Ryan F.
Yelp
Had lunch at Coral Reef Park on Saturday afternoon. Spent most of our visit at a picnic table near the corner of the park.
Quality
After grabbing take-out lunch in the area, decided to enjoy the beautiful weather by eating outside at Coral Reef Park. We had our dog in tow, so we were disheartened to see signs saying that dogs were not allowed. I can understand if they do not want dogs without leashes, but a large park with green fields and walking paths not allowing dogs is absurd. We chose to ignore the signs and picked a table in a quiet corner of the park to eat our lunch anyway.
Quantity
The park is a good size at more than 50 acres. It has lots of green space, tennis courts, picnic areas, and playgrounds. We had no problem finding a tranquil spot to enjoy our meal.
Value
The park is free to visit and they do not charge for parking. They do have some outdoor picnic areas and gazebos that can be rented out if you have a large gathering.
Ambiance
Coral Reef Park is located down south in the Palmetto Bay area. A few blocks west of US-1, the park is adjacent to an elementary school in a nice residential neighborhood. The park is pretty large with all the basics. It has baseball and football fields, tennis and racquetball courts, playgrounds, picnics, and walking paths with exercise stations along the way. A small canal also flows through the park creating a serene atmosphere. However, I can't help but harp on the fact that they do not permit dogs in the park. Almost everywhere we walked signs were up prohibiting even leashed dogs. In a city where so many people have dogs and more and more businesses are adapting to allow dog owners to bring their pets, you would think a massive open space could do the same.
Crowd
Two types of people made up the majority of the park visitors. Parents with small children and groups of people exercising. In addition to large empty fields to let kids run out their energy, the park had several different playground areas. Meanwhile, the walking paths with exercise machines along the way were in constant use. I also saw a pick-up soccer game on one field and a bootcamp workup class on another.
Service
I found the park to be much dirtier than I would have expected it to be. The only reason I could see them keeping out dogs would be Miamians tendency to not clean up after their pets. However, with garbage strewn on the paths, benches, and fields, I couldn't imagine dogs making things any worse.
Parking
It appeared like there were a few different areas with free parking available. We parking in a small lot that was towards the southeast end of the park near the elementary school.
Extra
Coral Reef Park needs to change its dog policy. It seems like it is a perfectly fine park, besides being a little dirty, especially for a walk or a jog. However, the decision to ban pets is idiotic and as such I will take advantage of more welcoming parks.