so it was very private. Planes fly overhead, so if you’re looking for perfect silence, this isn’t it, but our kids really like to see the planes, so that was fine for us as well.

Love. If you boat, jet ski, paddle board, or kayak, this is the spot. Just pull your boat up to Whiskey Creek, jump in the water, or head over to the beach side and enjoy a much more secluded beach-​going experience. Much more peaceful than the hustling and bustling Hollywood Beach.
One stinky rule– no alcohol is permitted, unless you buy it from their concession stand. So be sure to not be too obvious or the park rangers will make you toss it or fine you.
You can rent kayaks and paddle boards, and cruise through the mangroves. The boats are in a no-​wake zone, so you don’t really have to worry much about them.
There are also pavilions and I believe they have grills, so this is also a great spot for a party. Definitely worth the small admission price!

This is a great beach if you come during off-​peak times (like today, a Wednesday, at 12:30 pm) because it’s practically empty. When I went in the water, I felt like I had the whole beach to myself. It was a very serene feeling. It does get extremely busy with cookouts and parties on the weekend. I have taken my bike here, but there’s no real trail, you still share the road with cars. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’ve never visited. Today’s admission was $ 4.00.

Fantastic place to see the ships leave and wave Bön Voyage to cruisers leaving Fort Lauderdale!
Our friends venture here on a regular basis, so we joined them recently. If you’re there to watch ships leave, park in the furthest lot in the park, walk past the restrooms (which are really clean, by the way!), and continue along the path out to the pier. We walked along the pier with our beach chairs and parked ourselves about halfway out, where we relaxed, kabitzed, and then waved one by one as the ships left port and the cruisers reveled in our send-​off.
Fantastic location, lots of sunshine, and a nice breeze on your face to keep you somewhat cool. We’ll be back.

The best kids party spot ever! We had so much fun at Max’s 5^th birthday pirate party at John Lloyd park. The staff was super helpful and very kind.
The Manatee Pavilion was perfect! It couldn’t have been any better! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed theirselves.
We will definitely host more parties here in the future. Thanks so much for treating our event like royalty!
It was a really nice and large pavilion with water and power provided… and the most helpful employees. They were absolutely fabulous! They were so kind to us.
I highly recommend this place for any event. You won’t be disappointed!
Five stars!
Thanks to all the staff for making Max’s 5^th birthday party so memorable!
We had a blast!

A beautiful strip of barrier island beach! This beach is truly a hidden gem, with great surf, swaying palms, and picturesque native vegetation. Near a shipping channel, this affords interesting views of massive cargo ships coming into port. If you’re lucky, you might catch sight of a U.S. Nuclear submarine maneuvering right off shore here.
A Florida state park, there are pavilion facilities here for large get-​togethers.

A great beach state park to go to for a day out with the family, friends or just to chill at the beach. There are pavilions available on the beach that you can reserve. There is a small fee for entrance to the park:
Admission Fee:
$ 6.00 per vehicle. Limit 2 – 8 people per vehicle.
$ 4.00 Single-​occupant vehicle or motorcycle.
$ 2.00 Pedestrians, bicyclists, extra passengers, passengers in vehicle with holder of Annual Individual Entrance Pass.
Boat Launch Fee: $ 9.00
If you’re interested in watching the ships leave port in the evenings, the Jetty at the far north end. In the fall/​winter you will see anywhere for 4 – 6 ships leaving from port on a typical weekend.
The park is well maintained and in fact last year they did some remodeling of the bathrooms. The rangers are always very friendly when you drive up and have a great personality and willingness to answer any questions you might have.
Looking forward to our next great day at the John U Lloyd Beach State Park.

Running on the sand will kick your butt. Running on the sand at this park will still kick your butt (and thighs, hamstrings, calves and so on), but with breathtaking views if you are an ocean lover/​beach bunny like me.
From parking lot #1 all the way to the jetty at the other end of the sand it’s about 2.2 miles. Round trip (back and forth) equals 4.4 miles… And makes for a helluva a great run! My whole lower body was sore the next day!
Sea oats and restored beach land on one side, sandy beach on the other if you’re running beside the ocean. A few yards back a beautiful green palms and tropically wooded area leads to another less sandy trail (which makes for an easier and sturdier ground to run on).
Further back along that trail are outlets to the bridges over natural intercostal swamp like views that lead to various parking lots. There are plenty of spaces; at least when I went on a hot (82 degrees) winter day in January there were.
I saw a handful of families swimming, walking and playing in the sand, or even fishing from the jetty. There were also plenty of clean public restrooms near each parking lot (towards the sand across the bridge).
I paid $ 4 to get into the park. I am not sure if I would pay it ALL the time, but it’s totally worth at least a visit or two. This has definitely been one of the most serene visits I’ve had to a beach in Southern Florida, thus far.
Enjoy!

On the weekends its loaded with local latino birthday picnickers and extremely noisy. During the week its loaded with construction workers and students and employees and coast guards and Quebec license plates and is noisy.
If you try to run or bike before 9am you will not be able to get in from the gate or the beach side — where there is usually a ranger who interrogates you and then tells you that the park is not ready.
at the southern edge between the bridge and park entrance many homeless people do sleep through the nights.
bathrooms are alright. there is a closed concession, planes flying overhead every 5 minutes, as it is directly in front of Ft. Lauderdale airport. Cruise ships blow horn and party noise carries, so do their overboard mostly fruit items and toiletries.
the park staff is unusually grumpy and rude. I have witnessed one of them closing the metal bar over a byciclist’s head to ‘show him’ who the boss. Never mind she could have killed him or knocekd him unconscious. she smiled victoriously.
the beach has eroded a lot and it is always very dirty. I have found no less than a dozen snorkling masks, sunglasses, flip flops, empty every kind of bottle, a full blender, boat parts, clothes, disposable needles and feminine hygiene products.
The vegetation is nice, although there may be ocassional homeless people living there and also certain sexual activity does occur. Racoons are friendly. Nighttime picnic rentals are allowed. Weddings happen here. Boats cannot get too close to shore or the park attendants go ballistic.
the water itself is usually very clear.
it maybe inviting to go topless in certain sections, but creepy creeps do go around and there is no shortage of eyes all over the place.
sadly, it is one of the few ‘nice’ places left in South Florida.

This park has seen its better days. No canoeing, no kayaking, no concession stand, no real hiking trails, not much of anything except the beach. The park appeared to be about a mile long. At the end of the park road, my friend commented about the buildings on the left and she used the words «bomb shelter». We both laughed but the depreciation of this park is no laughing matter. I last visited the park over 20 years ago, and was a bit suprised of the changes.
However, the beach is always cool and there are some barbeques sprinkled along the park. The $ 6 car entrance (with passengers) is not bad considering the beach meter prices nearby. And the park is much more secluded than other beaches. So if you go just to relax and enjoy the beach then the park is ok for sure.
I took some friends (who had never been) and intended to show off the park a little bit. But I guess all I showed off was that I was out of the loop. It was fun nonetheless but now I know what I can expect.

Nice beach, my family and I had a great time enjoying the waves and the family environment. They have a nice area for barbecuing as well and a very convenient bathroom. Oh and parking was $ 6… Make sure you have the exact amount because the guy wasn’t too happy to get a $ 20 lol :)

Of all the beaches I’ve been to in South Florida, this is by far my favorite! The park is gorgeous, the scenery, the manatee sanctuary, parking — everything about this place is great. There is so much peace and tranquility, this is my new favorite beach.

This a beautiful, tranquil sanctuary. A hidden gem in Dania Beach that offers a picturesque taste of South Florida’s natural beauty and wildlife. A perfect spot to paddle board, fish, soak up the sun, kayak, boat, and swim. I love coming here to decompress and remind myself of the amazing wild, undeveloped side of South Florida.

Most of the time I come into this park by boat, swing off of the Intracoastal onto Whiskey Creek where there is a boat dock (only a couple of boats can fit), boat ramps and often times to the relief and delight of my beer drinking passengers, rest room facilities.
I can also continue just a short way on up Whiskey Creek (supposedly deriving its name from the «Rum Runner Days» of prohibition) just past the Loggerhead Café, pulling the bow of my boat up onto the sandy shores of the creek.
The area was once far more beautiful than it is today, having had huge spreading Australian pines offering plenty of shade but someone of the powers to be thought it good to cut down and destroy all of those magnificent shade trees deeming them «invasive» and replace them with native Florida trees and plants. Well, unfortunately as any old native of the area will tell you, the native flora along our beachside was always of a rather scrubby nature, offering little if any shade and generally rather lacking in beauty.
The park also offers some good amenities such as the Loggerhead Café. The food isn’t anything to brag about but the setting is pleasant, the food though nothing exemplarily is more than adequate, it’s outside decking pleasant and there is a nearby rental for canoes.
And yes! My favorite! It offers some great opportunities for wildlife (no silly, not beer parties), as in bird and manatee, if you’re lucky, observations.