Why Singer Island

01What the island is

Singer Island is a barrier island in the city of Riviera Beach, in the northern half of Palm Beach County, about three miles long with the Atlantic on one side and the Lake Worth Lagoon of the Intracoastal on the other. The north end is a state park. The south end is a small beach town at the inlet. In between are condominium towers and resorts along a public beach, with one road down the spine. Amrit, and the residence on its twelfth floor, sits on the ocean side in the middle of that.

It is residential rather than a resort strip, quieter than the famous Florida beaches, and close to everything: Palm Beach in about twenty minutes, the airport in about fifteen, the reef under the Blue Heron Bridge in ten. The island guide walks it end to end.

02What it does well

• The beach. Wide, public, uncrowded outside the winter weekends, with the resort's attendants and chairs in front of the residence.
• The water. A shore-dive reef, a snorkeling lagoon at Peanut Island, an estuary to kayak, marinas for charters, and the Gulf Stream close enough for sailfish in winter.
• The wild end. John D. MacArthur Beach State Park keeps a mile and a half of the island's north end as it was, with dunes, a nature centre and a beach reached by a boardwalk over the lagoon.
• The building. A spa of about one hundred thousand square feet, pools, a gym, four restaurants and a beach service below the residence, so a day can pass without a car.
• The airport. Palm Beach International in about fifteen minutes, which for a beach stay is rare.

03What it does not

It is not a village. There is no walkable main street with twenty restaurants; there are a few places on foot and the rest are a short drive or a ride across the bridge, and guests say so in their reviews. Parking at the building is paid valet, run by the resort. The towers are towers, not cottages. And the island is quiet after dark, which is the point for most guests and a drawback for the ones who want the night to come to them.

If those are the things you want most, the neighbours below might suit better, and the residence is a good base for reaching all of them.

04Palm Beach

The island to the south is the famous one: Worth Avenue, the Breakers, the Flagler Museum, the mansions along the lake trail, and restaurants people fly in for. It is about twenty minutes from the residence, which makes it an evening rather than a commute. As a place to stay it is grander, pricier and busier in season, with beaches that are narrower and more formal than Singer Island's. Most guests at the residence treat Palm Beach as the place for dinner and the museums, and the island as the place for the beach and the morning. The dining, shopping and culture guides cover it.

05Jupiter and Juno Beach

North of the island the coast turns low-rise: Juno Beach with its pier and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, then Jupiter with the red lighthouse at the inlet, a surf beach with dogs allowed on part of it, and a river that runs inland past cypress. It is about thirty minutes from the residence and the best half-day trip in the region. As a base it is quieter still, with fewer resort amenities in the building and a longer drive to the airport and to Palm Beach. The day trips guide has the drive.

06Delray Beach and Fort Lauderdale

Delray Beach, about forty-five minutes south, has the walkable main street the island lacks: Atlantic Avenue runs from the Intracoastal to the sand with restaurants and bars along the whole length, and the beach at the end of it is a good one. It is a livelier base and a longer drive to the state park, the reef and the airport. Fort Lauderdale, about an hour, is a city with a beach and a second airport, useful for cheaper flights and a different day trip.

07Miami

Miami is about ninety minutes by car and a Brightline ride from West Palm Beach. It is a different trip: bigger, louder, more of everything, and a fine day out from the residence. Guests sometimes ask whether the residence is near Miami; the plain answer is that it is near Palm Beach, and Miami is a day trip. The hero film on this site shows the residence, the resort and the Singer Island coast, and none of Miami, for that reason.

08The case for the island

Stay on Singer Island when you want the beach and the water to be the day, Palm Beach to be the evening, and the airport to be close. Stay at the residence when you want that from a private two-bedroom home with a balcony over the sand and a resort's pools, gym and spa an elevator ride below. The stays pages plan the days for a couple, a wellness retreat, golfers, divers, friends and a longer stay, and the questions page covers the practical limits.