Delray Beach, FL: A Local’s Guide

Delray Beach gets called the Village by the Sea, and the name fits. Downtown is Atlantic Avenue, about two miles of restaurants, galleries, and bars that runs from Swinton straight to a public beach. Guests can park once and walk the rest of the trip, which is rare in southeast Florida and is most of why they pick Delray over the towns around it. If you own here, or are thinking about buying, the thing to understand is the zoning rule that decides which properties can rent short term. We cover it in the owner section below.

Where is Delray Beach, FL?

Delray Beach is a coastal city of about 67,000 people in Palm Beach County, sitting between Boynton Beach to the north and Boca Raton to the south, roughly 20 miles south of West Palm Beach and 50 miles north of Miami. It was founded in 1894 and incorporated in 1911. The founder, William Linton, named it after Delray, a neighborhood in Detroit.

What Delray Beach is known for

Mostly the downtown and the beach, plus an events calendar that is big for a city this size.

• Atlantic Avenue

  The spine of the city, running about two miles from Swinton Avenue east to the ocean. Restaurants, galleries, bars, and shops line both sides, and it stays busy on foot at night in a way most Florida downtowns do not.

• The beach

  About two miles of public municipal beach along A1A, with lifeguards, metered parking, and no high-rise wall blocking it. Anchor Park and Atlantic Dunes Park sit at the south end. The stretch is unusually open for southeast Florida, and it is a short walk or bike ride from downtown.

• The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

  Sixteen acres of Japanese gardens, a museum, a bonsai collection, and a tea house, west of town. It traces back to the Yamato Colony, a Japanese farming settlement founded near here in 1905. George Morikami, one of the last surviving colonists, donated the land to Palm Beach County.

• Pineapple Grove and the arts district

  The blocks running north off Atlantic Avenue, marked by an archway and a run of murals, galleries, studios, and independent shops. It is where the city put its arts identity, and it gives downtown a second walkable axis beyond the main strip.

• A festival calendar that drives bookings

  The Delray Affair each April is one of the largest arts and crafts festivals in the Southeast. The Delray Beach Open brings ATP tour tennis to the Tennis Center in February. Garlic Fest, the Wine and Seafood Festival, and the downtown holiday tree fill in the rest. These weekends book out well ahead.

Delray sits in a dense run of coastal towns, and the short term rental rules change sharply from one to the next:

• Boynton Beach. Directly north. More residential and more affordable, with its own marina district and a business tax receipt plus certificate of use for short term rentals.
• Boca Raton. Directly south. Larger, wealthier, and considerably stricter: short term rentals are effectively prohibited in residential zones with a 30-day minimum and escalating fines.
• Highland Beach. A narrow barrier-island town between Delray and Boca, almost entirely residential condos and single-family homes.
• Gulf Stream. A very small, very affluent town immediately north along A1A. Largely private and residential.
• Lake Worth Beach. Further north, with a similar walkable-downtown character but a hard rule difference: short term rentals are not permitted there at all.

The neighborhoods that matter

Delray is compact, so the differences between areas are about walkability, lot size, and zoning rather than long drives. Here is the short version of each.

Things to do

Most of it sits between Atlantic Avenue and the sand. A few things are worth the short drive west.

• Walk Atlantic Avenue

  Start here. Two miles of restaurants, galleries, and bars from Swinton to the ocean, best on foot and best in the evening.

• Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

  Sixteen acres of gardens across six distinct styles, a bonsai collection, a museum, and a tea ceremony program. Allow half a day.

• Delray Municipal Beach

  Two miles of public sand with lifeguards and metered parking along A1A. Anchor Park and Atlantic Dunes Park anchor the quieter south end.

• Wakodahatchee Wetlands

  A three-quarter-mile boardwalk over constructed wetlands, and one of the best birding spots in South Florida. Free, and busiest at sunrise. Green Cay Nature Center nearby is the companion stop.

• Pineapple Grove Arts District

  Murals, galleries, studios, and independent retail on the blocks north of Atlantic Avenue.

• The Delray Beach Tennis Center

  Host of the Delray Beach Open, an ATP tour stop each February. Public courts the rest of the year.

• Old School Square

  The cultural campus at Atlantic and Swinton, built around the restored 1913 school buildings, with a museum, a theatre, and an outdoor pavilion that programs concerts and events.

A day trip worth the drive

• The Boynton and Lantana beaches, and Boca to the south

  Delray sits in the middle of a continuous run of barrier-island beach. Twenty minutes north gets you to Lantana and Manalapan, twenty minutes south to Boca Raton and Red Reef Park, all reachable on A1A without touching I-95.

Where to eat

Nearly everything on this list is on Atlantic Avenue or a block off it.

• Boston's on the Beach. On A1A across from the sand since 1979. Casual, loud, and the closest thing Delray has to an institution.
• The Grove. Contemporary American in Pineapple Grove, one of the stronger dinner rooms off the main strip.
• Sundy House. Dining inside a restored 1902 home surrounded by tropical gardens. The Sunday brunch is the local reference point.
• City Oyster & Sea Grill. Seafood and a raw bar on Atlantic Avenue, long-running and reliably busy.
• Elisabetta's Ristorante. Big Italian room at the east end of Atlantic, with a patio aimed at the street.
• Death or Glory. A bar and kitchen in a restored historic building on NE 2nd Avenue, known for the cocktail program.
• Doc's All American. A 1951 walk-up ice cream and burger stand at Atlantic and Swinton. A landmark more than a meal.
• The Office. Gastropub on Atlantic, a long-standing downtown default.

When to come

High season runs December through April, and Delray’s event calendar sharpens it further. The Delray Beach Open in February and the Delray Affair in April both pull hard on the rental calendar. Summer is hot but still books on weekends. September and October are the bottom.

Delray Beach, FL FAQ