The Venice of America: Fort Lauderdale's Canals | Florida Adventures on the Water

Gretchen and Randy take you to Fort Lauderdale — the Venice of America, with more than 300 miles of navigable waterways, more canals than Venice, Italy. The city was built around the water: the New River, the Intracoastal, and finger canals cut through the neighborhoods so almost every house has water access. In this episode: what the Intracoastal Waterway actually is — about 3,000 miles of sheltered waterway down the Atlantic coast, around Florida and along the Gulf to Texas, so you can travel the coast without ever going out in the open ocean. The route: cruise the Intracoastal south, turn west up the New River through downtown and the Riverwalk, then wind through the Las Olas Isles and Seven Isles — Millionaire's Row, houses facing the water, yachts parked out front like cars. You can only really see it from a boat. The practical part: drawbridge schedules — Las Olas Boulevard and Oakland Park Boulevard on the quarter hour and three-quarter hour, Sunrise Boulevard and Southeast 17th Street on the hour and half hour, New River bridges on signal except weekday rush hour (about 7:30–9 a.m. and 4:30–6 p.m.), monitor VHF channel 9. No-wake zones near bridges and marinas — come all the way down to idle. Manatee zones: season runs November 15 through March 31, with a 6,000-foot idle-speed zone at Port Everglades in season, the power-plant discharge canal closed to boats all year, and a new year-round slow-speed, minimum-wake zone on the Intracoastal between the Oakland Park Boulevard Bridge and the Sunrise Boulevard Bridge. More than 1,200 manatees have been counted in Broward County waterways in past years — about a fifth of the statewide population. Weekend plan: day one on the Intracoastal south past the port and back, lunch on the water at Las Olas; day two up the New River in the morning and through the Las Olas Isles canals. Bring polarized sunglasses, water, snacks, and patience — you will be waiting on bridges. And if you want a guaranteed manatee sighting, the TECO Manatee Viewing Center at Apollo Beach opens November 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free. Photos: real photos — Citrus Isle and Royal Palm canals, Las Olas, the Water Taxi, the Intracoastal, the New River, the rail drawbridge, Las Olas Bridge, the Carrie B on the Riverwalk, and Fort Lauderdale from the water. Florida Adventures on the Water is a series from Gretchen on the go.