They should rename this - "No Reef Park" A year ago there was a really cool man made reef just off that beach that was full of schools of all sorts of fish and even some larger fish. Now the reefs are all but gone. However, the $16 parking remains. It's $18 per car on the weekends and "official" holidays. The park itself is fairly nice with decent facilities, but there are equally nice parks around that don't charge for parking or use. read more

Beautiful beach! They have easy walkway to gain access to the beach it's right next to the golf course and close proximity to Gumbo Limbo! There is a daily fee of $16 dollars but well worth the price for the cleanliness, lifeguard and beautiful walkway. Here's a tip to use the outdoor shower you need to push in the button not twist it. Looking forward to our next trip to Boca just to return to this beach! read more

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Okay, hear me out... I am a resident Florida for 25 years now and I have explored much of the Gold Coast. In fact my fiance and I live in delray beach just a 3 minute walk from the beach. I haven't been going online in search of a reef that I can snorkel that is right off the beach. Several websites boast the beauty of rhe snorkeling at Red reef park. If you park at the park you are charged $16 at the gate... Or you can go across the street and pay hourly a day lesser rate. When we walk on the beach and asked the lifeguard wear the best free snorkeling it is he informed us that all of the reef was gone. He said that the dredging in combination with Sandy had covered the reef with sand... I was Very disappointed to have left my awesome beach spot that is walking distance to DRIVE to a park that has no added This speech is nothing special without the reef... I believe that it is misleading and a waste of money to visit this park. I want to be clear, by do not hate any beach however, Southeast Florida has beaches and beaches and beaches... So to go to this one would be a shame and costly. read more

Judd, I am willing to bet that you are not a native of Boca or Florida for that matter. I do agree with you on the "High" price keeping out the Rif-Raf though. I am willing to pay the price in order to avoid the people that visit Ft.Lauderdale Beach (ghetto). read more

For some reasons featured as free beach which it's not, it's $20 parking, but other then that it's a decent place.

This is a great place to hangout, snorkel and swim. It's pricey to park @ $19.00 per vehicle. However the man made reef is great, it has lots of fish to see, crabs and some corals starting to form. A boat trip is 2-3times the price so, just pay and enjoy. read more

Love it here. Great for kids and families and a decent beach - not too crowded if you time it right. The only con? Expensive parking. ($15). read more

Nice clean beach. Parking is too expensive. You're at the beach not a 5 star restaurant!

First of all, parking is $18 for the park. Save some money and park right across the street at the golf course for $2/hr. Second, if you're coming here to snorkel, think again. The reef has been mostly burried due to erosion, don't waste you're time. And third, the water visibility is pretty awful. All in all it's good if you just want to go to a beach without a lot of people around. read more

This review is about snorkeling only. Before going to Red Reef Park specifically to snorkel I checked out the reviews. Based on the positive ones my boyfriend and I drove there from Fort Lauderdale. When we got there, the lifeguard basically laughed at us carrying our inflatable flag when we asked where we should snorkel. He said the reef has been gone for 10 years and no one snorkels here. He pointed at a man made rock and said that's it. Parking is $18 on the weekend and that's just price gouging. So basically we blew $18 to walk around a kiddy pool. On top of my shock, it was low tide and you are only permitted to go out 50 yards. There is nothing to see here. Other than than that it seemed like an OK park but not worth $18. read more

This beach is very nice and clean. The water is blue and sand is almost white. I like this beach because it's not overly crowded and easy to get to. read more

Parking fee is high but worth the money. I am just very disappointed about the reefs. They are all gone basically. I have been going there for 20 years and enjoyed great sights . now that I have children they wont be able to see them like I did. :( read more

$20 to park your car? Ridiculous. Sometimes Boca thinks too much of itself. There are plenty of other beaches in PBC and Broward that are just as beautiful. read more

One of my favorite beaches in Palm Beach county. Not as crowded as other places and like that it's well taken care of.

I love this park! There is a lot to offer. You can fish & snorkel. Playgrounds and BBQ areas. read more

It's a nice family friendly area. Plenty of parking even though it costs $17 to park. It's a nice place for the family and amateur snorkelers. The park has playgrounds for children and BBQ areas which makes for a great family outing. read more

There is no more reef and so the name of the park is misleading. People should be told at the entrance that the reef is gone. Nice clean beach but the ONLY reason me, my family & friends go there was to snorkel. For a nice beach, we can now go anywhere - so bye bye red reef. read more

My husband and I made a stop here on our way to Hollywood and it was a nice surprise. We stopped at the nature center a couple blocks down and then headed to the beach after getting directions from the staff. The parking is $16 a day which isn't bad considering I've paid more in downtown Chicago to park in an ugly underground lot ($27 a day under grant park if you're ever there). The park had a nice changing/bathroom area and a place to shower off when you are done at the beach. The sand was mostly clean, though there were bits of garbage which is not unusual, and it was definitely less crowded than I expected it to be. The water was pretty nice and it was mostly families and older 20 somethings on the beach. I'm not one for crowds so I appreciated this factor. If I'm ever down this way again I'm definitely going to make a stop and make sure you pop in the nature center too! read more

Plenty other places to go to that offer more. The only justification i can make for spending $18 is a for a visit 5 plus hours. The reef is good for kids as it is so close to shore but it is small and not what I was expecting. This is not a place i will go to in the near future. read more

Red reef park is as good as it gets in this part of South Florida. There isn't a lot of parking so go early. There's a lot of bar-b-q areas. The beach is clean. MANY lifeguards are on staff. And there is a cool reel for snorkeling**. But its not what is used to be. Several years ago a hurricane covered the reef with sand. The main reef starts at the beach and is about 30 feet wide and 60 feet long. Its made out of large stacked boulders. The reef is always loaded with huge fish and its a lot of fun to to swim around. The deep side of the reef is 5 feet of water. Shallow si about a foot. So leave the find and scuba tanks at home. This is really just a reef for kids. There are 4 patch reefs in about 7 feet of water to the south by a hundred yards but I haven't ever been out to see them. Fishing is also NOT permitted while the lifeguards are on duty. But its perfectly ok to fish before or after they are in the tower. read more

a stretch of beach with parks, bbq areas, and a man-made reef right off the shore for snorkling. given that we went on a sunday, it was pretty packed but not as bad as hanauma bay back home. conversely, the water wasn't as clear and the fish weren't as abundant as in hawaii, but red reef did offer some good snorkling. we probably saw about 20 or so varieties of fish darting in and out of the reefs. we didn't see any, but turtles and stingrays can also be seen here. head out to the farther reefs for less crowds and more fish. parking was $18. read more

Nice park but like others have said, there is no actual reef just rocks in some areas. There are a good amount of lifeguards on site, which frequently whistled people away from the rocks. The beach itself was beautiful, never too crowded, and there are plenty of outdoor showers around the picnic areas. Parking is a little pricey, $16 for a day on the weekdays and $18 for a weekend day, although they do allow you to come and go as you please so keep your receipt! The second day at the park we just parked across the street with the golf course parking and this is a bit more cost effective as it is pay by the hour. We enjoyed our time at this beach/park and loved the more secluded feel than you get at many beaches. We would definitely return when in Boca! read more

It is a great park. It cost so much because residents do not need the riff raft coming up from Miami or tourist Flooding the beaches we take pride in. Go to Fort Lauderdale Beach and you can get the idea. read more

A large group of friends from the Miami Sierra Club went to snorkel in the artificial reefs last Sunday, July 29th, 2012, but we were extremely disappointed to find out that the reefs are gone, buried in sand, thanks to a beach renourrishment project. (Was that really necessary? Where did the fish go, now that they have no protection???) $18 for parking is a steep fee, but we never objected to paying it, as long as we could enjoy snorkeling with beautiful fish, as we had done many times before. I contacted the City of Boca Raton for explanations, and I suggested they build a new artificial reef in the water- after all, this park is still wrongly called "Red Reef", and people from all over come to it for snorkeling. A very nice official responded promply and eplained about the beach renourrishment project, adding that a new artificial reef was next to impossible. What a shame! My friends and I will no longer go to this park- it has lost its uniqueness: there are plenty of beautiful beaches in South Florida, where one doesn't have to pay an arm and a leg to get in. We used to spend quite a bit of money in the area, too, since we usually stayed over and had dinner at local restaurants.I must add that the bathrooms were a mess- dirty, no toilet paper, no locks on the stall doors, etc. read more