South Palm Beach

Owning a home in South Palm Beach will put you in fairly illustrious company, as famed Gilded Age socialite Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan, heiress to the Vanderbilt railroad fortune, built a home on the island in 1932 and lived there for many years. This area is wholly residential, a quiet neighborhood that offers a suburban escape from the hustle and bustle of Palm Beach proper and Lantana while still being close to the beach and mainland amenities.

This small strip of land sits in the Intracoastal Waterway, which separates the oceanfront beaches from the Florida mainland. Known locally as the “ICW,” the waterway is a popular spot for fishing and boating, with many waterfront homes sporting private docks for ease of access. It also serves as an important habitat for native wildlife like dolphins, ospreys and manatees.

Homes here are generally larger and priced higher than in most other areas of Palm Beach due to the exclusive nature of island properties. You won’t find anything here under $1 million, with three-bedroom homes listing in the mid-$3 million range and some properties reaching upwards of $30 million. Neighborhood streets feature a mix of classic Florida ranch-style homes with sweeping Spanish villas and angular modern designs.

Students in South Palm Beach have to head to the mainland to attend Palm Beach county public schools like Lantana Community Middle, which offers choice programs in dance and music along with pre-medical sciences and pre-teacher education tracks. There’s also Palm Beach Maritime Academy, a tuition-free charter school serving Kindergarten through 12th grade. Beyond the traditional school subjects, PBMA offers a maritime study and marine science enhanced curriculum, where students can learn about the ocean and native wildlife with hands-on lessons, live specimens and special field trips, like tagging sharks with University of Miami graduate students or taking part in the International Coastal Cleanup.

Residents have plenty of nearby options for a day outdoors. At McKinley Park, they can enjoy the small neighborhood green space with large trees for a shady picnic and a public playground or head off the island to Lantana Nature Preserve, a small waterfront park full of native plants, walking paths and local animals.
For a chance at spotting even more wildlife, visit Hypoluxo Scrub Natural Area, 98 acres of preserved scrubland and restored wetland environments, home to critters like gopher tortoises and nine-banded armadillos. Visitors can get a stunning view of this natural landscape from the observation tower or explore the miles of walking trails.

Locals head to Lantana Municipal Beach for easy public beach access within walking distance of the island. Scuba diving enthusiasts will love the Lofthus Underwater Archaeological Preserve, just off the coast of nearby Manalapan. Within this aquatic state park, divers can explore the wreck of the Lofthus, an iron-hulled merchant vessel that ran aground in 1898 and now sits in 15-20 feet of water. The shallow site is ideal for new divers and snorkelers.

Head to the nearby shopping center Plaza del Mar for shopping and dining, just a short walk away. Grab household necessities and fresh produce from Publix, or try some of the local restaurants, like Art Basil, serving up Italian classics. Grab an award-winning breakfast from John G’s Restaurant, with favorites like eggs benedict and cinnamon French toast or try the local seafood on their lunch menu, like clam chowder or fresh scallops. To beat the Florida heat, enjoy the frozen flavors of The Ice Cream Club, a local shop serving the taste of summer for more than 40 years.

Written By

Quinn Lilly

Photography Contributed By

Gabor Kovacs

Video By

Victoria York