What should I know about the Hillsboro Inlet and Boca Raton Inlet for ocean access?

Boca Raton Inlet: key facts

The Coast Pilot (October 2026 edition) describes Boca Raton Inlet as a narrow dredged cut about 5 miles north of Hillsboro Inlet Entrance Light, with short jetties marked by private lights. The bar channel shifts with the winds, the channel is unmarked, and local knowledge is recommended. It reports shoaling inside and outside the inlet, low-tide depths of 1 to 3 feet, tidal currents of up to 7 knots, and breaking seas at the mouth except in flat calm. The State Road A1A bascule bridge over the inlet has 23 feet of clearance at the center.

The City of Boca Raton performs continuous interior maintenance dredging of the inlet with a City-owned dredge and crew, normally Tuesday through Friday in daylight. The dredge monitors VHF channel 68 and, with its pipe and support tug, can temporarily block the inlet channel; the City strongly recommends local knowledge.[1][3]

Hillsboro Inlet: key facts

Hillsboro Inlet, 31 miles south of Lake Worth Inlet, connects with the Hillsboro River and the Intracoastal Waterway and is a base for party fishing boats running to the Gulf Stream. Its entrance channel is marked by lights, daybeacons and a lighted entrance buoy, but the jetties are submerged at the entrance and rocky reefs are reported north and south of it. The A1A bascule bridge has 13 feet of clearance, and the flood current past the bridge is reported at as much as 5 to 6 knots.

The Hillsboro Inlet District is a special tax district in Broward County. Senate Bill 2672 of 1999, which the Legislature's bill history shows became Chapter 99-433, Laws of Florida, consolidated the district's special acts and describes its work as maintaining navigation and drainage at Hillsboro Inlet.[1][6][2]

Speed zones near both inlets

Manatee protection rules add slow-speed water near both inlets. In Palm Beach County, the Intracoastal from the Palmetto Park Road bridge to the Camino Real bridge, including all of Lake Boca Raton east to the A1A bridge over the inlet, is slow speed year-round. In Broward, the Hillsboro Inlet Area zone makes the Intracoastal near the inlet, Hillsboro Bay and the inlet itself slow speed.

• Map the boat route from a home's dock to each inlet and count the drawbridges and slow-speed zones along the way.
• Check conditions before running either inlet; the Coast Pilot lists Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale (954-927-1611) for local conditions at Boca Raton Inlet.[4][5][1]