Lobster Mini-Season Spots: Where to Go and Beat the Crowds

Mini-season is the two busiest days of the year on the water in South Florida, and that's exactly what makes it tricky. Tens of thousands of divers hit the same famous, easy-to-find spots over a 48-hour window. The people who have a great two days aren't necessarily the ones with the secret honey-hole. They're the ones who showed up with options and a plan. Here's how to set yourself up for that.

The real challenge of mini-season is the crowd

The lobster aren't the problem during mini-season. The boats are. Everybody piles onto the same handful of well-known, easy-to-reach spots, and that creates two headaches at once. The spots get picked over fast, and the water around them turns into a parking lot of boats and dive flags, which is genuinely the biggest safety hazard in the sport.

The answer to both is the same: spread out. When you have a lot of spots to choose from, you can leave the crowd behind, and a few extra miles usually buys you both open lobster and a much safer, calmer dive.

Why options win on the busy days

Three things make a deep list of spots the difference-maker over these two days.

• Crowds. With thousands of spots on the map, you're never stuck fighting for a turn on a packed reef. Pull up to a busy spot, see ten boats, and just move on to the next one on your list. There's always another.
• Weather. You won't know the wind and seas until that morning, and on a fixed two-day window you can't just wait for a better day. If the ocean side is blown out, you need bayside options ready to go; if it's flat calm, you'll want to run outside. Having spots on both sides and at a range of depths means whatever the forecast does, you've got a plan. (More on reading conditions in the weather guide.)
• Pace and safety. Your own spots let you dive at your own pace instead of jockeying for position with a dozen other boats. That's more relaxing, and it's safer. See the lobstering safety guide for the rest.

Plan before the clock starts

Mini-season rewards preparation more than almost anything in lobstering, because you only get two days. The move is to do your thinking now, not on the water at 7 a.m. on the 29th:

• Get the app well ahead of time and learn the area you'll launch from.
• Build a plan A, B, and C for each ramp you might use, ideally with both an oceanside and a bayside option so you're covered for any wind.
• Save the spots you want to hit and sketch a rough running order, so the day is about executing, not hunting blind.
• Know your ramps and parking, which fill up fast on these two days.

By the time the season opens, you should be able to launch and go straight to a plan instead of idling around a crowd hoping for an opening.

A few beginner-friendly spots to start

Mini-season draws a lot of first-timers, so if you're new, start shallow and calm. Here are a handful of Easy-rated free spots from the app, spread across the regions, to get you going:

These are a few of 100+ free spots. For more coordinates by region, see the free Florida lobster spots guide, and for the full spread, the premium tier adds 3,000+ spots from Haulover Inlet to Key West.

Where to go, by region

Pick the stretch you're basing out of and dig into the local guide:

• Miami & Biscayne: the densest patch reefs anywhere. See the Miami & Biscayne guide.
• Upper Keys: Key Largo and Islamorada.
• Middle Keys: Marathon and Duck Key.
• Lower Keys: the quiet, kayak-friendly Lower Keys and Big Pine and Key West.

The rules don't relax for mini-season

Crowds and first-timers mean heavy enforcement, so know the rules cold before you go:

• Bag limit in the Keys (Monroe County) and Biscayne National Park is 6 per person, not the 12 you get elsewhere in Florida.
• Carapace larger than 3 inches, measured in the water, with a gauge on you at all times.
• No-take zones still apply. The crowds don't make a sanctuary legal.
• Night diving for lobster is banned in Monroe County during the two-day season (bully netting is still allowed).

The full breakdown is in the mini-season 2026 guide and the Florida lobstering rules.

Frequently asked questions

Where should I go for lobster mini-season?

Anywhere but the obvious, crowded spots. The best plan is a list of options spread across both the ocean and bay sides and a range of depths, so you can choose based on that morning's wind and crowds. Pick your spots for each launch area before the season starts.

How do you avoid the crowds during mini-season?

Skip the famous, easy-to-reach spots everyone knows and run a few extra miles to lesser-known structure. With thousands of spots mapped, you can almost always find open water nearby, which means a safer dive and less-pressured lobster.

Should I plan mini-season spots ahead of time?

Yes. It's only two days, so don't spend them guessing. Get the app and pick your spots beforehand, organized by area and wind direction, so on the day you're executing a plan instead of hunting in a crowd.

Regulations change. Always confirm current rules and no-take zones on the FWC spiny lobster page before you dive. Last updated June 2026.