The water off Frenchman's Creek stays the same on November 15. The state rule that sets Palm Beach County's manatee protection zones names Frenchman's Creek, along with Jonathan's Landing and Admiral's Cove, among the backwaters, canals and tributaries off Lake Worth Creek that are slow speed all year. The marked Intracoastal channel outside those backwaters already changed six weeks before the season opens. It allows 30 mph from June 1 through September 30 and 25 mph for the rest of the year, so the winter limit took effect on October 1.
The changes that start in mid-November sit roughly at the Blue Heron Bridge, on the southern run toward Lake Worth Inlet and Peanut Island. For boats from Frenchman's Creek, or from the Loggerhead Club & Marina just south of the Donald Ross Road bridge, the season mostly reshapes one of the two ways out to the ocean. That makes the choice between Jupiter Inlet and Lake Worth Inlet a different calculation in winter than it was in September. The marina was formerly Frenchman's Marina, and its operator lists 130 slips for vessels from 30 to 120 feet.
The rule itself did not change this year
The seasonal map works the same way it did last winter. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's manatee rulemaking page, marked current as of July 30, 2026, listed no active rulemaking. The state's rule page for the Palm Beach County zones lists an effective date of July 20, 1993. FWC's county zone map is labeled accurate as of June 2014. The rule text and the posted markers govern, and where zones overlap, the more restrictive one applies. The full language is in F.A.C. 68C-22.009.
The stakes on this stretch are documented. FWC's preliminary 2025 mortality table records a manatee death in the Palm Beach Gardens Intracoastal on January 19, 2025, with watercraft collision as the probable cause. Across Florida that year, the table counts 632 deaths, 98 of them attributed to watercraft. It also cautions that differences in necropsy response from 2020 through 2025 affect cause-of-death comparisons.
The two routes side by side
| South to Lake Worth Inlet | North to Jupiter Inlet | |
|---|---|---|
| Drawbridges past the Donald Ross bridge | PGA Boulevard, then Parker on US 1 | Indiantown Road |
| Opening times | PGA on the hour and half hour; Parker at quarter past and quarter to | On the hour and half hour |
| Added Nov. 15 to Mar. 31 | Slow speed from Phil Foster Island to the Port of Palm Beach turning basin; idle speed from the turning basin to one mile south of Peanut Island | Slow speed within 100 feet of the inlet's north and south shores |
| Coast Guard notice, Oct. 7, 2026 | Shoaling reported near Lake Worth North Light 39 since July 15, 2026 | Shifting offshore shoal at the inlet mouth; reported depths of 4 to 10 feet below MLLW |
The bridge schedule comes from the federal drawbridge regulations. The Donald Ross Bridge at ICW mile 1009.3, the Indiantown Road Bridge at mile 1006.2 and the PGA Boulevard Bridge at mile 1012.6 all open on the hour and half hour. The Parker Bridge at mile 1013.7 opens on the quarter and three-quarter hour. For a boat that needs openings, the southern route means two scheduled draws about a mile apart, offset by fifteen minutes. The northern route has one scheduled draw at Indiantown, plus the Donald Ross opening if the boat starts north of that bridge.
What November 15 adds on the southern run
Heading south, the season's first boundary is an east-west line at the north shoreline of Phil Foster Island, about 650 feet north of the center of the Blue Heron Boulevard Bridge. From there south to the line of markers along the northern edge of the Port of Palm Beach turning basin, all of Lake Worth becomes slow speed from November 15 through March 31. The rule carves out the Lake Worth Inlet waters east of a line running south from the southwest corner of Singer Island.
South of the turning basin, the requirement tightens to idle speed. That seasonal idle zone runs across Lake Worth, shore to shore, down to a line one mile south of the southern tip of Peanut Island. From that line to 1.75 miles south of Peanut Island, the seasonal requirement steps back to slow speed.
The island most often named as a winter boating destination around here sits inside the tightest seasonal zone on this route. A trip from Frenchman's Creek to Peanut Island in January covers the same distance it did in October, with a longer stretch at idle and slow speed at the far end.
The inlet itself has a notice of its own. The Coast Guard's Local Notice to Mariners dated October 7, 2026 reports shoaling near Lake Worth North Light 39 since July 15, 2026, and advises vessels to transit at a safe speed. The same notice lists Palm Beach Channel Daybeacon 2 as destroyed. It also carries a Coast Guard proposal to change Light 39 to a lighted buoy, with comments due November 22, 2026.
What the northern run carries instead
Going north, the season adds relatively little, because much of the water near Jupiter Inlet is restricted year-round. From the Indiantown Road Bridge north to the SR 707 bridge, including Sawfish Bay and the Jupiter River, the waters outside the main marked ICW channel are an idle speed zone all year. The seasonal additions on this side are a slow-speed band within 100 feet of the inlet's north and south shores and slow-speed zones on the Loxahatchee River upstream of the Florida East Coast Railroad bridge by the Alternate A1A bridge.
The northern route's friction is at the mouth, and it has nothing to do with the calendar. The October 7 Local Notice to Mariners carries an advisory, dating from April 28, 2026, that offshore conditions at the mouth of Jupiter Inlet have become unpredictable and hazardous because of a shifting shoal. It reports depths from 4 to 10 feet below mean lower low water and notes that Jupiter Inlet is not federally maintained. The same notice lists Jupiter Inlet Jetty Light 2 as extinguished.
The Jupiter Inlet District finished its 2026 sand-trap project on April 26, 2026, removing about 176,000 cubic yards. That trap sits west of the inlet mouth and is separate from the offshore ebb shoal. The district's most recent ebb shoal survey was conducted October 5, 2026. The survey itself warns that conditions can change and urges mariners to use several sources of information.
That leaves two different trade-offs between November and March. The southern route brings two drawbridges and a long stretch of slow and idle water around Peanut Island. The northern route brings one scheduled drawbridge, idle water that is the same in any month, and a mouth with a standing shoal advisory. Coast Guard notices come out weekly, so the October 7 picture can change before the first cold front.
If the plan is Peanut Island
Palm Beach County's Peanut Island Park covers 80 acres near Lake Worth Inlet and is open from sunrise to sunset. The county's current notices say the JFK Bunker is closed until further notice, balloons are prohibited, and alcohol is limited to campground permit areas. The docking and camping rules on the county's pages:
- Daytime slips: The east-side dock has 14 numbered slips for day use on a first-come, first-served basis. The county's dock FAQ says daytime use is free from sunrise to sunset.
- Floating dock: It is reserved for loading and unloading, with a 10-minute limit.
- No anchoring zone: Anchoring or beaching is prohibited between the east boat dock and the fishing pier.
- After dark: Only registered campground campers may keep boats at the dock.
- Camping: The campground has 17 sites, priced at $30 a night for a single site and $60 for an expanded site before tax. Reservations open up to 90 days ahead. Online booking is suspended indefinitely, and the county is taking reservations by phone or email.
At 90 days out, a reservation made in mid-October reaches into early January. The county's pages carry no posted update date, so the camping page is the place to confirm the booking method and rates before a trip.
The one place on this route where boats are excluded
The zone that explains the whole season is a small one. The rule establishes a motorboats-prohibited area in Lake Worth around the Riviera Beach Power Plant discharge canal, with boundaries and dates posted each year between November 15 and March 31. That discharge is the warm-water outflow from FPL's Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center, which Manatee Lagoon describes as a winter refuge. CBS12 reported that the center counted 160 manatees on January 28, 2026, the highest count of last season.
The water closed to boats is the same water visible from land. Manatee Lagoon, at 6000 N. Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach, is free with free parking. Its observation deck overlooks the outflows where manatees gather, though the center says sightings are not guaranteed. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from November 15 through March 31, and Tuesday through Sunday for the rest of the year. Two dates are posted for this season:
- The free Migration Celebration on Saturday, November 21, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with exhibits, mini-lectures, activities and food trucks.
- The free 11th-anniversary ManateeFest on Saturday, February 6, 2027, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Mid-November also brings the winter club season at Frenchman's Creek. For residents and guests who want to see manatees in winter, the drive to Flagler Drive is the route with no zones on it. For more on the community, see the Frenchman's Creek neighborhood page.
Choosing between Jupiter Inlet and Lake Worth Inlet is one of the everyday questions that comes with owning a home on Lake Worth Creek. If you're weighing a dock, a slip or a waterfront home in Frenchman's Creek and want to talk through how the water works from a particular address, Chris Moody is glad to go over it with you. Let's Achieve Your Real Estate Goals.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
