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Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach: Sailboat Bend, Riverland, Lauderdale Isles and Davis Isles

We buy waterfront lots in 33312: the upper New River, Riverland and Davis Isles

33312 has a Fort Lauderdale postmark but spreads across Fort Lauderdale, Dania Beach, Hollywood and Davie, and its water is the upper end of the New River system: Sailboat Bend near the forks, the upper South Fork around Riverland and Lauderdale Isles, and the western Dania Cut-Off Canal at Davis Isles. Routes out of this ZIP are long and pass several drawbridges. Lots on the South Fork above I-95 also go under its 55-foot fixed spans, and west of the Dania yacht basin Coast Pilot 4 gives only 9½ feet of overhead clearance.

33312 at a glance

Post office name and who governs it
USPS name: Fort Lauderdale. Census 2020 ZIP-to-place file, by land area: about 54% City of Fort Lauderdale, 27% Dania Beach, 11% Hollywood, 4% Davie, the rest unincorporated Broward, Plantation and Lauderhill. source
Fort Lauderdale waterfront neighbourhoods
Sailboat Bend (98%), Riverside Park, Shady Banks and Lauderdale Isles, plus the Riverland Manors, Riverland Woods and Riverlandings associations on the upper South Fork (city neighbourhood-association map). source
Dania Beach waterfront plats
Davis Isles, Avon Isles, Aqua Isles, Canal Groves and Ravenswood Estates & Marinas, on the Dania Cut-Off Canal west of I-95, all with Dania Beach situs on the Property Appraiser's map. source
Named water
New River, its North and South Forks, Grand Canal and Rio Tranquillo; in Lauderdale Isles the Albacore, Baracuda, Cobia, Dolphin, Bluefish, Marlin, Pompano, Rockfish, Sailfish and Turtle canals. source
Upper South Fork bridges
Twin fixed I-95 spans, 55 ft, 2.7 miles above the fork's mouth; railway bascule, 6 ft, at 2.8 miles; State Highway 84 bascule, 21 ft, at 3.8 miles; an I-595 bridge at 3.9 miles is listed with no clearance. source
SR 84 drawbridge
Opens on signal only if at least 24 hours' notice is given. Davie Boulevard, lower on the fork, opens on signal outside weekday rush hours. source
Western Dania Cut-Off Canal
West of the yacht basin 1.7 miles from the Intracoastal, bridges, cables and pipelines limit the channel to 28 ft wide and 9½ ft overhead. Cables over the South New River Canal have a least clearance of 10 ft. source
Seawall rules
Fort Lauderdale ULDR sec. 47-19.13 and Dania Beach Code ch. 12 art. XVII both require 5.0 ft NAVD88, or 4.0 ft on applications before 1 January 2035 designed to reach 5.0 ft by 2050. source
FEMA flood zones
AE with base flood elevations of 5 to 12 ft NAVD88, AH (6 to 9 ft) and X. No VE zone. Spot checks at Lauderdale Isles and Davis Isles returned AE. source
2025 single-family sales, whole ZIP
422 closed sales (down 7.3%), median $550,000 (up 4.8%), 93 paid in cash. All single-family homes in 33312, not waterfront only. source

Fort Lauderdale on the envelope, Dania Beach on the permit

More than a quarter of the land in 33312 is in the City of Dania Beach, including the canal subdivisions along the western Dania Cut-Off Canal. Two Davis Isles addresses we checked are mailed as Fort Lauderdale, yet the Census geocoder places both inside Dania Beach city limits. Your tax bill is the quickest way to see which city you answer to.

It matters for small things more than big ones. Dania Beach's seawall height is the same 5 feet NAVD88 as Fort Lauderdale's, but its dock rules are its own: a dock may reach 5 feet past the property line, or on a waterway over 50 feet wide, 10% of the width up to 20 feet.

Lauderdale Isles, Riverland and the head of the South Fork

Lauderdale Isles is a comb of ten fish-named canals opening south onto the North New River Canal, which meets the South Fork and the South New River Canal just east of the neighbourhood. The Riverland Manors, Riverland Woods and Riverlandings associations sit on the fork just below that junction. From here to the river mouth is a long run, and which bridges you pass depends on where your canal meets the fork.

Coming down from the top, Coast Pilot 4 lists an I-595 bridge without a clearance, then the State Highway 84 bascule at 21 feet, which opens only on 24 hours' notice. Below that come a railway bascule at 6 feet and the twin fixed I-95 spans at 55 feet, then Davie Boulevard and the New River drawbridges. Shady Banks, further down, is below I-95 and misses the fixed spans.

Fifty-five feet will not trouble most boats. The notice period on SR 84 and the railway bridge will shape how often an owner goes out, and that is what we weigh.

Davis Isles and the 9½-foot western canal

Davis Isles, Avon Isles, Aqua Isles and Canal Groves line the Dania Cut-Off Canal west of I-95, all in Dania Beach. The canal runs east from here to the Intracoastal at Mile 1068.8, and Port Everglades is 2.5 miles north of that junction.

Coast Pilot 4 is blunt about the western reach: past the yacht basin 1.7 miles in from the Intracoastal, bridges, cables and pipelines hold the channel to 28 feet wide and 9½ feet overhead. That is a fixed ceiling. It suits a low boat and rules out a tall one, and our offer on a lot here reflects the boat the canal allows, not the one on the brochure.

422 sales, most of them nowhere near the river

33312 is a big ZIP, and Miami Realtors counted 422 single-family closings in it in 2025 at a median of $550,000. Homes went under contract in a median of 54 days, faster than across Broward as a whole, and sold for 94.3% of their original price.

Most of those houses are inland. A river or canal lot in Sailboat Bend or on the fork is priced on its frontage, its wall and its bridges, and the ZIP median is only the starting line for that conversation.

Questions from 33312

I am in Lauderdale Isles. Which bridges stand between my dock and the ocean?

Heading out you come down the South Fork past the State Highway 84 drawbridge (24 hours' notice), a railway drawbridge, the fixed I-95 spans at 55 feet and the Davie Boulevard drawbridge, then the New River drawbridges and the 17th Street bascule before Port Everglades. Tell us your canal and we will check the I-595 crossing too.

Do I really have to book the SR 84 bridge a day ahead?

Yes. Under 33 CFR 117.315 the State Highway 84 drawbridge on the South Fork opens on signal only if at least 24 hours' notice is given. A boat low enough to pass under 21 feet with the bridge down does not need it to open.

My Davis Isles address says Fort Lauderdale. Whose seawall rule applies?

Dania Beach's, if your parcel is inside its limits, as the two Davis Isles addresses we checked are. Its code sets the same 5 feet NAVD88, with 4 feet allowed on applications before 2035. Check the city named on your tax bill.

Is any of 33312 in a VE flood zone?

No. FEMA's layer shows AE, AH and X here. Base flood elevations run from 5 to 12 feet NAVD88 in AE, and a Davis Isles spot check returned 6 feet.

Own a waterfront lot in 33312? Send us the address.

From 7,000 sq ft with a route to the ocean for a big boat, vacant or with a house on it. Not sure it fits? Send it anyway.

Know someone selling? Send them our way.

Neighbours, agents, dock builders and captains usually hear a waterfront lot is coming free long before it is listed. Point us at one. If you hold a Florida real estate licence and we buy it, we pay you a referral fee through your broker, agreed in writing before we approach anyone and paid at closing.

Not licensed? Send it anyway. Florida law does not let us pay you for it, but we still want to know.