Shore Diving Fort Lauderdale: Vista Park Reef

Another great beach dive in Fort Lauderdale: Vista Park Reef. Best accessed by two city parks, this beach dive is one of the best in the area. A MUST see for any South Florida diver.

Diving Vista Park Reef Beach Site:

We’ve broken this reef down into two sections: north and south. The northern end is referred to as Oakland Park Reef. The southern end is Vista Park Reef. This dive guide is in reference to the southern portion (blue area on the map).

Beach Dives in Fort Lauderdale: Vista Park Reef Overview

Fort Lauderdale is one of the world’s premier beach diving locations and luckily for you and me, it’s still kind of a secret.

In fact, the coral reef found in Fort Lauderdale is apart of the larger, Florida Reef Tract (the third longest barrier reef system in the world)! Fort Lauderdale’s portion of this reef has three tiers:

• The first is closest to shore and sits in about 15 feet of water. These sites can usually be accessed simply by swimming from the beach.
• The second is farther east and rests between 20 – 30 feet of water. Many dive shops in the area will go here.
• The third is farthest from shore at about 45 – 60 feet before dropping off into much deeper, offshore waters.

Vista Park Reef is part of this first tier, which also makes it an ideal location for snorkeling!

This section of reef also serves as a great area for lobstering and hunting lionfish, while also often used by local shops for scuba lessons!

Getting to Vista Park Reef

The reef can be accessed from two different parks: Loggerhead Park and Vista Park (hence the name, Vista Park Reef). The two are nearly identical except for one small difference: picnic tables!

It may seem silly, but Loggerhead Park is our preferred launch destination because of the picnic tables. Why? It makes setting up gear WAY easier! Duh! The picnic tables are directly on the beach so once you’re ready, it’s an easy hop, skip and a jump over to the water!

Vista Park is just as feasible to get to the reef, though. So wherever parking is available will probably determine which park you go to! Each park has about 10 spots and they’re only a block away from each other.

But back to diving. Your gear is set and it’s time to get in the water. After walking off the beach, you’ll swim for approximately 600 feet before seeing a vibrant coral reef about 15 feet below the surface! It’s time to descend!

A NOTE ON SAFETY: You MUST use a dive flag here.

Navigation and Layout of Vista Park Reef:

Like all other reef tracts in Fort Lauderdale, the reef runs north and south (parallel to shore). The reef is a few hundred feet wide (east to west), so going too far east into the Atlantic shouldn’t be an issue. But a good rule of thumb is: if you’re in nothing but sand, you’ve gone too far.

Our advice: treat it like a drift dive! Roam around and check out anything that looks interesting! Just keep a general north and south direction.

What you may see shore diving in Fort Lauderdale:

Anything and everything a coral reef site would have! Between the months of March and October, you may even run into a sea turtle or two! Just keep our tips on how to help sea turtles in mind!

For more on what you might see, check out our articles below:

• Common Sharks Seen While Diving in Florida
• Sea Turtles of Florida
• Coolest Ocean Animals in Florida
• 5+ Marine Life ID Resources in Florida

Resources and Gear for this Dive:

This dive requires a dive flag and a reel (links will take to Amazon to see an affordable, yet effective option for both).

Dive Planning Resources for Shore Diving in Fort Lauderdale.

As far as guides, Reef Smart Guides has a handy book that we use for all of our diving in the area.

For more: 23+ Dive Planning Resources in South Florida

What Dive Shops are near Vista Park Reef?

Just down the street on Oakland Park Boulevard is a great little shop, Pineapple Scuba. Up the road in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea are two additional shops:

• Gold Coast Scuba
• Deep Blue Divers

We honestly don’t have a preference of one or the other. It’s just whatever is most convenient for you!

For more: Dive Shops in Fort Lauderdale

Help Protect the Coral Reef During Your Dive

Sunscreen! Shocking, I know! In fact, many popular sunscreen brands contain extremely harmful chemicals to our coral! Specifically, oxybenzone and octinoxate.

Because of this, we’ve partnered with our favorite brand of reef safe sunscreen, Stream2Sea! We want to get YOU discounts so you can help save our coral reefs with reef safe sunscreen!