There are plenty of Instagram and Facebook photos that highlight the typical South Florida lifestyle. The sun and the beach take center stage as the backdrop for family photos while escaping the winter cold. However, at Harbour Ridge, a different kind of Florida beauty compels your followers to hit the “love” button. It is rare to see this type of pristine “Old Florida” beauty combined with modern, state-of-the-art amenities and scenic nature. It is all mixed together to create the truly remarkable community that is Harbour Ridge. See what makes Harbour Ridge the ultimate photo-worthy destination:

Natural Beauty

Harbour Ridge is a certified Audubon community. It is meticulously designed to highlight Florida’s natural landscape within 885 acres and a two-mile-long riverline along the St. Lucie River. Whether you are at the National Geographic-worthy Rookery to see thousands of egrets taking flight at first light or exploring the nature trail along the riverfront, there are plenty of places to capture the essence of environmental preservation. Even on the golf course, players will see the beauty of the golden marshes and the quiet water of the river winding by the pristine course.

Small-Town Charm

Harbour Ridge is located in the picturesque village-like city of Palm City and neighbors across the St. Lucie River from the city of Stuart. Stuart’s quaint and charming walkable historic downtown is filled with shopping, restaurants, a gorgeous waterfront, boutique hotels, and inns. This small-town charm immediately resonates with visitors and residents and can be easily explored by a quick water taxi ride across the St. Lucie River. Historic Downtown Stuart has garnered national attention as it was named winner of the 2020 Great Places in Florida award, as well as the 2016 Happiest Seaside Town in America.

Wide Open Spaces

Harbour Ridge is recognized for 20 years of certification as an Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary, a testament to the community’s valiant efforts in local wildlife conservation and natural preservation. The Rookery proves that Florida’s wildlife lives alongside humanity at its own pace. Catching a glimpse of dolphins swimming by in the river, watching sandhill cranes stride across a green, or witnessing a bobcat peer out from behind a bush are frequent occurrences at Harbour Ridge. A collection of mangroves on the water’s edge, The Rookery serves as a shelter and feeding spot for many of Florida’s animals, but unique to this community is the abundance of egrets that take flight at sunrise and return every sunset.

Most of the land area surrounding Harbour Ridge looks untouched by time. Driving around you will see undeveloped areas that are still filled with old Spanish Oak and other natural flora that perfectly depict the “Old Florida” beauty. Most of these untouched wooded areas are state nature preserves. For a length of the Treasure Coast beaches, you’ll be transported to a time before anyone touched the sands of Florida. It’s easy to find wide-open spaces and plenty of room to grab a piece of nature to yourself; something we’ve all found more valuable these days.

Harbour Ridge is the very best of waterfront, country club living. The heart and social epicenter of Harbour Ridge is our 45,000 square foot Clubhouse that is perfectly designed to take full advantage of the panoramic vistas of the picturesque St. Lucie River. Residents can also entertain themselves at the Lakeside Lifestyle Center. The state-of-the-art complex features signature spa services, a full-service salon and barbershop, physical therapy, a fitness pool with lap swimming, a spacious fitness center, and a tennis facility with nine Har-Tru tennis courts. Our two USGA recognized, championship golf courses, designed by Pete & P.B. Dye and Joe Lee, and redesigned by Bobby Weed in 2018, wind along the river and throughout our community offering breathtaking views – and Audubon certified! An active calendar of events informs resident members of the activities available throughout our community ranging from fishing and golf tournaments to waterfront dinners and multiple shared interest clubs who enjoy birding, cycling, tennis, and more!

Harbour Ridge Yacht & Country Club is the premier, private waterfront and golf community on Southeast Florida’s Treasure Coast. The “Private by Nature” waterfront location on the St. Lucie River makes for the perfect place to live.

To learn more about the unique private club lifestyle offered at Harbour Ridge and the wide variety of residential real estate offerings available, CLICK HERE. We will email you a digital brochure that highlights the amenities and lifestyle of our waterfront community.

It wasn’t until she moved to Harbour Ridge Yacht & Country Club that Lois Fraser bought her first “real” camera. Mrs. Fraser became a photographer as a way to look deeper into the world around her and share that sense of discovery with others. Most of what she has learned is through her involvement with the Harbour Ridge Birding Society, which she is now the president of, doing a lot of reading about nature, and she also started a nature blog (Nature Notes) to share her discoveries. She is even on her way to becoming a Florida Master Naturalist too.

Her photography really gives you a sense of the diversity of wildlife and how they have made their home at Harbour Ridge and their daily lives as “Members.” You can see the cranes pecking for worms on the fairways, otters have a casual conversation in the pickerelweed, and black skimmers doing aerial gymnastic-like moves as they skim for fish.

“Looking through the lens of my camera helped me discover the diversity of wildlife here at Harbour Ridge. That made me curious about each of the species I was photographing, as well as the habitats that support them,” says Mrs. Fraser on photographing around the community.

Although the birds in her backyard were one of her initial inspirations to pick up a camera, Mrs. Fraser’s photography also ranges from all types of wildlife from a peninsula cooter turtle making its way to another pond to a dragonfly resting on a branch to anoles “doing the dewlap.”

Size does not matter either as she has also focused on the local osprey at the top of the food chain all the way down to a sweat bee pollinating the flowers in her yard…There is nothing that she doesn’t capture!

“I feel fortunate every day to live in a place where I can drive around in my golf cart and find so many interesting things to photograph. Nature at Harbour Ridge is beautiful at first glance, but when you start looking more closely, it’s truly amazing!” says Mrs. Fraser.

It’s no secret that Harbour Ridge is home to nature enthusiasts. With two miles of waterfront and 885 acres of unspoiled beauty, this Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary-certified community offers a level of privacy and a connection with nature that is unmatched. There are many different ways the residents interact with the natural surroundings, but Lois Fraser enjoys using the lens of her camera to view, capture and learn more about her community’s natural beauty.