Blue Heron Foster Park

Blue heron foster park is an amazing place for anyone who is up for an adventure ! It’s a great place for snorkeling or diving. I have done both and both experience is completely different on the same trail. Of course both experience was just as great.
The trail lines up along the beach, not too far out and not too deep. There are all sorts of sea life to see and if your snorkeling, you can still dive down to the coral or man made sites with shopping carts and statues. There is even a sunken boat that you can dive down if your snorkeling. It’s about 11ft deep, but be aware there are deeper pockets on this trail.
If your a diver, the bridge part is amazing! Full of wild sea life under that bridge with another sunken boat that became a home for many sea creatures. It’s definitely much deeper than the trail, we got to about 38ft today. Diving the trail itself was so different than snorkeling, in a sense where we actually saw it from below versus above. Seeing the fishes up close and personal was so much better than free diving down when you snorkle.
We have seen sting rays to star fishes at this dive site.
They do offer gear rental here, which I definitely won’t use them if you can help bringing your own. It’s quite expensive to rent, we should know when we forgot our snorkle gears one time. Great convenience for when issues like this happen, but try to avoid if you can.
The biggest tip I can suggest with this park, BRING FOOD OR SNACKS !!! There are no vending machines for drinks or snacks anywhere in site at this park… no food trucks or café either!

I enjoy the laid back atmosphere and bartenders, the food is always good and the beer is always fresh and carbonated (the exception for most bars), happy hour is $ 4 pints of quality beer and not just for water (aka bud light). The prices here have gone up over the years and I would say have reached a limit for me. They do have food special but even then are somewhat pricey. Soccer Saturday mornings can be fun with drink specials. Except for the price this place is very good

Thanks to the bartender at The Brass Tap (Boynton Beach) for the heads up! While this is almost a 30 minute drive from where I’m staying, it’s worth every minute.
First up — Parking is free at Phil Foster Memorial Park for cars. Of the beaches I’ve visited, this is the first one I’ve found with free parking. (be sure to check before you come in case it’s changed)
Per Laura W — I got the same tip — Check the tides for best visibility. The best times for snorkeling/​diving are the 30 minutes prior to and after high tide. You can find schedules online easily. I can’t speak to the clear waters at the Keys or otherwise, but for an excursion that costs zero dollars (if you already have a mask and snorkel or the few bucks to rent one) I don’t mind that the water isn’t 100% clear. Hello, it’s mother nature, not a theme park.
In addition — make sure you’re at the park prior to that half hour or you’ll be hurting for parking. Everyone seems to know the same secret! I got there a little «late» once and had to circle a few times. I can’t speak to weekends — I only went on week days.
While you’ll see a lot of divers, all that you need to see fish is a mask and snorkel. Fins are helpful, especially if you want to dive under and get a closer look at the fish. Divers and some snorkelers have flags since the swim area is right near where the boats go so that helped me find where to head to look for the trail, but I didn’t have one. Use caution, but going around high tide helps ensure that their isn’t too much water current. I saw people of all ages enjoying the sights!
Sights: I saw a tons of tropical fish! I couldn’t even count the types of fish I saw at this point. I also spotted star fish, a spotted ray, crabs, snails, and more fish! Some of the fish swim pretty close which was really awesome. Under water there is a man made «Snorkel Trail» where items have been purposely placed to create a refuge for the fish and a sight for the humans. It was a project completed by the community/​city. (be sure to read about it!)
One of the most conflicting parts I saw were sunken grocery carts. It was saddening to me to see our discarded trash on the floor of the water, but the fish had adapted and were making homes of it just as they were the artificial reefs that were placed around the same time. Also there were two sunken boats, a few cinder block towers (with an Eagle Scout plaque) and some cool hammer head statues.
The beach area where you enter the water is under the bridge so nearly the entire beach area is shaded. This is great for children, people sensitive to the sun or anyone looking to escape So Florida heat for a bit.
There are tables, bbqs and pavilions for use. I haven’t (and probably won’t) been on a weekend, but during the week in July there have been tables and bbqs available in the late afternoon. Plus great views all around!
Also, right around the corner from snorkeling… a fishing pier. Ha!
Ps: Sorry to all those with a Go-​pro filming that got a glimpse of my white belly in the background as I dove down into your shot. Whoops!

Great spot for snorkeling or diving beginners. Cool trail with sign showing trail. Be careful. very close to the channel where there are many drink boaters

I live in Fort Lauderdale, so this is about an hour’s drive for me. We tried snorkeling here once before, but the visibility was terrible, and there were moon jellies in the water.
It was the life guard that clued us in to the simple trick – to get any decent snorkeling, you need to get in the water 30 minutes before high tide, when the water is the clearest.
So we went back. And of course, because it is high tide in the afternoon, on a weekend, there is no parking. Difficult to find parking, but we eventually landed a spot on a side street.
The visibility was better this time, and we did see fish – parrotfish, cardinalfish, queen angelfish. We even saw a spotted eagle ray, which was probably the best thing we saw in the hour.
But in about the same amount of time, I could have driven to the Keys, and snorkeled the reefs. It would have cost more, but it would have been way better. Blue Heron is free, and it can be interesting, but I think the reefs off the Keys beat in hands down.
You need to bring a dive buoy; there is a lot of boating activity nearby.

How come there are no reviews! This by far is the best beach for little ones that I’ve ever been to (and I’m from Huntington Beach, CA!) the water is so shallow, calm and warm… perfect for my newly walking one year old. It’s directly under the bridge so there’s lots of shade. Just a few steps from the beach is the covered playground with nearly new equipment. This is very well kept and also has a life guard on duty. My parents live across the bridge and they told me this place is crazy packed on the weekends. We went on a Wednesday morning and it was pretty empty. The park is huge I saw a launching dock, people snorkeling and also scuba diving. I intend to visit this beach everyday while I’m here on vacay!