Phipps Ocean Park reopens in the Town of Palm Beach: November 19, 2026

The Town of Palm Beach has two public beaches, and one of them has been closed since May. Phipps Ocean Park, south of the commercial core, closed for a rebuild the Town calls a transformation. We read the Town’s Phipps Ocean Park Transformation page, the Preservation Foundation’s grand opening listing and the Town’s Master Fee Schedule on October 21, 2026. Here are the dates, what the Town says was built, and what it costs to park.

The dates

The Town says Phipps Ocean Park is closed to the public from May 1 through November 18, 2026. During the closure the racquet center and its parking reopened for tennis and pickleball patrons, and nobody else. The Preservation Foundation lists the Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening for Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 11 AM, the day after the Town’s closure ends. It calls the event open and complimentary to the public, with registration offered.

• The Town says Phipps Ocean Park is closed to the public from May 1 through November 18, 2026; only the racquet center and its parking have reopened for tennis and pickleball patrons. Town of Palm Beach: Phipps Ocean Park Transformation
• The Preservation Foundation lists the Phipps Ocean Park Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening for Thursday, November 19, 2026, 11:00 am, at 2201 South Ocean Boulevard, open and complimentary to the public. Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach: Phipps Ocean Park Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening

Sources disagree a little. The Foundation’s project page still says the park is closed until November 2026, and the Town’s hours page still says closed for renovations. Those lines are older wording, so we use the Town’s dates and the Foundation’s event listing. Lifeguard hours at the reopened park are not published yet, although the Town says both public beaches have lifeguards every day of the year.

• The Town says Phipps Ocean Park is closed May 1 through November 18, 2026, and its Hours page lists Phipps as "Closed for renovations." The Preservation Foundation's project page says closed "until November 2026" and lists the grand opening for November 19, 2026, 11:00 am. Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach: Extraordinary Spaces @Phipps Ocean Park
• The Town says lifeguards serve both public beaches every day of the year, but Phipps is closed until November 18, 2026; lifeguard hours at the reopened park are not published. Town of Palm Beach: New Resident and Visitor Resources
• The Town says it has 12 miles of beachfront and two public beaches, Midtown Municipal Beach and Phipps Ocean Park, with lifeguards every day of the year. Town of Palm Beach: New Resident and Visitor Resources

What the Town says was built

The Town lists seven groups of improvements:

• Native plantings.
• Relocating the Little Red Schoolhouse.
• A Coastal Restoration Center.
• Outdoor classroom, garden and playground.
• New beach pavilions.
• Lifeguard towers, bathrooms and walking paths.
• Two pickleball courts.

• The Town lists the Phipps improvements as native plantings, relocating the Little Red Schoolhouse, a Coastal Restoration Center, outdoor classroom, garden and playground, new beach pavilions, lifeguard towers, bathrooms and walking paths, and two pickleball courts. Town of Palm Beach: Phipps Ocean Park Transformation

On Tuesday, December 1, 12 days after the opening, the Foundation holds its Winter Bioblitz at the park’s Entry Plaza, from 8 to 10 in the morning: a free survey of the dune, hammock and mangrove habitats using iNaturalist and eBird.

A 1948 gift and a schoolhouse from 1886

The Preservation Foundation says the park was the Phipps family’s 1948 gift, 78 years before this reopening. It runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway, with 1,200 feet of oceanfront. Inside it stands the Little Red Schoolhouse, which the Foundation says was founded in 1886 as the first schoolhouse in Southeast Florida and moved to the park in 1960. By our arithmetic it has been at Phipps for 66 years, and the Town’s list above shows it moving again within the park. Our history page places the Foundation and the island’s older buildings in order.

• The Preservation Foundation says Phipps Ocean Park was the Phipps family's 1948 gift and runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway with 1,200 feet of oceanfront. Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach: Extraordinary Spaces @Phipps Ocean Park
• The Preservation Foundation says the Little Red Schoolhouse was founded in 1886 as the first schoolhouse in Southeast Florida and was moved to Phipps Ocean Park in 1960. Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach: Little Red Schoolhouse

What parking costs

The Town’s Master Fee Schedule sets $10.00 an hour for the Phipps Ocean ParkMobile zone, against $7.00 at Mid-Town Beach and $5.00 for the general run of spaces. So an hour at Phipps costs $3.00 more than an hour at Midtown. The Town’s meter table gives Phipps a maximum stay of 4 hours, one of the two zones where that table names a limit at all, which by our arithmetic makes a full session $40.00.

• The Master Fee Schedule sets $3.00/hour for the Royal Palm Way/Recreation Center Lot and $10.00/hour for the Phipps Ocean ParkMobile zone. Town of Palm Beach: Master Fee Schedule (Rev 10/13/2026)
• The Master Fee Schedule sets $7.00/hour for Sunrise (100 Block), South Ocean Blvd (Mid-Town Beach), parts of the 100 blocks of Brazilian, Australian, Chilean, Peruvian, Worth and Hammon in ParkMobile zone 46100, the rest of the 100 block of Hammon and the 100 Block of Royal Palm. Town of Palm Beach: Master Fee Schedule (Rev 10/13/2026)
• The Town's ParkMobile table is headed "Session Time Limit" but lists only the hours meters are active (for example Worth Avenue 9:00 am to 5:00 pm); it gives a maximum stay only for the Southern Boulevard Causeway and Phipps Ocean Park (4 hours). The Worth Avenue Association says Worth Avenue meters are three-hour and Peruvian Avenue four-hour. The Town does not confirm those limits on its own page. Town of Palm Beach: Park in Palm Beach

The Town’s parking map shows two Phipps lots, a south lot with 150 spaces and a north lot with 122, 272 in all by our count. The same map still shows $5 an hour there; the fee schedule, revised October 13, 2026, marks the $10 rate as new, so we go with the fee schedule and suggest you read the zone sign. The Town’s parking page adds that there is no parking at Phipps between sunset and sunrise. For comparison, Midtown’s zone 46100 on South Ocean Boulevard has 193 spaces at $7.00 an hour with a 4-hour cap, or $28.00 for a full session. The Town’s beach parking rules cover both.

Getting there: South Ocean Boulevard is closed north of the park

A Town alert posted on October 21, 2026 says South Ocean Boulevard (A1A) closes between South County Road and Southern Boulevard from Friday, October 23, 2026, at 5:00 a.m., until further notice. That is 27 days before the grand opening, and it cuts the beach road between Worth Avenue and Phipps. Our research note on the alert says to reach Phipps Ocean Park by the Southern Boulevard Bridge. Read the Town alert again before you drive; the getting here page covers the island’s three bridges.

Midtown Beach, the other lifeguarded public beach

The Town places Midtown Municipal Beach north of Worth Avenue, in the 300 block of South Ocean Boulevard. It is open sunrise to sunset, with lifeguards on duty from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., nine hours a day by our count. Meters there run from 9 AM to midnight at $7.00 an hour. It is the beach a walk away from Worth Avenue and the Town Hall blocks.

• The Town places Midtown Municipal Beach north of Worth Avenue in the 300 Block of South Ocean Boulevard. Town of Palm Beach: Hours & Schedules
• The Town lists Midtown Municipal Beach hours as sunrise to sunset, with lifeguards on duty 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Town of Palm Beach: Hours & Schedules
• The Town says Midtown streets (200 to 400 blocks of Brazilian, Australian, Chilean, 300 Hibiscus, 300 Cocoanut) and South Ocean Boulevard, Hammon Avenue and the 100 block of Royal Palm Way are active from 9:00 am to midnight. Town of Palm Beach: Park in Palm Beach

The Town also lists stretches with no lifeguards, from Barton Avenue to Seaspray Avenue and from Sunset Avenue north to Wells Road. Dogs are allowed on the Sunset to Wells beach alone, unleashed from dawn to 9am and leashed after. Our beaches guide has every rule we could source, and the What’s on this date? checker shows Phipps as closed or open for any day you pick.

• The Town says beachgoers can also use the beach from Barton Avenue to Seaspray Avenue and from Sunset Avenue north to Wells Road, with no lifeguards in those sections. Town of Palm Beach: New Resident and Visitor Resources
• The Town says dogs are only allowed on the Sunset to Wells beach; they may be unleashed from dawn to 9am and must be leashed after 9am. Town of Palm Beach: New Resident and Visitor Resources

Beach questions

Written by the Downtown Palm Beach Editorial Team. Some content may be AI-generated. People check every fact before it publishes.

Dates, rules and hours can change. The organisers have the final word: Town of Palm Beach (official site)