The Port:
Port Everglades spans three cities (Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Dania Beach) and ranks among the three busiest cruise homeports on Earth.
Key Insight:
This is primarily a HOMEPORT—you’re likely embarking or disembarking, not visiting for the day. Ships always dock at a berth (never tender), but your terminal (of 8) depends on your line. FLL airport is just 2 miles away.
The city’s showpiece—a 3-mile ribbon of sand along the A1A promenade, backed by the iconic white wave-wall. Calm Atlantic swimming and lifeguards; a short rideshare from any terminal. Free, or rent a chair and umbrella (~$20).
Fort Lauderdale’s signature street—roughly a mile of boutiques, galleries, and sidewalk cafés. It flows into the shaded Riverwalk along the New River. Best for browsing, brunch, and people-watching; free to stroll.
A hop-on, hop-off boat threading the Intracoastal past mega-yachts and mansions—the “Venice of America.” One all-day pass bounces you between Las Olas, the beach, and 17th Street. Boats run every 30–45min, 10am–10pm. Nearest boarding is the 17th St/Convention Center stop.
The River of Grass at Sawgrass Recreation Park, ~25mi west in Weston. Guided airboats hunt for alligators, turtles, and wading birds, with an on-site wildlife sanctuary. Best as a pre-cruise day trip—a 40–45min drive each way. Book directly to avoid ship-excursion markups.
A Fort Lauderdale institution since 1935—a 90-minute narrated cruise up the New River past waterfront estates and “Millionaires’ Row” aboard an old-Florida riverboat. Departs Bahia Mar on the beach side. Relaxed and shaded—great for families or anyone short on time.
A 1920s subtropical estate on 35 acres between the beach and the Intracoastal—an art-filled historic home, orchid house, and gardens roamed by monkeys and swans. Closed Mondays; self-guided or docent tours.
Golden Rule: There’s no tender to catch here—but if you leave the ship on embarkation day (or a rare port visit), work backward from all-aboard, usually ~90 minutes before departure. The flip side matters more: on disembarkation day, don’t book an FLL flight before noon.
RESULT: Leave the beach by 2:25pm
Fort Lauderdale port-day questions, answered
Answers verified August 2026 against port-operator and official sources.
Your cruise documents are the first answer, but the port publishes a live berth schedule of its own at pevvesseltraffic.broward.org, and there is a free Port Everglades cruise-schedule app that does the same job. Check it, because the terminals are not clustered - they are spread across Midport and Southport, so showing up at the wrong one is a drive rather than a walk. Assignments can also shift between sailings, which is why the port posts digital wayfinding with ship-to-terminal assignments at the entrances. Treat any terminal number you read online, including ours, as a typical pattern rather than a promise.
Realistically no. Port Everglades is a secured industrial complex spanning three cities, with three vehicle entrances - SE 17th Street at Eisenhower Boulevard, East SR-84 off US-1, and I-595 East onto Eller Drive - and a security checkpoint where a photo ID is required for everyone 18 and older and vehicles may be searched. There are no sidewalks or crosswalks designed for people walking out, and the nearest restaurants on the 17th Street corridor still mean a ride. Budget for a taxi or rideshare rather than a stroll.
Not at the port itself - security rules mean bags cannot be left or stored at the terminals. The nearest practical answer is the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi's luggage-storage office on SE 17th Street, roughly a mile away, which takes bags for around ten dollars each during daytime hours with a late fee after early evening. Note the water taxi boats themselves will not carry luggage, so this is a drop-and-go arrangement rather than a way to sightsee with your suitcase in tow.
It can cost you several minutes, and the timing is predictable enough to plan around. The SE 17th Street bridge is a bascule drawbridge on the route in from the beach and A1A, and federal rules require it to open on the hour and the half hour - except on weekday mornings and late afternoons outside federal holidays, when it opens only once an hour at the top of the hour. So the awkward window is arriving at the bridge just before the half hour. If you are cutting it close, come in via I-595 and Eller Drive or via SR-84 instead, neither of which crosses the drawbridge.
Yes, and almost no guide mentions it: the port runs a shared service called Van on Demand from the terminals for parties of three or more, priced per person rather than per vehicle - currently around eleven dollars each to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and twenty-five to Miami. It is not available on every sailing day. Look for the gray and blue booth on the terminal curb and speak to the dispatcher. It is also worth knowing that terminal taxis here are metered only and flat rates are not permitted, so a driver quoting a flat fare is off-book.
If both sailings are with the same line, call them and they will arrange the move. If the cruises are on different lines, you are on your own, and the port recommends a taxi with a flat intra-port transfer rate of a few dollars - a rare exception to the metered-only rule at the terminals. There is no public shuttle bus circulating between the cruise terminals; each garage shuttle serves only its own building. Allow more time than the short distance suggests, because you are clearing security twice.
The best public vantage point is Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Dania Beach, directly across the channel from the berths - open daily from 8am to sunset for a few dollars per vehicle, with an undeveloped ocean beach and the Intracoastal side including Whiskey Creek, a mangrove manatee sanctuary. It is also the closest natural beach to the terminals. The park is named for the two civil-rights leaders who organized the wade-in protests that desegregated Broward's beaches, which makes it a more worthwhile hour than most stops on the A1A strip.
They reflect Port Everglades' second major role. Besides being one of the busiest cruise homeports in the world, it is South Florida's petroleum hub: the port says roughly a third of Florida's energy products move through it, supplying a dozen counties and several international airports from petroleum terminals on private land inside the port boundary. That is why the drive in passes tank farms rather than palm trees, why fuel-truck traffic is constant, and why the security posture is tighter than a purely passenger port would need. It also regularly hosts visiting Navy and Coast Guard vessels.
This guide draws on the official institutions below, cross-checked against current cruise schedules and traveler reports.
Listed sources are not affiliated with and do not endorse CruiseProdigy.
Researched and reviewed by Richard Nicholson, founder of CruiseProdigy. · Spotted an update? Report it →