Located between the town of Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is a little piece of paradise (surrounded by the rest of paradise). While every destination in Florida is great, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is a wonderful choice for families and couples looking to get away. With a hopping night life, two close piers, coral reefs close to shore, good food, a relatively short drive to the Everglades, Miami, or the Keys, and an even shorter drive to the Fort Lauderdale International Airport –Lauderdale by the Sea should be your next Florida Vacation Destination!
Where to Stay ● Where to Eat ● What to Do ● Piers ● to the Florida Keys ● to the Everglades
Can’t Read Now? Pin for Later!
Where to Stay in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
While it is technically perfectly situated between Lauderdale by the Sea and Pompano Beach, The Native Sun is a wonderful choice for families or groups of people looking to stay for a whole week! Have a timeshare? You can probably find The Native Sun as an exchange option on RCI.
Location is golden at The Native Sun! A short drive from the Lauderdale by the Sea beach and Commercial Pier, and a short drive from the Pompano Beach Pier.
The Native Sun is a time share property that you can also rent by the week without being a timeshare member. Compared to the sky scraper condos it is surrounded by, The Native Sun is a much smaller and easily navigable. At only 4 stories tall, The Native Sun has a view of the water from each and every room with a central courtyard.
There are many amenities at The Native Sun from a fresh water pool, beach chairs that are free to use, a tennis court, shuffle board, a hot tub, and a small put-put course. Each room at The Native Sun has a full kitchen, making preparing meals and snacks a breeze.
Where to Eat in and Around Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Lucky Fish
Lucky Fish is an awesome beach side bar and restaurant. We had the Ahi Tuna Nacos (OMG – Amazing) and the shrimp tacos (good but not as good as the Ahi Tuna Nachos).
Located next to the Pompano Beach pier, there is so much more to do than just eat delicious food at the Lucky Fish. You can step down to the beach, maybe get a swim in before or after your meal, walk the FREE Pompano Beach Pier, or cast a line into the water and see what you can catch.
A block up from the Lucky Fish there is a playground but at the Lucky Fish you can sit and swing in one of their two adorable wooden swings looking out onto the Pompano Beach and brightly painted lifeguard towers.
Aruba Beach Café
Located next to the Commercial Pier in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, the Aruba Beach Café is a hot spot in a tourist destination. The good was good but the location is what made it excellent. They have copious amounts of seating so even on a busy Saturday night, we didn’t have to wait. The service was a little slow because they were so busy but with views of the beach and plenty of people watching to do, it is easy to pass the time while you wait.
Parking can be hard to come by in this area and you will have to pay to park wherever you go so I highly suggest taking advantage of the $6 valet parking that the Aruba Beach Café offers!
Catfish Deweys
This is a delicious destination that seems to attract a mix of locals and tourists. Catfish Deweys is a fish restaurant with a rotating all-you-can-eat menu during the week. We frequented this spot on a night when their feature was an all-you-can-eat shrimp and catfish and we were not disappointed! Everything was delicious and it was hard not to fill up on their fries and hush puppies. You can choose your shrimp boiled or fried! Not sure if we had a good waitress or if it is company policy but they let us take our leftovers home in a doggy bag (even though it was an all-you-can-eat).
Bahama Breeze
While this spot is part of a chain that seems to cater to tourists, we were tourists and not upset (lol!).
The vibes at Bahama Beach were awesome with brightly decorated walls and ceilings. Everything our table ordered to eat from appetizers to main course was good!
We ate lunch here on our last day and were very disappointed that we were not there during happy hour – they had some of the best drink specials we had seen all week and the drinks looked beautifully prepared! The food is a Caribbean style affair with delicious options for any palate.
What to do in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Obviously one of the best things to do in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is beach, swim, and soak up the sun! Many of the beaches had coral reefs that are close enough for a good swimmer to reach. All of the beaches were well taken care of by city crews who came in and covered up the seaweed and smoothed out the sand during the morning hours and variously throughout the day. Our little one really enjoyed seeing the tractors go down the beach. We stayed during the month of July and there were many sea turtle nests around with crews coming to check on them each day. We were even lucky enough to see a little baby sea turtle on the beach!
A fun thing to do in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is visit the fishing piers that are located in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and in the neighboring town of Pompano Beach. As these are very popular areas, be prepared to pay for parking and possibly pay for access to the pier – read more about the piers here.
If you are up for a drive, you can spend the day driving down to the Florida Keys! Be prepared for slow going traffic and try to visit on a weekday (to avoid the weekend rush). Read more about visiting the Florida Keys from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea here.
The Florida Everglades are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and visiting them is well worth the drive! There are two entrances of the park and one is much closer than the other… Read more about visiting the Everglades from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea here.
Piers in and Around Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Commercial Pier/Anglin’s Fishing Pier
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has its own pier – Commercial Pier/Anglin’s Fishing Pier. This fishing pier is located in the heart of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and is surrounded by good restaurants and little shops. Because this is a very popular spot in the town, be prepared to pay for parking and have a little walk. The pier will also cost $2 per person to walk down the pier and $7 for each person that wants to fish.
With beautiful beaches on either side of the pier and wonderful restaurants it is easy to make a day trip out of a visit to the Anglin’s Fishing Pier
Pompano Beach Pier
Located up the highway from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, the Pompano Beach pier is another popular spot (although not nearly as busy as the area surrounding the Commercial Pier/Anglin’s Fishing Pier). Here you will also have to pay to park – it’s easiest to download the parking app that the parking signs will direct you too.
The Pompano Beach Pier is free to walk down and has a great view of the Pompano Beaches and the brightly painted lifeguard towers. During the evening hours it is light up and beautiful! There will be many fishermen on the pier so the chances are pretty good that you will see one of the pull up a fish.
Recently opened in 2019, the Pompano Beach Pier’s surrounding area is growing and adding new shops and restaurants as we speak!
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to the Florida Keys
Driving to visit the Florida Keys from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea will be a day-long experience but if you have never visited the Florida Keys, it is well worth it! How much time you have (or maybe how much patience your little ones have for the car ride) will determine where in the Florida Keys you will want to go.
The best spot in the Florida Keys to go visit is Bahia Honda State Park. This Florida State Park is a gem of the state. The beaches are beautiful and there is an old railway you can walk up and get a stunning view of the surrounding area. The cost to get into Bahia Honda State Park is $8 per car. Inside the park there is a gift shop and little concession stand but you are more than welcome to bring a cooler with your own drinks and snacks. You will have a little over a 3 hour drive from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to Bahia Honda State Park.
Of all the places in the Florida Keys probably the best known is Key West. This town is at the very end of the Florida Keys and therefore the longest drive (at over 4 hours) from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. It is a fun and beautiful destination filled with many popular tourists sites. If you could, make Key West the star of another vacation because there is so much to do in this town that you could never fit it into one day trip (with 8 hours of driving included).
The closest spot in the Florida Keys to visit from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is Key Largo. This hopping little Florida Keys town is home to the popular John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. At a little under a two hour drive, you can spend most of the day exploring the Florida State Park, grab a bite to eat in town, and head back. If you do play to visit Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park be sure you make reservations in advance for any of the activities you would want to do in the park from kayaking to a tour boat to go snorkel the coral reefs. If you do not want to take any tours in the park, there are two beaches you can go and explore and snorkel.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to the Everglades
Going to the Everglades from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is a day trip! The closest section of the Everglades National Park to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is the Shark Valley entrance at an hour and a half drive. Here you can walk or bike trails to see the wildlife of the Everglades and the unique flora. Another popular activity in the Shark Valley section of the Everglades National Park is to take the tram through this section of the park and see far more than you would on foot. If you want to take the tram, be sure and budget it into your vacation. It is $30 per car to get into the Everglades National Park (and this entrance fee is good for a few days) and $30 per person to ride on the tram.
Griseta Travels 