LIONFISH DESTINATIONS: Fort Lauderdale

In our quest to expunge invasive lionfish from the Western Atlantic, we’ve landed in Fort Lauderdale – South Florida’s premier diving destination.

There’s a difference between hopefully searching for lionfish and hunting for lionfish. You may still be hopefully searching, but this series will get you hunting in no time. So grab your Zookeeper and a spear, this lionfish destination is waiting for you.

Hunting Lionfish in Fort Lauderdale

Admittedly, we do live here – so we may be a bit biased. But I promise you, there is a reason we call Fort Lauderdale home.

And that’s because the diving is exceptional. A three tier coral reef system combined with 76 shipwrecks and counting; the waters of Fort Lauderdale are essentially an underwater playground!

It provides divers like you plenty to see and plenty to do. In fact, you may never get bored and who knows? You might not leave if you visit! That’s something I can attest to.

But the cherry on top for Fort Lauderdale is the plethora of underwater hunting opportunities. Fresh seafood is served up on a nightly basis. Particularly, lobster and that pesky invasive species, lionfish!

In fact, the underwater landscape is running rampant with lionfish and the deep coral reefs are some of the most fertile hunting grounds in Florida!

HOT TAKE: If lionfish are bad for the environment, why do we rejoice when we find them? Or sulk when we don’t? It’s an interesting paradox we discuss here.

Where is Fort Lauderdale?

Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, Fort Lauderdale is a major city apart of the larger Miami-metro area. It’s famous for its cruise port, extensive waterways, and dazzling coral reef steps from shore.

Additionally, Fort Lauderdale is home to one of the busiest airports in the United States (FLL). Flights on Skyscanner are usually cheap to fly direct into town.

Who to Dive With in Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale is home to two main dive charters: Sea Experience and American Dream. A few other small operations run dive trips out of the port too, but booking a trip with one or the other should get you where you need to go.

READ MORE: Finding You the Best Dive Shop in Fort Lauderdale

Booking your hunting trip

As I mentioned earlier, Fort Lauderdale is home to a three tier coral reef system – a small sliver of the larger Florida Reef Tract. Beginning near shore, each tier progressively descends – culminating to “Third Reef” which extends between 60 and 100 feet below the surface. This is where the lionfish live.

Both dive charters run weekly trips to this section of reef. Just call each shop and ask for a hunting trip to “Third Reef” – they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.

Best Dive Sites to find Lionfish in Fort Lauderdale

What we’ve found while diving in South Florida is popular dive sites often contain less lionfish. Fort Lauderdale is no different.

I mean, it makes sense. More divers = more hunters = less lionfish. A good problem to have. But not if you want to hunt!

So when booking, avoid any popular shipwrecks as they’re usually picked clean of lionfish (obviously, that’s not to say you can’t find any there). Rather, select deep coral reefs in the 60 – 100′ range.

Why? It’s an immense amount of habitat that’s lightly trafficked. And even if it is highly trafficked, those pesky lionfish always seem to make a comeback regardless!

Specifically, our favorite sites are Hammerhead Reef and the Mercedes. Although the Mercedes is a popular shipwreck, the surrounding coral reef seems to replenish the invasive species on cue.

What Lionfish Hunting Gear to Bring

These are the few pieces of gear we recommend using when hunting lionfish:

What to Expect: Recapping Our Experience

DISCLOSURE: We are affiliated with a local dive shop in town and get to dive the reefs often. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to showcase what a hunting trip would look like if you were to climb aboard Sea Experience or American Dream.

Hunting the dive sites

The most often visited section of Third Reef is Hammerhead Reef. It’s close. It’s convenient. And it’s packed full of lionfish.

The winding spur and groove channels give lionfish – and other marine life – an immense amount of habitat. Small ledges, cracks, crevices, and fields of colorful coral line each groove with fish, eels, sea turtles, and sharks often nestled amidst the landscape.

Spur and groove formations are a geomorphic feature of many coral reefs. They are ridges of reef formed by coral “spurs” separated by channels “grooves” which often have sediment or rubble bed.

Wikipedia’s definition of Spur and Groove Formations

These are the spots we like to start our hunt – towards the east and deep. Like 80 – 90 feet deep. Just make a request to the Captain to drop you off on this section – they’ll happily oblige.

After descending and getting your bearings straight, follow along a spur and groove formation westward (shoreward) picking off any lionfish you encounter. You’ll get progressively shallower eventually dropping off a prominent ledge. This is the main section of Hammerhead Reef – and one of the most beautiful reef structures in all of South Florida.

By now, you’ve likely bagged a few lionfish with plenty of room for more. And good news – swimming along the ledge is certain to reveal a fruitful harvest. They’re everywhere.

Scan the ledge up and down, side to side, and front to back. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ll discover a previously unnoticed lionfish simply by looking behind me – the alternate vantage point tends to reveal new hiding spots.

Dive #2

Now what you do for your second dive is entirely up to the Captain of the day. Sometimes, you’ll double dip on Hammerhead Reef. Other days, you’ll head to the shallower, nearby Barracuda Reef.

If possible, we highly recommend asking for a double dip on the deeper reefs after a short surface interval. They’re much more fruitful for lionfish than the shallower reefs in the area.

Good luck and have fun!!

LIONFISH DESTINATIONS: Fort Lauderdale Final Thoughts

We want you to stop hopefully searching for lionfish and start hunting them – Fort Lauderdale is a great place to start!

Sure, you have the artificial reefs in the Florida panhandle where you can walk up and slaughter dozens of lionfish at a time. But here in Fort Lauderdale, and South Florida in general, it feels like an actual hunt.

You need vision, instinct, and a hunting prowess. It’s a challenge. And a rewarding one, at that. So next time you’re looking for a lionfish hunting destination, consider Fort Lauderdale. Our coral reefs are depending on you!