Founders Park

Founders Park is a 45-acre Village of Islamorada park at mile marker 87 on the bayside of the Overseas Highway. It is best known for a shallow swimming beach, but the park spreads well beyond the water: there is a full-size aquatic center, playgrounds, sports courts and fields, a dog park, marina, amphitheater and community lawn. It works as a family beach and picnic stop or as a longer visit built around sports and swimming. The beach is a small bayfront swimming area, not a long open-ocean strand.

The park’s beach has a shallow, roped swimming area along Florida Bay, with tiki shade huts, picnic tables, grills, a pavilion, sand volleyball, outdoor showers and public restrooms. There are shade trees and an inclusive playground nearby. The swim area is compact, so it is a better fit for wading and a family beach break than for spreading out along a long shore. If swimming is the main reason for coming, check local water conditions before you go; visitors have reported variable seaweed and water clarity.

The Ron Levy Aquatic Center has a 50-meter-by-25-yard pool with a diving well and springboards, plus a zero-depth splash pad. The campus also has tennis and pickleball courts, basketball, soccer and multi-use fields, baseball and softball areas, a fitness course, outdoor exercise equipment and a golf driving cage. Park admission and pool use are charged separately for nonresidents, and some facilities or programs have their own schedules, so check current details before planning around a swim or game.

The property began as Plantation Yacht Harbor, a marina and resort. After Islamorada incorporated as the Village of Islands in 1997, its first council voted in 1998 to spend $9 million in local tax dollars to buy the 40-acre property for a community park; the sale closed in February 1999. The former marina is now one part of a much larger campus that also holds the beach, aquatic center, fields, courts and community facilities.

The name has two local interpretations. A historical account from the Islamorada Community Alliance says some residents understood it to honor the area’s early founding families, while others thought it referred to the first Village Council that acquired the site. Two plaques near the entrance recognize both stories.

The park is at 87000 Overseas Highway, bayside at mile marker 87. Dogs are welcome in the fenced dog park but are not allowed on the beach or in picnic areas; alcohol, loud music and fishing are prohibited. The park has a pavilion and grills for bringing your own food, but no on-site restaurant or regular food service was found. For a beach photo, include a tiki hut at one edge of the frame; it helps show the shallow bay setting.