Aug 12, 20224 min read

Kid Friendly West Palm Beach

By Katy Agro Myers

Last week, I took Lucas to West Palm Beach, FL. I called it a "Bonding Trip." He's 12, and I'm sure on his way to wanting nothing to do with me so before it happens, I wanted to do something special. With just him. We chose West Palm Beach as our destination because of blue waters and fishing - Lucas just loves everything fishing. We found the perfect destination!

We stayed on Singer Island at the Hilton Singer Island Oceanfront and while it was a little outside of town and the restaurants and shops, we loved the beach access. Each stay includes two beach chairs and an umbrella, huge fluffy towels, and even bike rentals. We felt spoiled heading to the beach each morning. The water was gorgeous and clear and mostly calm. On the first day while snorkeling in front of the hotel, Lucas spotted two sea turtles, several barracuda, tons of little bait fish, and even a nurse shark!

Our first night, we headed out to the Visit Palm Beach Hakuna Matata Sunset Cruise. The boat was a blast, the play list was awesome, the Captain and Crew were super friendly. They serve cocktails, snacks, and sodas on board and we had preordered some food but just nibbled on that along the way. The sites were gorgeous. The mansions (we even saw Sylvester Stalone's house), the boats were ENORMOUS! I have never seen so many beautiful yachts. Lucas and I talked about which ones we'd like to take a ride on. It was a cloudy night, so not much of a sunset - but we saw a heck of a lightning show that was super far away. It was so fun to be on a boat cruising down the Intercostal and feeling the breeze.

Our second day started with the beach and then we headed to Delray to the Sandoway Discovery Center. Sandoway Discovery Center is FULL of awesome interactive displays from a lion fish to alligator to a possum, owl, and even sharks and stingrays! The largest collection of seashells in Southeast Florida featuring over 10,000 mueseum quality shells with interactive learning opportunities. They are in the process of rebuilding their shark pool for feedings and their touch tank which will be open soon and super cool. The butterfly gardens were gorgeous and we saw the fluttering beauties throughout.

We spent the rest of the day shopping on Atlantic Ave and followed it up with lunch at Casa Luna Rosa by the Ocean.

We closed out the evening heading to The Square for some shopping and dessert. The square is an outdoor shopping mall with great food options and awesome dessert. We grabbed some souveniers and spent some time at the candy shop. It also features a fun splash pad with fountains, events like live music, pop up food trucks, and more!

After another morning on the beach, Lucas and I headed out for the main event - Fishing! 🎣 There are a LOT of fishing charter options in West Palm Beach. Many of them you have to charter the entire boat which is pretty costly. I was excited to find Sea Horse Fishing Charters which offers a per person option. Captain Lee and First Mate Matt were so awesome. We had fun, caught fish, and even learned some new things. After not being able to catch anything at the first stop, Captain Lee quickly regrouped and took us to another spot. After throwing a fish that was too small back in, we all dropped our bait back into the blue water. Within minutes, a bull shark grabbed that fish we had thrown back. For the next several casts, that bull shark kept returning and stealing every fish we had on our lines. Although he stole our fish, it was a super exciting experience. Lucas caught a Ramora which has a suction cup head that looks like the bottom of a tennis shoe. Our mate stuck him right to the roof of the boat and he hung there. It was crazy. He also caught a gorgeous red snapper and I reeled in a yellow fin! Captain Lee taught Lucas how to read his fish finder and gave him some tips for easy lining of a reel. It was definitely the highlight of our trip!

We closed out our trip with being hosted at the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island for a gourmet breakfast at 3800 Ocean. From the moment we set foot in the Marriott, we felt overly welcome. The resort is gorgeous, the staff was luxuriously friendly, and the food was delicious. To top it off - check out the view from breakfast. We felt as if we were dining in paradise! I enjoyed my favorite Eggs Benedict and Lucas was pumped to enjoy the buffet (the kid loves buffets).

Our trip was a success, we came home tanned and tired. There were more smiles then I've seen in a while from my almost teenager. Most importantly, there were several unprompted sayings of "I love you, Mama" and "thank you for bringing me on this trip".

West Palm Beach was FULL of family-friendly activities and adventures. Lucas and I can't wait to take the whole family back!