A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in St. Augustine
St. Augustine feeds boaters in clusters, and the city itself provides the parking. The signature move on this coast: call the Municipal Marina on VHF 16 or 71 off the Bridge of Lions, take the $5-an-hour day dock (four hours, first-come), and the historic district's bayfront tables are a dock line away.
The bayfront — tie up once, walk the seawall
O.C. White's serves waterview dining in a 1790s building directly across Avenida Menendez from the city marina, and Harry's has held its New Orleans-style corner at 46 Avenida Menendez since 1987. Neither publishes a patron dock — the day dock and the marina's dinghy dockage do the work, which in this harbor is the point. Across town on the San Sebastian, St. Augustine Fish Camp looks over the shrimp-boat river from Lincolnville; the sourced tie-up is still the city's bayfront docks.
The Tolomato — the docks that say yes
The north river owns the plainest invitations in the market. Aunt Kate's, the Usina family's century-old riverfront room, says it outright: come, tie up at our floating dock. Cap's on the Water lists its scenic dock first among the dining options, and Beaches at Vilano posts boat dock and jet-ski parking at the Town Center — with the county's free dawn-to-dusk day dock at the Vilano pier next door.
Salt Run and the marsh
Conch House is the full-service answer — restaurant, lounge and its own marina with a published dock plan on one Salt Run property, 3,000 feet from the inlet. South down the Matanzas, Salt Water Cowboys has perched over the marsh grass on Dondanville Road for more than 55 years; its site stays quiet on dockage, so check local dockage options and treat it as the reward at the end of a bayfront day.
The run south
Captain's BBQ cooks inside Bing's Landing County Park with the county's own boat basin and launch on the ICW — mind the county's dredging window, scheduled after Labor Day 2026. And at Mile 803, European Village stacks seven eateries and six bars a walk from Palm Coast Marina, the self-described only fuel stop between Daytona and St. Augustine.
Before you go
The Bridge of Lions opens on the hour and half-hour from 7 to 6 and skips the 8 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. openings on weekdays, the ebb runs 1.5 knots at right angles to it, and the inlet's shoals move enough that the Coast Pilot recommends a pilot for strangers — the dockmaster arranges one with 24 hours notice. Bigger plans than dinner? The form on this page reaches Minted Yachts — the broker who runs this coast with buyers.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| Conch House Restaurant & LoungeThe model arrive-by-boat stop of the Salt Run cluster — restaurant, lounge and marina share one property, with the marina row above carrying the figures and the city's Salt Run moorings nearby for the anchor-out crowd. | Salt Run — the Conch House resort, Anastasia Island | Yes — the resort's own marina publishes a dock plan and slip rates; reserve a slip and walk up |
| Aunt Kate's on the RiverThe Usina family's riverfront institution, serving on the Tolomato for more than a century — the strongest dock invitation on the north river. | Tolomato River — North Beach, above Vilano | Yes — “come, tie up at our floating dock,” in its own words |
| Cap's on the WaterOak-shaded dining on the west-facing river — dock, covered pavilion, tiki bar and the Sunset Oyster Bar, by its own description, a short run up the Tolomato from the inlet. | Tolomato River — Vilano / North Beach, on the ICW | Yes — “a scenic dock” heads its list of dining options |
| Beaches at VilanoThe Caribbean-inspired stop at the Vilano Town Center, next to the fishing pier — its own dock out front, and the county's free day dock at the pier next door. | Vilano Beach Town Center — Tolomato River | Yes — “Boat Dock and Jet Ski Parking,” per its own site |
| Captain's BBQ at Bing's LandingBarbecue and a bait shop inside a county park on the ICW — the Hammock stretch's arrive-by-boat stop, with one planning note from the county: boat-basin dredging was scheduled after Labor Day 2026, so check timing before you commit the approach. | The Hammock, Palm Coast — Bing's Landing County Park, on the ICW | Via the county park's boat basin and launch — Flagler County's own pages put the docks on the Intracoastal |
| O.C. White's Seafood & SpiritsWaterview dining in a 1790s building directly opposite the city marina — the shortest walk from a transient slip to a table on the whole bayfront. | Historic bayfront — 118 Avenida Menendez, across from the Municipal Marina | Check local dockage options — the Municipal Marina's $5/hour day dock (4-hr max, VHF 16/71) is directly across the avenue |
| Harry's Seafood Bar & GrilleThe New Orleans-style bayfront landmark, on Avenida Menendez since 1987 — tie up at the city docks and the seawall promenade delivers you. | Historic bayfront — 46 Avenida Menendez | Check local dockage options — a short walk up the seawall from the Municipal Marina's day dock and dinghy dockage |
| St. Augustine Fish CampThe San Sebastian riverfront room in the old working-waterfront district — water views over the shrimp-boat river, with the city's bayfront docks doing the mooring duty. | Lincolnville — 142 Riberia St, on the San Sebastian | Check local dockage options — the Municipal Marina on the bayfront is the sourced tie-up, a walk across Lincolnville |
| Salt Water CowboysMore than 55 years on the Intracoastal marsh — the old-Florida fish-camp room every St. Augustine local sends visitors to, perched over the Matanzas grass flats. | Anastasia Island — Dondanville Rd, on the Matanzas marshfront | Check local dockage options — the salt-marsh porch is the destination; the city's bayfront docks and moorings are the sourced tie-ups upriver |
| European VillagePalm Coast's dining courtyard — seven eateries and six bars in one plaza by its own count — reached from the marina that doubles as the coast's fuel stop. | Palm Coast — Palm Harbor, off the ICW | Check local dockage options — Palm Coast Marina at Mile 803 is the sourced stop, with “many restaurants within walking distance” by its own claim |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
We run this coast the way our buyers do — shortlisting, surveying and sea-trialing boats wherever the right one sits. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which slip, it calls for.