Broward County calls Deerfield Island its only island park. You can't drive or walk there, and it's open just three days a week. A free county shuttle leaves from the mainland every hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday through Thursday the park is closed. If you want a few quiet hours among the mangroves, your plan starts with the boat's schedule, not yours.
That boat leaves from Sullivan Park on Hillsboro Boulevard, across from The Cove Shopping Center. Right beside the dock, the city and the Museum of Discovery and Science have built a nature center. One of its first exhibits is a tank of fish from the same Intracoastal Waterway the shuttle crosses. The island and the building cover the same stretch of water from two sides.
The schedule comes before everything else
The island sits on the Intracoastal at Hillsboro Boulevard. Broward County's park listing puts the basics in one place:
- Getting there: by boat only, on a free shuttle from the mainland
- Shuttle frequency: every hour, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday
- Park hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on those same three days, closed Monday through Thursday
- On the island: a nature trail, a pollinator garden, a picnic area, a boat dock, a marina and a restroom
Those five hours a day shape any visit. The park closes at 3 p.m., so the afternoon belongs to the mainland. And because the boats run on the hour, a trip goes better if you plan it around a departure time. Bring the picnic with you, since the amenity list includes a picnic area but no food service.
Sullivan Park is the waiting room
Most people only see Sullivan Park on the way to the boat. It's a full park in its own right. The New Pelican describes it as a waterfront spot with a splash fountain, a playground and picnic facilities, plus the departure point for Deerfield Island. The fountain and playground give kids somewhere to burn off energy if you miss a boat and have most of an hour to wait.
The park has also been absorbing the construction next door. The same New Pelican report says city commissioners approved a $77,000 contract with Shiff Construction to dig an exfiltration trench in Sullivan Park. The park's drainage system was damaged while the Nature Center was being built, because the system hadn't been recorded in existing surveys. CRA Director Mike Chen told the paper the repair won't delay the center's opening. If you see crews or fencing in the park this fall, that trench is the likely reason.
The building next to the dock is about the water under the boat
The Nature Center occupies the former Chamber of Commerce building at Sullivan Park, where Riverview Road meets the Intracoastal. The Museum of Discovery and Science calls it the MODS Deerfield Beach Nature Center and describes hands-on exploration of South Florida's plants, animals and ecosystems. One of those features is an AI shark guide named Finlay.
The split of duties is simple. The MODS partnership announcement says the Deerfield Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is paying for design and construction. MODS brings the exhibit design and education side and will operate the center as the city's partner. The 10,000-square-foot building's interpretive exhibits are themed "Sawgrass to Seagrass," with interactive material on wetlands, seagrass, water quality, wildlife habitat and climate resilience. New Pelican has put the center itself at $1.7 million and the exhibit package at $2.1 million.
The aquariums show why this building belongs at the island dock. In April, New Pelican reported that two tanks weighing more than 2,000 pounds combined were lifted to the building's second story in a job that took about four hours. City Commissioner Tom Plaut said the city and MODS split the $20,000 installation cost.
| Mangrove tank | Reef-piling tank | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Among the first exhibits visitors see | Near the exit |
| Size | 8 feet long by 4 feet wide, 1,100 gallons, viewable from three sides | 8 feet in diameter |
| What it recreates | Mangrove habitat and fish nursery | A pier piling crusted with corals, algae and mollusks |
| Featured species | Porkfish, checkered pufferfish, mangrove snapper | Spanish hogfish, reef butterflyfish, beaugregory |
New Pelican describes the mangrove tank's residents as fish and invertebrates found in the Intracoastal Waterway. That's the water the shuttle crosses on its way to an island trail edged with mangroves. The second tank covers the near-shore reef species that live around pilings. Put together, the building follows the same path the boat does, from the mangrove edge out toward open water.
A Saturday built around the hourly boat
On a shuttle day, The Cove and Sullivan Park fit together because the boat sets the morning and the mainland covers the rest. Here's one way to fit a Saturday into Broward's posted hours and the businesses' own listings:
- Before the first boat. Pick up coffee at Pilar Coffee Bar, 1500 SE 3rd Court, which also takes catering orders for its Deerfield Beach location.
- 10 a.m. to early afternoon. Catch a shuttle from Sullivan Park, walk the nature trail, stop by the pollinator garden and eat at the island's picnic area. The park closes at 3 p.m.
- Back on the mainland. Cove Brewery opens at noon on Saturdays and pours until 11 p.m., and its site posts a weekly events calendar.
- Takeout for later. Won-Tom's runs a takeout operation next door to Cove Brewery at 1500 Southeast 3rd Court and lists its ordering and hours online.
- Dinner on the water. The Cove Waterfront & Tiki Bar bills itself as waterfront dining with a tiki bar and takes walk-ins.
Fridays and Sundays work the same way with a few hour changes. Cove Brewery opens at noon on Fridays and runs until 11 p.m. On Sundays it's open noon to 9 p.m. If you only have a weekday, the island is out, but the brewery is open every day, starting at 2 p.m. on Mondays and noon the rest of the week.
The January dates on the calendar
The MODS page for the center posts Wednesday-to-Sunday hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and asks visitors to check back for more information. In late October, Chen told The New Pelican that the city expected to apply for a certificate of occupancy on Oct. 27. He said the CRA and economic development offices would move into the building in mid-November, and MODS would start building out its exhibits in November.
The same report lists a ribbon-cutting planned for Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. and a grand opening on Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. This coming Jan. 30 falls on a Saturday, a regular shuttle day, so if that date holds, the grand opening will land on a day the island boat is running. Check the MODS page before planning around either date.
The boat runs Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the fountain at Sullivan Park gives kids something to do between departures.
Our team at Red Pin Realty keeps track of how places like Sullivan Park and the new Nature Center are changing the corners of Deerfield Beach closest to the Intracoastal. If you'd like to talk about what that means for your own block, schedule a free market consultation and we'll talk it through over coffee at The Cove.
