Family Vacation in Pompano Beach

The resort is located on the north end of Pompano close to Lighthouse Point. This was great as on the beach you can watch the luxury and fishing boats go in out of the intercostal waterway. The beach was clean and uncrowded. The water was clear and swimable.

The one thing we really liked about this resort was that they put out beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach for you. And they had enough for everyone, so that rude people didn't have to "save" chairs with towels at the crack of dawn and not use them half the day. We switched back and forth between the pools and the beach throughout the day and had no problem geeting chairs at any time.

We have stayed at RCI Santa Barbara Resort in Pompano, which is Gold Crown and very very nice. But it's across the street from the beach and the beach there was very crowded the time we stayed there and also looked that way this time too.

They have the best and most creative kids menu I have ever seen. At least 10 different selections and good sized portions to match the child (smaller for the wee ones and large for the older set).

The walls are covered with the owner's pictures of family and friends deep sea fishing adventures and life size hammerhead sharks and other fish. My seven-year-old was totally enthralled by it all. The place has more of a local Friday's/Applebee's restaurant feel but the food is much better.

If you are in Pompano with kids and want something for them and also want something good for you and your spouse, this is a good choice.

PS There is a liquor store in front of this place. The restaurant is attached and directly behind it. Located across the street and down from the Publix on Atlantic Blvd.

The food is pricey as most dinners start at $22 each. But the seafood is excellent and extremely fresh. Don't walk in this place expecting Red Lobester because it's not. The food is fine dining and is artfully presented. The serve can lag, but in fairness, our server seemed to be pretty new. We witnessed better service at other tables.

I can't recommend any particular dishes off of the regular menu as both my husband and I picked two of three daily specials. We had crab cakes with fresh tomato salsa (huge chucks of fresh crab lightly seasoned and lightly fried in very thin coating) and broiled red snapper topped with half a dozen jumbo shrimp and red pepper sauce and bernaise sauce. Both dishes were excellent. We had conch fritters for an appetizer and they were just ok.

We had to ask for a child's menu, which had some really poor choices. My child wanted fish just broiled or fried, which they wouldn't accommodate, so he picked cheese pizza (not very good or appealing in looks).

If you get there early enough there is a bar upstairs that overlooks the ocean and has an appetizer bar (smoked salmon, conch fritters, shrimp, and the like).

All in all, this is a great treat for adults, but maybe leave the kids at the resort with the grandparents (if possible). No matter how well behaved they are, this place doesn't do anything to cater to them.

It is supposed to have large aquariums all over the place and animals that talk. During dinner, the restaurant changes just like the rainforest (rain storms with thunder and lighting and the animals calling to each other).

I asked several people about the food and all said it was very good.

We didn't get a chance to go, but since most people spoke highly of it, I thought it deserved a mention.

The staff are friendly and very helpful. They have three excursions a day, and each lasts about four hours. You fish about a mile off shore on one of the reefs.

This is great for first timers because one it is inexpensive ($28 per adult and $20 per child), two the sessions are short but you get a lot of fishing time, three you can see land while you fishing (something that was a must for my son), and four this is a large boat so motion problems are not as dramatic.

We love to deep sea fish so this was a good introduction to it for my son. My son caught three good sized fish (yellow tail and snapper) and the whole boat cheered him on while he was reeling them in.

After the first half of the ride they will drop you at a small island where there is drinks and alligator fried meat for purchase (at very very high prices) and well as a cheesy display of what Indian life was like. Then there is alligator wrestling, which really isn't alliagtor wrestling at all. It's just a term. The young man who "wrestled" the alligators was very professional and informative about alligators and their habitat.

After the "show" you reboard the airboat for a wild ride an informative tour of the evergaldes. We saw several alligators, a lot of different birds, and were pointed out several differnt types of flowers and trees.

We had a good time but we also thought it was overpriced. On top of the admisson price everyone will ask for tips.

Look on the Go Florida web site for coupons ($2 off each person - covers the tax portion ). Was about $16.50 per adult and $10-$12 per child. THey have a nice covered picnic area.

John Pennekamp State Coral Reef Park is located an easy drive of about 1.5 to 2 hours from Pompano Beach. The staff of the entire park and boats are friendly and extremely helpful. We saw small sharks, barracudas, lobsters, and swam in huge schoools of fish that come right up and look you in the face! The fish colors are amazing. Take a waterproof camera. We had an absolute blast doing this!!

We had never done this before and were alittle intimidated about doing this. But you can rent gear at the concession and practice at the beach located right there. There is a small shipwreck at the beach and a lot of little fish and crabs to see during your practice. After you are comfortable with it, you can book your snorkel trip if you want.

They have a really great web site with prices and times posted. They also have a good question and answer section. Again look on the Go Florida site for some good coupons.