Okeechobee Waterway

From its junction with the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in St. Lucie Inlet, the Okeechobee Waterway follows the St. Lucie River westward to South Fork, through South Fork and the St. Lucie Canal, it then enters Lake Okeechobee at Port Mayaca. After crossing the lake, it exits at Moore Haven into the Caloosahatchee Canal and from there into the Caloosahatchee River, San Carlos Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico.

It should be noted that the Okeechobee water levels vary dramatically from year to year depending on the amount of rainfall received. When water levels drop below a certain point restrictions are placed on the locks resulting in limited operating schedules to the worst case scenario when they close the waterway completely.

The table below lists the bridges and locks, their schedules, and restrictions along the Okeechobee Waterway from it's intersection with the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Stuart, FL to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway just West of Fort Myers, FL.

If your plans are to use the Okeechobee waterway you can visit the Army Corp of Engineers, Jacksonville, FL offices' web site at http://www.saj.usace.army.mil. Once there you can check out the latest navigational bulletins. Special Caution should be exercised if using Route #2 (Rim Route).

This list is believed to be accurate as of September 2010. If any errors or omissions are noted, please e-mail me Offshore Marine with any corrections or recommendations.

This bridge operating schedule can be downloaded for your personal use as a ZIP file. The file contains the schedule in both Word (.doc) and Adobe (.pdf) file formats.

Please note: This is a Zipped file of 55 Kb.