The best things to do in Margate, FL with kids fall into two rings. Inside the city you get Calypso Cove, Firefighters Park and a canal-side park with a boat ramp. About 10 minutes north, in Coconut Creek, sit the two big family attractions, Butterfly World and Tradewinds Park. Margate covers about 9 square miles with no beach of its own, so this guide covers everything within roughly a 30-minute drive, sorted into outdoor days, indoor afternoons, free options and the timing South Florida heat forces on any family.
The Family Map of Margate and Its Drive-Time Rings
Margate is a Broward County suburb of 58,712 people at the 2020 Census, sitting between Coral Springs, Coconut Creek and North Lauderdale, and it runs 19 parks and recreational facilities inside its 9 square miles (City of Margate). Four roads carry nearly everything a family needs: Atlantic Boulevard, Margate Boulevard, State Road 7 and Coconut Creek Parkway.
Destinations aren’t within walking distance of each other, so plan on driving. The Atlantic is 7.5 miles east, about 20 minutes down Atlantic Boulevard to Pompano Beach. Butterfly World and Tradewinds Park are about 10 minutes north, Fern Forest Nature Center is a short drive east in Coconut Creek, Coral Springs adds indoor options in 12 to 15 minutes, and Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton sit 25 to 30 minutes out. For the adult version of this list, see our wider guide to things to do in Margate.
Outdoor Family Days Inside Margate
Margate’s own family attractions are parks and a municipal water park, none of them more than 10 minutes apart. Residents pay less than visitors at the pool, and the parks cost nothing at all.
Calypso Cove Aquatic Facility: Slides, a Zero-Depth Pool and Umbrella Shade
Calypso Cove is the city’s Caribbean-themed water park inside Royal Palm Park at 6200 Royal Palm Boulevard, and it’s Margate’s main summer draw for families. Two slides (48-inch minimum) handle older children, while a zero-depth activity pool with a play structure suits toddlers. Shade comes mostly from deck umbrellas, so bring hats and claim one early. It’s seasonal: in 2026 it runs weekends only through September 27 and then closes until spring, and admission for ages 5 and up is $6 for residents and $12 for non-residents (City of Margate). The floats and beach chairs a season like this generates have to live somewhere, and a 5×10 storage unit holds the contents of one room.
Firefighters Park: Safety Town and a Shade-Covered Playground
Firefighters Park at 2500 Rock Island Road is the most complete park in Margate. The draw for younger kids is Safety Town, where children learn road safety, plus a covered playground. Older kids get five full-size tennis courts, two pickleball courts, lighted basketball courts, a sand volleyball court, an artificial turf soccer rink and a half-mile walking trail with exercise stations (City of Margate). The grounds stay open until 10 p.m., and the lighted basketball courts are the place to be after sunset from June through September, when those are the only comfortable hours to play.
Margate Sports Complex: A Free Splash Pad and Sounds at Sundown
The Margate Sports Complex at 1695 Banks Road is youth league baseball by day and a concert lawn on Sounds at Sundown nights. A splash play area, a quarter-mile path with exercise stations and shade-covered spectator areas make it a real morning stop even when nobody in your family has a game, and the splash pad is the free wet option when Calypso Cove is closed. Sounds at Sundown brings live music and food trucks, and the next show is October 3, 2026, at 6 p.m. (City of Margate), so pack lawn chairs and expect a local crowd.
Winfield Park: Fishing Docks, Covered Playgrounds and a Boat Ramp
Winfield Park at 6400 Winfield Boulevard is a free canal-side park with covered playgrounds, swing benches, a basketball court, two fishing docks and a boat ramp (City of Margate). It’s open sunrise to sunset, sits a few minutes from the traffic on State Road 7 and rarely feels busy. Bring your own rods and bait, because there’s no rental stand.
Outdoor Attractions Within a 20-Minute Drive
The bigger outdoor days sit just over the city line, all four within about 20 minutes and all four better before noon.
Butterfly World: 20,000 Butterflies and the Lorikeet Feeding
The one to plan a morning around is Butterfly World, 3600 W Sample Road in Coconut Creek, which houses about 20,000 exotic butterflies and birds. Bring cash. Nectar for the lorikeet feeding is $2 a cup and the counter doesn’t take cards, and since that feeding is what children talk about on the drive home, carry enough for a second cup. Gates open at 9 a.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday, and you want to be through them by 3 p.m., because last entry is 4 p.m. and the butterfly areas shut at 4:30 p.m. (Butterfly World).
Tradewinds Park: Disc Golf, Fishing and a Model Steam Train
Tradewinds Park is split in two by Sample Road. The south side holds disc golf, a fishing lake, athletic fields and Butterfly World. The north side is the county’s educational farm, but its farm tours, pony rides, museum and north playground have been closed since July 2025 for long-term construction, with no reopening date posted (Broward County Parks). The Tradewinds & Atlantic Railroad model steam train still runs on the third Saturday and Sunday of the month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting, with September 19 and 20 and October 17 and 18 next on the railroad’s schedule. Check what’s open before you go, since construction can change access.
Fern Forest Nature Center: Boardwalks, Prairie and an Observation Platform
This is the free one. Fern Forest Nature Center, at 201 Lyons Road S in Coconut Creek, charges no admission and runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Florida Hikes), because Broward County’s gate fee applies at its regional parks and not at its nature centers (Broward County Parks). Start on the Cypress Creek boardwalk, which is half a mile and wheelchair accessible, so it’s the route a stroller can actually take. Older kids can add the 1-mile Prairie Overlook Trail and its observation platform at the end. Behind all of it sit 244 acres of cypress swamp, hammock and prairie, with more than 30 fern species to spot on the way around. Bring insect repellent.
Quiet Waters Park: Splash Adventure and Cable Water-Skiing
Quiet Waters Park at 401 S Powerline Road in Deerfield Beach is about 20 minutes north. Its Splash Adventure water playground runs on a seasonal schedule that ends in summer, so check the county’s water parks page before you build a day around it. Outside splash season, Ski Rixen’s cable water-skiing and the fishing lakes keep older kids busy. It’s a Broward County regional park, so the gate is free on weekdays and $3 per vehicle on weekends and County holidays (Broward County Parks).
Indoor Places That Save a Rainy Margate Afternoon
Summer storms in Margate are routine from June through September, so an indoor fallback matters more here than in most Florida towns.
Xtreme Action Park: Karting, Bowling and Laser Tag Under One Roof
Xtreme Action Park at 5300 Powerline Road in Fort Lauderdale packs more than 200,000 square feet of indoor attractions (Xtreme Action Park): gas-powered European race karts, six full-size bowling lanes, a 12,000-square-foot roller rink, a ropes course above the arcade, laser tag and more than 150 arcade games (Visit Florida). It’s the single best bad-weather option within half an hour of Margate. Karting carries height and age minimums, so check them before promising a younger child a turn, and skip weekend afternoons if you don’t like lines.
Urban Air Adventure Park: Trampolines, Bumper Cars and a Kids’ Area
Urban Air at 6001 W Sample Road in Coral Springs runs trampolines, climbing walls, an indoor zipline, bumper cars, dodgeball and the Warrior Course obstacle course, plus a separate area for children 7 and under. It’s open every day, but not until 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, which catches families out during school breaks unless holiday hours are posted. Saturday runs 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Urban Air socks are required, so budget for a pair per child (Urban Air Coral Springs).
Panthers IceDen: Public Skating in Coral Springs
Panthers IceDen at 3299 Sportsplex Drive in Coral Springs is one of the few places nearby where your children will complain about being cold in August. Its three rinks host public skating for all ages and skill levels, with rentals from youth size 8 (Panthers IceDen). Session times change often, so check the drop-in calendar before driving over, and bring jackets and thin gloves, which most first-time visitors forget.
Margate Catharine Young Library: Story Times and Free Air-Conditioning
The Margate Catharine Young Library at 5810 Park Drive is a Broward County Library branch, and the city lists its children’s programs on its library events page. It’s free, air-conditioned and about as close as Margate gets to a guaranteed indoor hour. It’s closed Sundays and stays open until 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and programming clusters on certain days, so check the calendar before you go.
Children’s Science Explorium: Free Hands-On Science at Sugar Sand Park
The Children’s Science Explorium at Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton is a free hands-on science center for ages 5 to 12, with interactive physical science exhibits and rotating traveling exhibits through the year. It’s open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends (City of Boca Raton). The surrounding park adds a large playground, so a wet morning indoors can turn into an afternoon outside if the weather breaks. It’s about 30 minutes north. The park’s carousel has been reported temporarily closed, so don’t promise it.
Free Family Options and the City Events Calendar
Margate has more free options than its size suggests. The splash pad at the sports complex, the walking trail and Safety Town at Firefighters Park, the fishing docks at Winfield Park, the trails at Fern Forest and the library programs all cost nothing, and so does the Explorium up in Boca Raton.
The city’s special events calendar fills in the rest: Movies in the Park, Sounds at Sundown, the Springtime Egg Hunt, the Fourth of July Parade and Fireworks, Bark in the Park and the Winter Festival in December, which brings photos with Santa, live music and Florida-style sledding (Winter Festival). The free Fall Festival is next on October 24, 2026, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the sports complex. One thing not to build a trip around: the Margate Fair isn’t running in 2026. Families who keep costumes and festival bins year to year often rent a 5×5 locker in Margate rather than surrender a closet.
Parking, Park Fees and the Summer Timetable
Parking is free at Margate’s own city parks and shopping plazas. Broward County’s regional parks are the exception: Quiet Waters and Tradewinds both charge $3 per vehicle at the gate on weekends and County holidays (Broward County Parks). Watch the weekday hours indoors too: Urban Air doesn’t open until 4 p.m. on weekdays, while Firefighters Park and the Margate Sports Complex open at 7 a.m. every day.
From June through September, treat mornings as outdoor time and afternoons as indoor time. August is the hottest month, averaging 91°F, September is the wettest at about 8.13 inches, and Margate gets about 56 inches of rain a year (HistoricalClimate). Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10 (NOAA National Hurricane Center), so outdoor attractions can close at short notice on a late-summer trip. Our guide to the best time to visit Margate breaks the year down month by month.
Heat is also why bikes and sports bags don’t last long in a Margate garage. A climate-controlled storage unit in Margate keeps gear out of the swing between 90-degree afternoons and damp mornings, and a 10×5 unit holds the contents of one room, which covers a season of team equipment. Longer outings, from airboat rides at the edge of the Everglades to the water parks in Palm Beach County, sit in our day trips from Margate guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s there to do in Margate with kids?
Inside the city, families use Calypso Cove for swimming in season, Firefighters Park for its playground and Safety Town, the Margate Sports Complex for its splash pad, and Winfield Park for fishing on the canal. About 10 minutes north, Butterfly World and Tradewinds Park handle the bigger days out. Indoor options sit mostly in Coral Springs and Fort Lauderdale, a 12- to 25-minute drive.
What to do in Margate for free?
The splash pad at the Margate Sports Complex, the half-mile walking trail and Safety Town at Firefighters Park, and the fishing docks at Winfield Park are all free. So are the trails at Fern Forest Nature Center and the children’s programs at the Margate Catharine Young Library. City events including Movies in the Park, the Fall Festival and the Winter Festival add several more free days a year.
Are Pompano Beach and Margate, FL the same?
No. Margate and Pompano Beach are separate Broward County cities. Margate sits inland, about 7.5 miles west of the Atlantic, and has no beach inside its limits. Pompano Beach is on the coast and is where most Margate families go for sand, roughly 20 minutes straight east on Atlantic Boulevard.
How far is it from Fort Lauderdale to Margate, Florida?
Margate is about 14 miles northwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale, which is roughly a 30-minute drive off-peak and longer at rush hour. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is about 20 minutes away. Not every Fort Lauderdale address is that far, though: Xtreme Action Park sits on Powerline Road in the city’s north end, about 20 minutes from Margate.
What’s Margate, FL known for?
Margate is known as a quiet Broward suburb laced with about 30 miles of canals, with one golf course, Oriole Golf Club, and a strong parks system for its size. For families, the two names that come up first are Calypso Cove, the city’s water park, and Butterfly World just north in Coconut Creek. The city also runs a busy year-round events calendar.
Where Margate Families Put the Overflow
Kids accumulate equipment faster than a South Florida house has room for it. Value Store It in Margate rents month-to-month with no long-term contract, so a unit can cover one busy season or several years. Past the small lockers, 5×15 units hold the contents of two rooms, bikes and sports gear included. 10×10 storage holds a one-bedroom apartment’s contents, and 10×15 units take a two-bedroom apartment, which suits a family mid-move. For a three-bedroom home, 10×20 units are the fit, and 10×30 units, the largest here, take a four-bedroom home. The storage unit size calculator will size it faster than guessing in the driveway.
