Lake Okeechobee Boat Launch near Belle Glade
This is a free public boat ramp on Lake Okeechobee near Belle Glade, Florida, run by the South Florida Water Management District.
- Free
Status not reported No closure has been posted for this launch, but its agency does not publish open or closed status. Check with the managing agency before you tow.
At the launch
- Type
- Boat ramp
- Fee
- Free
- Managed by
- South Florida Water Management District
- Coordinates
- 26.77696, -80.69419
Directions (Google) Apple Maps
This launch has no official name in our sources; the name above describes where it is.
Channel depths in feet from the Army Corps' surveys (Jacksonville District; the one nearest this launch is of October 4, 2022). Not for navigation.
Conditions
- Weather forecast for this launch · National Weather Service
- Lake level at Lake Okeechobee · USACE
Lake level
Today's level loads here; without it, see the agency's page below.
Level from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Corps Water Management System (Lake Okeechobee), about hourly; the agency's page. Levels change; check conditions at the ramp before you launch.
Channel survey
The Army Corps surveys the channels it maintains and posts every survey.
- Lake Okeechobee · 0.1 mi from this launch
Hydrographic survey of October 4, 2022 by the Jacksonville District. Soundings on the sheet from 0.6 to 30.3 ft below the mean lake level; the Corps maintains a 6 ft channel here. Survey sheet (PDF)
US Army Corps of Engineers hydrographic surveys, from eHydro. A survey shows the bottom on the day it was made; channels shoal after high water and change with dredging. Not for navigation.
On Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in Florida. It covers about 730 square miles of south-central Florida and is bordered by Palm Beach, Martin, Glades, Okeechobee and Hendry counties. The lake is shallow, averaging about 9 feet deep, with a maximum depth of about 12 feet. Its main tributaries are the Kissimmee River, Fisheating Creek and Taylor Creek. Water leaves the lake toward the Everglades, the Caloosahatchee River and the St. Lucie River. After the 1928 hurricane broke through an older dike, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a larger levee system around the lake in the 1930s. It was expanded in the 1960s into the Herbert Hoover Dike, which has about 143 miles of levee, along with culverts, hurricane gates and other water control structures. The lake is managed for flood control and water supply as well as fisheries. Water levels are kept higher from October through March and lower from June through August. More about Lake Okeechobee.
Boating rules on Lake Okeechobee
- Slow speed, minimum wake zones in Taylor Creek and the Lake Okeechobee Rim Canal (Okeechobee County Ordinance 2023-0004, approved by FWC 2024) source
Community
Where people who use Lake Okeechobee talk about it.
Nearby launches
- Paul Rardin Park Public Boat Ramp · 2.0 mi · Lake Okeechobee
- City of Pahokee Marina and Boat Ramp · 3.7 mi · Lake Okeechobee
- City of Belle Glade - Torry Island Public Boat Ramp - Slim's Fish Camp · 5.2 mi · Lake Okeechobee
- City of Belle Glade - Torry Island Public Boat Ramp - Pavillion Side · 5.2 mi · Lake Okeechobee
- South Bay Boat Ramp · 7.0 mi · Lake Okeechobee
- Canal Point Public Boat Ramp · 7.3 mi · Lake Okeechobee
Sources
- South Florida Water Management District Managed Land Boat Ramps record -80.69419,26.77696 · Public record of the South Florida Water Management District (Florida Statutes ch. 119), provided as is; credit the District
Why it is listed as public: listed by South Florida Water Management District Managed Land Boat Ramps. Something wrong, or is this launch private? Send a correction; it goes to a person.