On a busy holiday weekend at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area, 40 to 60 boats could be nosed onto the sand at the same time. On an average day the number was 17. When the $16 million shoreline project opens in December, the rebuilt beaches will be sized for that average day.
That choice explains most of the project. The Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that runs the site, built boat capacity to match ordinary use. It gave everything above that line to people arriving on foot, by kayak or with a snorkel mask. If you climb the lighthouse, walk the grounds in the morning or beach a boat off the point on a holiday weekend, December brings a different site than the one you know.
The beach count matches the old daily average
Stet News reported in September that the finished site will hold 15 to 20 boats, depending on boat size and how much room captains leave between them. A BLM study put average daily use at 17 boats. In an October interview with The Palm Beach Post, BLM site manager Peter DeWitt said the shoreline can take about 17 boats at a time, first come, first served. He said the larger holiday crowds have no place in the new layout: "That use is no longer permitted."
| Boat access at the lighthouse | Before the project | After the project |
|---|---|---|
| Typical day | About 17 boats, per a BLM study | About 15 to 20 boats, first come, first served |
| Busy holiday weekend | 40 to 60 boats at once | No longer permitted |
| How boats land | Bow-in on the sand | Bow-in on the sand, still allowed |
The habit itself survives. DeWitt told Stet that people used to "pull up on the beach, nose in or bow in, and kind of get themselves wedged on the sand, then sit in the back of their boat to fish, play on the sand beside it. That's still available." The new dock is for permitted uses only, and general public docking won't be available. DeWitt gave examples like a historic ship docking for a week of tours, or a wedding party leaving by boat. The Post also reported that a Tequesta police boat will sit on a lift at a nearby dock.
Boaters kept a beach because an earlier plan gave them none
The 17-boat number is a compromise, and the first version of the project had no boat access at all. DeWitt told Stet that an earlier plan "basically built a solid breakwater all the way along the shoreline that eliminated all boat access." He told the Post that he doubted that design would ever be funded. "It took me four years to get my management to be willing to look at a new design, and so the new design was a compromise."
More than 800 individuals, businesses, partners and recreational users commented on the plans. The Marine Industries Association and the Florida Inland Navigation District helped shape the direction, according to Stet. The navigation district paid for a large share of the work. On the BLM's project page, the $16 million budget breaks down as $8.3 million from the Great American Outdoors Act, $7 million from the Florida Inland Navigation District and $0.7 million from other sources.
Without a cap, the shoreline would have kept shrinking. The water was taking about 7 feet of land a year, and over five decades the 120-acre site lost more than 5 acres. DeWitt said the erosion was collapsing dunes and washing vegetation into the Intracoastal, where it got in boaters' way. On the Indian River side, the new walls protect the shell midden on the property, a Native American shell mound. "We were constantly eroding historic artifacts and losing land, losing habitat, and losing the recreational resources here," DeWitt told Stet.
The space holiday crowds used now goes to people on foot
Most of what crews built is meant for walking. The main piece is an 8-foot-wide boardwalk running 835 feet along the Loxahatchee River side, on 200 pilings over a new limestone barrier. In places it widens to 16 feet, with interpretive plaques about the inlet's history and ecosystem. A new ADA-accessible trail loops around the lighthouse and connects to both the pier and the boardwalk. Stairs lead down to small beaches cut into the shoreline, and a trail at the top brings walkers back to the lighthouse.
Katrina Heller, executive director of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Museum, told the Post that the loop will be "a really great benefit for some locals who each morning just want to do a beautiful walk around the property or a climb of the lighthouse."
Other new spaces on the grounds:
- A pavilion for programs and private events. Heller said it will mostly serve educational programs, including a monthly homeschool morning, and gives children a place to go in bad weather.
- New lawn on a section of the property that used to be off-limits. It gives events more room, including the River Cherish Art Festival in March. Heller told the Post the museum hopes for 100 artists this year, up from 70 last year.
- Fishing space, with 16-foot-wide sections of the boardwalk set aside for anglers as part of a new fishing program that is still in the works.
- Restored native landscaping. Crews worked with The Nature Conservancy and the youth group American Conservation Experience to dig up the site's own plants before construction. The plants were stored in nurseries, on the property and at Blowing Rocks Preserve, and are now being replanted.
On the water, paddles and snorkels get the new space
The same thinking applies offshore. Get Up and Go Kayaking, which has run glass-bottom kayak tours from the site for years, now works out of a large tiki hut on the Indian River side. The Palm Beach Outrigger Canoe Club shares the hut. A second kayaking company will run tours from a smaller hut on the west side of the property. The Post reported that one vendor will operate along the Loxahatchee and the other along the Indian River Lagoon. "Hopefully a little competition between the two keeps the price nice and low," DeWitt said.
The snorkel area makes the trade-off clearest. On the south side of Cato's Bridge, at the far northeast corner of the project, a cutout bay behind the rocks begins a snorkel trail that runs under the bridge toward Jupiter Island. New pilings will keep boats out of it, and a kiosk will post snorkeling information. DeWitt told Stet the spot is "locally renowned for being just a great place to hang out, snorkel and see a lot of Caribbean-type fish and corals. So, we're going to lean into that."
The reef work underwater is still experimental. The BLM says the first Reef Arches structure went in on the Loxahatchee side on Sept. 9. The next day, research teams placed acoustic monitors to track green sea turtles and other marine life. The riprap, limestone barriers that give coral and seagrass a place to grow, was finished before the fall's seasonal high tides.
The planting continues after the ribbon-cutting
DeWitt told the Post in October that the infrastructure was 95% complete and that "the restoration is still very much underway." At that point, more than 7,000 mangroves had been planted toward a goal of 10,000, with four more plantings planned. The BLM says volunteer planting days will continue through the winter.
The structures are meant to last a long time. The project was designed for a 75-year flood event, and DeWitt said some of the timbers are rated for more than 100 years. After the crews leave, Florida Atlantic University will monitor whether the beaches are stable, growing or shrinking, and that work will shape future decisions about refilling sand.
Upcoming dates and how to visit now
The project was first expected to finish in August. A government shutdown early in the contract and late material deliveries pushed the work back. These are the scheduled dates as of the Post's October reporting:
- Thursday, Dec. 3, 10 a.m.: an invitation-only ribbon-cutting. The BLM also lists Dec. 3 as the grand-opening date.
- Dec. 3, 1 to 5 p.m.: the public grand opening.
- Sunday, Dec. 20: the snorkeling area is expected to open to the public, according to the Post.
- March: the River Cherish Art Festival, one of the events the new lawn gives more room.
Until then, you can still climb the lighthouse. The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum lists hours of Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with lighthouse climbs and last entry at 4 p.m. It is closed Mondays. Check the BLM project page before a December visit, since dates on a job this size can still change.
If you own a home on the Loxahatchee or the Intracoastal near the inlet and keep a boat, the new limits change what an ordinary weekend on the water looks like. At The Cuomo Team, we follow changes along the Jupiter waterfront as they happen, so the advice we give buyers and sellers stays current. If you're thinking about what your waterfront home is worth, request your free market analysis and we'll walk you through it.
