Night Snorkeling Report From Phil Foster Park

By Martha Lee

Here is my night snorkeling report from Phil Foster Park. The park is at Blue Heron Bridge in Palm Beach County Florida. I am an experienced snorkeler who had been wanting to try night snorkeling, but I never seemed to be able to catch a night snorkeling guided trip at the right time. Then I learned about Force-E Scuba Center’s monthly shore diving and snorkeling nights out, so I planned my vacation around a couple of their dates.

Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County, is a relatively protected spot, and often calmer than other local snorkeling sites. Phil Foster is the kind of place where there seems to always be someone snorkeling or diving, even in poor visibility, they just want to try it out. They come from all over the world. Snorkeling at Phil Foster is best during the period of one hour on either side of the high tide, and the park has a firm closing time of 10 pm.

This beach in this park is odd in that most of it is located UNDER the Blue Heron Bridge. Yes, your family can lounge in the shade, even splash around in the shade with year-round life-guarding. You can sit and leave your towel and flip flops on the concrete footings of the bridge. The 800 foot long Phil Foster Park Artificial Reef and Snorkel Trail (constructed for the park in 2012) is not in the shade, though.

How This Group Night Snorkeling Event Works

On their website, Force-E publishes a tide chart with all of the early evening high tides marked, and they are out there for those evenings with their night scuba classes, but you can come without a class for free. Snorkelers are welcome, though not as plentiful as divers, and you can hire a snorkel guide if you want. I was familiar with the park and the snorkel trail, so I did not hire a guide.

On the day of the night out, you drop by Force-E’s Riviera Beach shop (they have shops in different local towns, make sure you are at the correct location) and pick up a parking pass. You also sign a release, but it is much simpler for snorkelers than their scuba release. Then when you show up at the park and start suiting up, you put the parking pass in your windshield. The vibe out there is very friendly, and I found myself talking with divers, other snorkelers, kayakers, fishers, etc.

Entrance to this park is free, as is most parking. There is a charge to park if you are launching a motorized boat. There are bathrooms and one outdoor shower. There are many picnic tables.

Force-E recommends two dive lights, and I ended up buying two that Galen and Nicole were recommending at the time: the OrcaTorch D550 and the Tovatec Fusion 1050 (I bought the latter used.) Force-E will also rent lights and other equipment. The park requires a dive flag. (I have never seen this enforced during the day.) At night, Force-E wants you to attach a glow stick to your flag, so I did this—good idea, I think. Most people were wearing wetsuits, but I was having neoprene allergy issues, so I got by on double layer rash guards. Water temp was in the 70’s Fahrenheit.

What Night Snorkeling Phil Foster Park Was Like

The first night out (Dec. 14, 2024) was cancelled due to poor visibility, typical for this time of year. But a few weeks later, I was able to stay in Florida for Dec. 30, which was a go. Visibility was not primo, but I was able to practice using the dive lights, and I did see some fish, skates, and stars. Sometimes I hung around the divers, some of whom had very powerful lights which allowed me to see more. It was great to just get comfortable with night snorkeling.

I went “dusk snorkeling” a few other days, and one time I saw two manatees. Any fish with bright yellow coloring really popped out at dusk, especially angelfish with yellow trim. This was a magical time.

I did not take many night pictures. I do not work for Force-E Scuba Center or Palm Beach County, and am not being financially compensated by either.

What You Might See Night Snorkeling at Phil Foster Park

Here’s what you might see: the usual reef fish, skates, rays, scorpionfish, and a fair number of sea stars. Sometimes there are dolphins, manatees, octopi, seahorses, and squid. The artificial reef consists of piles of concrete blocks and rocks, small deliberately sunken boats, other equipment, and a few statues. Small corals have begun to grow on the artificial reef stations. There is a map of the trail at one end of the beach.

Possible Water Quality Issues

A downside: on Dec. 26, the water quality was tested at various beaches in the area, and at Phil Foster it came up with unhealthy amounts of e-coli. The beach was not closed to swimming until Dec. 28. I went day snorkeling on Dec. 27 with no issues. Then I showed up at the park again on Dec. 28 and saw a red flag.

I asked the scuba divers what this meant, and they told me the story above. They were going in anyway. The water was only tested once per week, so there was no way to know the actual water quality on Dec. 30. I went in anyway, as I am not particularly prone to stomach bugs. But I can’t recommend this practice to anyone else.

1 Comment

Leave a Comment