Deerfield Beach

Deerfield Beach is a city of 81,000 people (2019) in Florida, just south of Boca Raton in northern Broward County.

Understand
Deerfield Beach fronts the Atlantic Ocean, and not surprisingly the beautiful beach is its most popular attraction.

History
Deerfield Beach is named for the numerous deer that once roamed the area. It is part of the Greater Miami metropolitan area.

Climate
Deerfield Beach has a true tropical climate, with hot, humid summers, and warm, dry winters. The city does experience cold fronts from November through March. However, the average monthly temperature for any month has never been recorded as being under 64.4 °F (January averages 66 °F). Most of the year is warm and humid, and the summers are almost identical to the climate of the Caribbean tropics. In addition, the city gets most of its rain in the summer (wet season) and is relatively dry in winter (dry season). The wet season, which is hot and humid, lasts from May to October, when it gives way to the dry season. The dry season features mild temperatures with some invasions of colder air, which is when the little winter rainfall occurs — with the passing of a front. The hurricane season largely coincides with the wet season. 69% of the city's annual rainfall occurs during the five month summer period. The hurricane season is between 1 June and 30 November, with major hurricanes most likely to affect Florida in September and October. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma struck the city in 2005; other direct hits were Hurricane Cleo in 1964, Hurricane King in 1950 and the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane.

By train

 * Amtrak offers daily train service on the Silver Star and Silver Meteor routes. The station is at 1300 West Hillsboro Boulevard next to I-95.  Take the 48 Broward Transit bus to the beach.

By car
I-95, US-1, and FL-A1A run to and out of the town from north to south, from west to east respectively. Hillsboro Blvd (FL-810) leads to central Deerfield Beach from the west.

Get around
Your best bet is to rent a car to get around. Deerfield Beach is friendly to bicycle traffic, but the public transportation serves a limited portion of the city, and overall it's not a very walkable city outside of the downtown area.

Do

 * Visit the . The Deerfield Beach pier offers excellent fishing and marine life viewing opportunities.

Buy
While not particularly known as a shopper's destination by any means, Deerfield Beach is home to numerous gift shops where you can find the perfect Florida souvenir.

Sleep
Deerfield Beach has a number of hotels and motels. The properties closest to the beach tend to cost a bit more per night, but many are still quite reasonable. Rates are generally lower than in Boca Raton which is just up the beach to the north.

Go next

 * Boca Raton to the north
 * Pompano Beach to the south