Yacht watching at Haulover Sandbar

My grandparents moved to Miami when I was 15, and since then, I have spent many vacations there. So every year, besides spending time with my family, I try to do a few different things. Last year I discovered the Haulover Sandbar. 

The Intracoastal is an inland waterway that runs most of the  Atlantic and Gulf coasts of America. It is like a river that runs just alongside the oceans, with several island and inlets. That makes the Intracoastal a great area to navigate since it is more protected than the coast. 

In several areas where the sea and the ocean meet there is the formation of sandbars. In Florida, there are more than 20 of those.    

The tricky part is the Intracoastal on the weekends can be as busy as any road on peak hour. And as on the streets, many choose to ignore the rules, so you have to be very careful navigating. 

What better than spending a day on the water?  Even in April, the water was nice and warm, and with little cloud cover, we could see it would be a great day for boating. My friends and their dogdecided to leave early, less traffic and reasonable changes to get a great spot at the sandbar. Dog and food loaded, we left as the tide was getting high.

The ride there was enjoyable since my friends’ house face the waterway you almost see everything, from people having boxing lessons on the front lawn to the elderly guy having a coffee and reading his paper (print, really!!) like he has probably been doing for years. 

On a little channel, I saw something I have never seen before. A stingray was flying out of the water like a bird, flapping its fins. I was really surprised, it was really cool.

Getting there we were one of the first boat to anchor what is great because we had our pick of the spots and could situate the boat as we liked it. There is a bit of math to be done because the tide moves quite a bit and you want to select a spot where you are not going to get beached. 

Since the floor is sand, there is nothing for the anchor to grab  to. One volunteer (me) jumped into the water and sank the anchor as much as possible into the sand.

Once everything was done, came the fun part, boat watching.  On the oceanside is a parade of amazing yachts passing by on their way to the open water.

As the lunchtime approached the sandbar food truck- actually, food boats – arrive, and then the people start flocking in. The food trucks are fantastic, you can walk to them or call in and they deliver to your boat. Making an order was fun and since it was my first time we ordered hot dogs.

I think by 1 pm there were over 200 vessels anchored around us and more kept arriving. And so much diversity on boats and people. From the single woman and her Labrador in a dinghy to 60 footers with a few bachelorette parties.

At one point this helicopter came from the beach and turned towards the sandbar. It was a little bit freaky since it did a loop and dived on top of the people right in the centre of the sandbar and then went west.  Later on, reviewing the photos, I saw it was  a US Homeland Helicopter, but I was amazed they were allowed that kind of maneuver  on top of civilians, on what it seems to be for no reason at all. 

Everyone is there to have some fun, swim in shallow warm waters, people watching  and to enjoy the sun. 

Ok, so you ask: did you photograph? 

I did take my equipment, but I don’t have a water housing (on the list), so I only shot above the water. 

If you are thinking of stopping at Haulover Sandbar for underwater photography, keep in mind you may only find legs because since it is such a busy area, there isn’t lots of fish, but you do see some.  On the other hand, around the Intracoastal  there are lots of wildlife and nature opportunities: many birds and pelicans,  dolphins, manatees and others. 

Another thing I photographed a lot was architecture. Since it is a different perspective and in some places the water was so still that created nice reflections.

If you want to follow what’s happening at the Haulover Sandbar check out the Fresno Channel on youtube he has many posts of all the happenings. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFtmPHysEMI2DQ9YYc-C6A )