Peanut Island by shuttle

Around the IslandJuly 18, 2026

The boat over

There is no bridge to Peanut Island. It sits out in the middle of the Lake Worth Inlet, where the lagoon meets the sea, so you reach it by boat, and the short crossing is half the fun. The simplest way over is the shuttle from the Riviera Beach Marina, the public marina on the mainland side of the inlet. It runs roughly every twenty-five minutes through the middle of the day, takes only a few minutes, and drops you right at the island's dock.

The marina is an easy place to start from. There is a public lot to park in, and a run of casual waterfront places if you want a coffee before you go. A couple of practical notes before you set out:

• Schedules change with the season and the operator, so check the day's times before you leave.
• Note the time of the last boat back, and give yourself a buffer, so you are not stranded on the island.

If you have your own boat, a kayak or a paddleboard, you can cross under your own power and anchor off the sandbar on the island's lagoon side. The inlet carries real boat traffic and current, though, so leave that crossing for a calm day and an experienced hand.

The snorkeling lagoon

For most people the lagoon is the reason to come. On the island's sheltered side, a man-made lagoon has been shaped and planted with reef so it stays calm and clear, protected from the current that runs through the inlet. The water is shallow, which makes it one of the friendlier places to snorkel in the area, and a good spot for children and first-time snorkelers to find their feet.

Slip on a mask and you drift over rock and reef busy with fish. What tends to turn up:

• Sergeant majors, snapper and parrotfish in numbers, with the occasional angelfish.
• A stingray half-buried in the sand, and now and then a sea turtle passing through.

It is best on a calm day around high tide, when clearer ocean water pushes in and the visibility is at its best. Bring your own mask, snorkel and fins, because there is no reliable gear rental on the island, and pack reef-safe sunscreen for your skin and the reef both. If the lagoon gets you hooked, the nearshore reef at Ocean Reef Park and the shallows under the Blue Heron Bridge are the natural next steps, both a few minutes away.

The loop around the island

Peanut Island is not big, seventy-nine acres, and you can walk the whole thing in well under an hour. A path circles the perimeter, a little over a mile around, flat and easy, with boardwalks over the mangroves and water views most of the way. There are shaded picnic spots along it, plus restrooms and showers, so it works as an easy beach day as much as a snorkel trip.

The one thing to plan around is that the island has almost no services. There are no concessions, so what you carry over is what you have:

• Bring all the water and food you will need, plus sun protection and your snorkel gear.
• Shade is limited to the pavilions and the sea-grape trees, so a hat or a beach umbrella earns its place in the bag.
• Carry your trash back out. The island stays worth visiting because people leave it as they found it.

On weekends and holidays the shallow water off the lagoon side fills with anchored boats, a good-natured, all-day raft-up that is a scene in itself. A weekday morning is the opposite, quiet enough that the trail can feel close to your own. The island also has a small set of county tent sites, reservable ahead, if you want to stay the night.

The Cold War bunker

The strange part of Peanut Island is what sits behind the beach. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, Navy Seabees quietly built a fallout shelter on the island, code-named Detachment Hotel, meant to protect President Kennedy and his staff in the event of a nuclear attack. Kennedy wintered at the family compound in nearby Palm Beach, and the island, just across the water, was close enough to reach quickly. The bunker was kept ready through the tensest years of the era, including the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It is still there, a low mound with a blast door, and next to it stands the island's Coast Guard station from the 1930s. Together they have been preserved as a small maritime and historical museum.

If you want to see inside

Guided tours of the bunker have been offered over the years, but access and schedules have changed more than once, so confirm what is currently open before you build the day around a tour. Even from the outside it is a strange thing to stand in front of: a nuclear shelter for a president, on a dredge-spoil island you spent the morning snorkeling around.

The ride back

The trip rewards a little timing. The best window is a calm, clear morning around high tide, which is when the lagoon is clearest and the crossing is smoothest. In summer that morning start matters more, because the afternoon thunderstorms build fast and an exposed island is no place to be caught in one, so plan to be heading back by early afternoon. Weekdays are quieter than weekends across the board.

A simple order for the day works well:

1. Catch one of the morning shuttles over from the marina.
2. Snorkel the lagoon first, while the water is at its clearest.
3. Walk the loop, look at the bunker, and picnic under the sea grapes.
4. Ride back in the early afternoon, before the wind and the weather build.

Check the time of the last boat before you settle in, and keep a buffer so the return is not a scramble. Peanut Island is a short trip from the residence, which is the best thing about it: you can be on the water by mid-morning and back on the twelfth-floor balcony by the afternoon, with a whole small adventure already behind you.