The best day trips from Pembroke Pines, FL sort by direction before they sort by distance. 20 minutes west puts you on an airboat in the Everglades. 25 minutes east puts you on sand at Hollywood Beach. The Sawgrass Expressway runs north to Coconut Creek and Palm Beach County, and I-75 or the Palmetto reaches Wynwood in about 45 minutes. Here are 15 trips in order of drive time, what each one is for, and the one that deserves an overnight instead.
Four Directions Out of Pembroke Pines
Pembroke Pines is wide, and that changes every number below. The city spreads across roughly 34 square miles of southwest Broward, so a time measured from the middle of town near Pines Boulevard and Flamingo Road runs 10 or 15 minutes longer if you start out by Chapel Trail. Every drive time in this guide is measured from the center.
Direction decides the day. West on Griffin Road reaches the sawgrass faster than east reaches the ocean, which is the geographic joke of living here. East means Sheridan Street or Stirling Road. North runs up Flamingo Road through Davie and Plantation before the Sawgrass Expressway takes over. South is the only direction where the clock matters, because Miami trips ride entirely on I-95 or the Palmetto, so leave before 7 a.m. or after 9 a.m. and start home before 4 p.m.
Staying local is a legitimate answer too. Pembroke Pines has more parkland, theater and city events inside its own limits than most Broward suburbs, and our guide to things to do in Pembroke Pines covers those. Everything below is for the days you want out.
20 Minutes or Less: Davie, Weston and the Everglades Edge
Tree Tops Park: 15 Minutes to Actual Shade
Tree Tops Park in Davie is 243 acres of oak hammock with a 28-foot observation tower over the canopy and a boardwalk running through restored freshwater marsh below it, per Broward County Parks. Shade is the reason to drive here instead of walking the Chapel Trail boardwalk at home, which crosses open wetland with nothing overhead. Paddle boats rent at the lake.
iFLY Indoor Skydiving: 15 Minutes, and Only 90 of Them
iFLY in Davie is a vertical wind tunnel that lets you fly without jumping out of anything, and it takes flyers from age 3. Treat it as 60 to 90 minutes rather than a day, and pair it with another Davie stop. Book ahead, because walk-ins wait, and wear laced sneakers.
Peace Mound Park: 15 Minutes Northwest to a Tequesta Burial Mound
Peace Mound Park in Weston is eight acres built around a Tequesta burial mound, with the playground on the high ground and bronze plaques set into the walkways explaining what you’re looking at. The City of Weston dedicated it in 1987, and there’s a fishing dock and a lake path as well. Shade is the differentiator, since most western Broward parks have none.
Flamingo Gardens: 15 to 20 Minutes up Flamingo Road
Flamingo Gardens is a 60-acre botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary in Davie with more than 3,000 plant species, a free-flight aviary, resident Florida panthers and the historic Wray Home Museum. The aviary and the panthers are the reasons to come, and the tram is how you see it with small children before the heat wins. Flamingo Gardens opens daily 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4 p.m.
Everglades Holiday Park: 20 Minutes West on Griffin Road
Everglades Holiday Park is the shortest genuine Everglades trip in the region, on Griffin Road about 20 minutes west. The park opens at 9 a.m. daily, rain or shine, and its 60-minute airboat tours include an alligator show at $41.99 for adults and $29.99 for ages 3 to 11. The last boat leaves at 5 p.m. in spring and summer and 4 p.m. in fall and winter. Holding a baby gator is a separate Animal Encounter at $49.99.
Bergeron Rodeo Grounds: 20 Minutes to a Working Rodeo
Bergeron Rodeo Grounds in Davie hosts rodeo, equestrian shows and festivals 20 minutes from a Broward shopping mall. Old Florida cowboy culture isn’t what visitors expect out here, and the surprise is the point. The grounds are entirely event-driven, so check the schedule; the Davie Pro Rodeo returns November 13 and 14, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. and November 15 at 2 p.m.
20 to 30 Minutes: The Coast and the Water Taxi
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk: 25 Minutes to the Nearest Ocean
The Hollywood Beach Broadwalk is a 2.5-mile oceanfront promenade of restaurants, shops and live music, running from Jefferson Street to Sheridan Street according to the City of Hollywood, and it’s the closest real beach to Pembroke Pines. Walking it costs nothing, which makes this the best no-cost day out on the list. Parking is the whole problem: weekend spaces fill early, so take Sheridan Street, arrive in the morning and park north of the main strip.
Lady Pamela II Sportfishing: 30 Minutes East for Drift Fishing
Lady Pamela II runs drift fishing out of 5400 N Ocean Drive at the north end of Hollywood Beach, roughly 15 miles east and about 30 minutes from the middle of Pembroke Pines. Four-hour trips leave at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with rods, bait and tackle included, and a night snapper run sails Friday and Saturday. Drift fishing is the low-commitment version of a charter: you share the boat, and nobody has to organize a group.
Las Olas Boulevard and the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi: 30 Minutes Northeast
Downtown Fort Lauderdale is about 30 minutes northeast, and Las Olas Boulevard carries the galleries, boutiques and restaurants that anchor the day. The Water Taxi is the honest way to see the yacht basins without chartering anything. It runs daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and sells day-of tickets at the dock, so buy an all-day pass and hop off at Las Olas. Our Pembroke Pines nightlife guide covers what’s open when you get back.
40 Minutes to an Hour: Butterflies, Street Art and Sawgrass
Butterfly World: 40 Minutes North on the Sawgrass Expressway
Butterfly World in Coconut Creek keeps roughly 20,000 exotic butterflies and free-flying birds inside screened aviaries, plus lorikeet feeding encounters children remember longer than any exhibit. The clock rules this trip. Hours run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, but last entry is 4 p.m. and the final lorikeet feeding is 4:15 p.m., so an afternoon start doesn’t work.
Wynwood and Downtown Miami: 40 to 45 Minutes South
Wynwood Walls and the street-art blocks around it are why most Pembroke Pines families drive south, with the Design District, the Museum of Miami, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and the Adrienne Arsht Center filling out the day. Wynwood parking is paid lots only, and a weekday morning gets you photographs without crowds.
Shark Valley, Everglades National Park: 50 Minutes to an Hour
Shark Valley is the national park’s northern entrance, with a tram road loop, bike rentals and an observation tower over the sawgrass river. Visit Florida measures it at 34 miles and about 45 minutes from downtown Miami, so budget closer to an hour going south and then west. The dry season, roughly December through April, is the better wildlife window, and the National Park Service says the lot is typically full by 10 a.m. in those months. There’s no shade on the loop.
An Hour or More: Palm Beach County and the Keys
Delray Beach, Boca Raton and the Morikami: About an Hour North
An hour north on I-95 or the Turnpike buys the quiet, high-end version of a South Florida day: Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and Mizner Park in Boca Raton, then Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens sits just west of Delray and combines with either. The Morikami opens Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closes Mondays, and charges $18 for adults and $12 for ages 6 to 17.
Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park: About 1 Hour 45 Minutes
Key Largo is the first of the Florida Keys and the diving and snorkeling anchor of the region at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Visit Florida measures it at about 60 miles and 1 hour 15 minutes from downtown Miami, so budget 1 hour 45 from here, since you first have to get south and east onto US 1. Leave by 8 a.m. and reserve boat trips. Snorkel gear that earns its keep three weekends a year is what a 5×5 storage locker is sized for.
Key West: The Trip That Deserves an Overnight
Key West isn’t a day trip from Pembroke Pines, and any guide that lists it as one hasn’t driven it. Visit Florida puts Key West at about 160 miles and 3.5 to 4 hours from downtown Miami, so call it four hours each way from here. The Overseas Highway narrows to two lanes for long stretches, and one crash adds an hour. Book a night.
Parking, Storm Season and What Closes on Mondays
Parking governs three of these trips more than opening hours do. Hollywood Beach fills from mid-morning on a weekend, downtown Fort Lauderdale is garage-only, and Wynwood is paid surface lots. Most Broward County regional parks, Tree Tops included, charge $3 per motorized vehicle carrying eight or fewer occupants on weekends and County holidays and nothing at all on weekdays, which is worth knowing before you reach the gate expecting a free park. Vehicles carrying nine or more pay $20, and an annual Parks Passport covers the gate for $30 a vehicle for the year.
Monday is the quiet trap. The Morikami closes Mondays and major holidays, Butterfly World stops admitting visitors at 4 p.m. every day, and Everglades Holiday Park sends its last airboat out at 5 p.m. in spring and summer and an hour earlier the rest of the year. Anything with a tram, a tunnel or a boat wants a booking: iFLY, the Shark Valley tram and the Key Largo snorkel trips all sell out before the parking lot does.
Weather sets the calendar more than anything else. NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for the nearest long-running station put July and August highs at 90°F with overnight lows near 78°F, and June is the wettest month at about 9.6 inches. June through October brings near-daily afternoon thunderstorms that have nothing to do with tropical systems. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks on September 10, according to the National Hurricane Center, so book refundable rates in that window. Our guide to the best time to visit Pembroke Pines goes month by month.
Gear is the last practical problem, and it’s a local one. Beach chairs, coolers, bikes and paddleboards take over a Pembroke Pines garage within two seasons of taking day trips seriously, and a 5×10 storage unit, roughly a small walk-in closet, holds the lot without costing you a parking space. Heat is the argument for a climate-controlled unit in Pembroke Pines over a closed garage in August, because wetsuits, camera gear and anything with foam in it don’t survive that treatment long.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far is Pembroke Pines from a beach?
About 25 minutes. Hollywood Beach and its 2.5-mile Broadwalk are the nearest ocean access, reached by taking Sheridan Street or Stirling Road east. There’s no beach inside Pembroke Pines, because the city sits inland in southwest Broward County. Plan around parking rather than driving time, since spaces fill early on weekends.
What to do near Pembroke Pines, FL?
Within 20 minutes you can take an airboat into the Everglades at Everglades Holiday Park, walk the oak canopy boardwalk at Tree Tops Park, fly in the iFLY wind tunnel, or see Florida panthers at Flamingo Gardens. Push to 30 minutes and you add Hollywood Beach and Las Olas Boulevard. Almost everything worth driving to sits inside a half-hour ring.
Where is good to go for an extreme day trip?
Shark Valley in Everglades National Park is the most ambitious single day that still works, at roughly an hour each way plus a tram loop or a bike ride with no shade. Key Largo, at about 1 hour 45 minutes, is the outer edge for snorkeling and back in a day. Key West, at four hours each way, is the trip people attempt and regret.
What are the best family day trips from Pembroke Pines?
Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, the airboats and alligator show at Everglades Holiday Park, and the free-flight aviary at Flamingo Gardens hold a child’s attention longest. iFLY takes flyers from age 3, and Peace Mound Park pairs a shaded playground with an archaeological site. For options closer to home, our guide to things to do in Pembroke Pines with kids stays inside the city.
Where the Gear Lives Between Trips
Value Store It’s Sheridan Village facility sits on the same Sheridan Street corridor most of these trips use to reach the coast, and it rents month-to-month with no long-term contract. A 10×5 unit holds the contents of one room, a 10×10 storage unit takes three rooms or a one-bedroom apartment, and the 10×20 unit is a one-car garage, or the contents of five rooms. If you’re not sure which one fits what you own, the storage unit size guide sorts it out in a couple of minutes.
