Blowing Rocks Preserve
Hobe Sound, FL
Blowing Rocks Preserve holds the largest outcropping of Anastasia limestone on the Atlantic coast, and on a rough winter day with the tide up, waves shoot spray through holes in the rock high enough to see from the parking lot. Calmer days turn the same rocks into a scramble of tide pools and a narrow strip of sand for swimming or snorkeling between them.
A genuinely rare rock formation with a real chance to see it in action makes it stand out from any other beach on this coast, though the swimming itself is secondary and depends on picking a calm day.
How we score beachesTime a visit for a winter day with a strong onshore wind and high tide if seeing the rocks actually blow is the goal, calm summer days won't show much. Get there before late morning, the two small lots fill fast and there's no overflow.
The entrance fee is 2 dollars per adult, children under 12 free. Two small lots serve the preserve, one right out front and another across the street, both prone to filling by late morning.
A short path leads from the lots to the rocky shoreline, but the rocks themselves are uneven and require careful footing, not accessible for strollers or wheelchairs. Swimming access is limited to sandy gaps between the outcroppings.
Pets aren't allowed anywhere in the preserve.
Winter's rougher seas are when the blowing rocks effect actually happens, though the same conditions make swimming less advisable that day. Summer brings calmer water better suited to swimming, alongside hurricane season, June through November.
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