come ashore Visiting the mile

The beach you get

This is the stretch of Fort Lauderdale beach north of Oakland Park Boulevard. The towers stand between Galt Ocean Drive and the sand, so you can walk to the water without crossing A1A.

It's a wide, residential shore facing the Atlantic. Las Olas and the central beach are a different stretch, farther south on the barrier island, and the town past the north line is Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. If you want the whole run of sand, from the bottom of Fort Lauderdale beach up to Pompano, that's the beach strip. Here you get the sand, a pharmacy, and dinner you can walk to; see where to eat.

Two streets, one block apart

Galt Ocean Drive is the beach street. North Ocean Boulevard, which is A1A, runs one block west and is the working street, with the marketplace, the pharmacy and the bank. An address on one isn't an address on the other, so give your ride-share the right street or you'll be dropped off a block from the door.

From the mainland, the south approach is Oakland Park Boulevard, which crosses the Intracoastal and ends at the ocean. That bridge is the dividing line between this mile and the busier beach to the south.

Spring break

From March through mid-April, spring break comes to this mile, and the guests stay in the buildings. Ocean Manor at 4040 Galt Ocean Drive is one of them, and Bamboo Beach, at the same address, is open until 2:00 AM, or 3:00 AM on Friday and Saturday. The season has its own page, spring break on the mile, and for what's on right now, see this weekend.

A visit here comes down to the sand in front of the towers, A1A between the bridge and the town line, and the restaurants on both streets; dinner options are on the eat page. If you're headed to the central beach anyway, it's covered on the barrier-island page.

On the sand

The lifeguard towers on this stretch are the city's. Turtle season runs from spring into fall, and the beach page has the nesting notes and the hotline.