AT A GLANCE
AT A GLANCE
| Destination | Port St. Lucie & Stuart, Florida |
| Time Needed | 2-3 Days |
| Best Time | November-April |
| Budget | $$ |
| Must Do | Catch a St. Lucie Mets Game |
| Best Experience | Bathtub Reef Beach |
| Walking | Easy to Moderate |
WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT
Port St. Lucie and Stuart surprised us with how much there was to do. This part of Florida gives you beautiful beaches, unique natural areas, baseball, and some really good food, all within an easy drive.
The highlight for us was Bathtub Reef Beach in Stuart. The reef just offshore helps create a distinctive beach experience, and the area is known for the marine life that lives around the reef. It is one of those places that feels different from a typical Florida beach and was easily one of our favorite stops.
We also explored Florida’s marsh landscape, caught a St. Lucie Mets game, and tried four very different restaurants along the way.
If you are looking for things to do in Port St. Lucie, I would definitely give yourself time to explore Stuart and the surrounding Treasure Coast too.
BEACHES, BATHTUB REEF & THE FLORIDA SAVANNAS
Start with the water.
Stuart Beach gives you that classic Florida beach day with a wide stretch of Atlantic shoreline. One of the things I liked about this stop is that you can grab something to eat without really leaving the beach. Seaside Café sits just steps from the sand with views of the Atlantic. You can eat on the deck, under the chickee hut, or take your food right onto the beach.
But the beach experience I would not miss is Bathtub Reef Beach.
The reef is what makes this place special. It is a living reef created by tiny marine animals called sabellariid worms, and Martin County says more than 500 marine creatures call the reef home. Because the reef helps break the waves before they reach shore, the water inside the reef can feel more protected than the open Atlantic.
Give yourself time here. This was our best experience of the trip, and it is one of the places I would go back to.
FROM BEACH TO MARSH
One of the more interesting parts of exploring this area is how quickly the landscape changes. After spending time along the coast, we headed inland to Savannas Preserve State Park, where Florida looks completely different.
The preserve protects more than 6,000 acres and gives you a chance to experience the freshwater marshes that once stretched along much of Florida’s southeast coast.
One of the most interesting things we saw was an area that had recently been burned. We learned that a prescribed burn had taken place on April 15, 2025, just days before our visit. Prescribed fire is intentionally used to help maintain Florida’s fire-dependent ecosystems, encourage healthy native vegetation, and reduce accumulated vegetation that can fuel wildfires.
Seeing the blackened landscape firsthand made this stop especially interesting. It was a chance to see part of the conservation process happening in real time rather than simply walking through another pretty nature preserve.
If you enjoy seeing the natural side of Florida, Savannas Preserve State Park is worth adding to your Port St. Lucie itinerary.
CATCH A ST. LUCIE METS GAME
After beaches and nature, baseball gives you something completely different to do.
We caught a St. Lucie Mets game at Clover Park, and minor league baseball is such an easy addition to a Florida trip.
Clover Park is also the spring training home of the New York Mets and the summer home of the St. Lucie Mets, so there is a lot of baseball history packed into one place. The stadium seats about 7,800, which keeps the experience much more intimate than going to a major league game.
St. Lucie Mets and Clover Park information
You can spend the day at the beach, clean up, grab dinner, and head to the ballpark for the evening. That combination worked really well for this trip.
FOOD STOPS WORTH MAKING
Hokkaido Hibachi & Sushi was our Japanese dinner stop in Port St. Lucie. The menu covers both hibachi and sushi, so it works especially well when everyone in your group does not want the same thing.
Seaside Café gets points for location. It is right at Stuart Beach, making it an easy breakfast or lunch stop when you don’t want to give up beach time to go find a restaurant. They serve breakfast until 11:30 and lunch afterward.
And then there is Square Grouper Tiki Bar. Their Fort Pierce location sits on the Fort Pierce Inlet at 1920 Seaway Drive, giving you the waterfront, tropical Florida atmosphere that just feels right on a Treasure Coast trip. One thing to know before going is that Square Grouper is 21 and older, so this is not the stop to plan if you are traveling with kids.
Square Groupr Tiki Bar, Fort Pierce
Between sushi and hibachi, eating steps from the beach, and ending up at a tiki bar on the inlet, the food became a bigger part of this trip than we expected.
WOULD I GO BACK?
Yes, and Bathtub Reef Beach would be the first place on my list.
Port St. Lucie makes a good home base, but I would not stay within the city limits when planning the trip. Stuart, Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce, and the surrounding natural areas are part of what makes this stretch of Florida worth exploring.
Give yourself a few days, leave room to wander, and do a little bit of everything. Spend time at the beach, explore the marshes, catch a baseball game, and find a few great places to eat.
That combination made this one of those Florida trips where we discovered much more than we expected.
Dream. Dare. Dive.
