A fun place to walk around, eat lunch and take photos! Port Salerno, Florida!

Port Salerno, Florida is an unincorporated town located in Martin County, Florida. Presently, it is a functioning fishing village with lots of activity – boats coming in to port with their catch-of-the-day and going back out with hopes of more and tourists looking for a fun time and some good food.

A Little History of Port Salerno….In the 1920s a small settlement was created on the southern shores of the St. Lucie River Inlet.  It was named “Salerno” because the main settlers were emigrants from the Italian city of Salerno.

The area increased in population and importance after World War II, with many snowbirds from the northeast moving south to live in warm Florida. In 1960 the name was changed to Port Salerno, in order to differentiate it from that of the Italian city of Salerno.

The St Lucie River Inlet is a very dynamic and ever-changing entrance to what some people call the “crossroads of the Intracoastal Waterway.” Just inside the inlet, the Indian River, Saint Lucie River, Okeechobee Waterway and the Intracoastal Waterway meet.

Manatee Pocket is a gorgeous bay about a mile from the main Intracoastal Waterway channel located within the St Lucie River Inlet. The bay is easily accessible for boats, which makes it a very popular stopping off point.

The Manatee Pocket bay area within Port Salerno hosts several marinas, fabulous restaurants and an array of other businesses such as galleries, resorts and even ship builders.

We love going to Manatee Pocket either by car or boat. Howard’s brother has a boat and we are sometimes lucky enough to be treated to a ride and lunch! It is always fun to dock the boat at a restaurant, hop off and eat lunch.

I can spend a lot of time in this area watching the boats and the birds. The ambiance of this unique area is funky, playful, intriguing, and serious all rolled into one.