Planning a Welaka Trip: Where to Stay, What to Book and How to Get Around

Last updated September 3, 2026

Welaka sits on the St. Johns River in Putnam County, about seven hundred people, one stoplight, and a reputation as the Bass Capital of the World that it has earned. People come here to fish, to be on the water, and to not do very much.

This page covers the practical parts: getting here, staying here, when to come, and what to sort out before you arrive.

Where is Welaka, Florida?

Welaka is in Putnam County on the east bank of the St. Johns River, south of Palatka and north of Lake George, on County Road 309. It is inland North Central Florida, not coastal.

Closest towns: Fruitland and Georgetown just down 309, Pomona Park inland to the west, Crescent City to the southwest on Crescent Lake, Palatka north on 17.

Nearest large airports: Jacksonville, Orlando and Daytona Beach. St. Augustine and the coast are an easy day trip.

You are driving. There is no other way to get here, and you will want a car for the trip in even if you barely touch it once you arrive.

Where should you stay?

The two we recommend:

Stillwater Welaka and Low Tide Welaka, both from St. Johns River Rentals, are the two houses we point people to. Stillwater has four bedrooms, Low Tide has three, and both sleep eight.

Both take direct bookings as well as Airbnb and VRBO. A mile from the ramp is golf cart distance, which is the reason these two work so well with a cart in the driveway: gear down in the morning, back at lunch, and the truck stays where you parked it.

Also in Welaka:

• Welaka Lodge and Resort, Old Florida lodging on a high bluff over the St. Johns, with Boat Bar inside
• Andersen's Lodge, riverfront, with Andersen's Bar & Grill serving food, drinks and karaoke
• Trailboss RV and Marina, RV sites and boat slips by the day, week or month
• Stegbone's Fish Camp, an Old Florida fish camp with cabins just north of town

Nearby, if Welaka is full:

• Porky's Lodge, Bar & Grill and Port Cove RV Resort and Marina in Georgetown
• Bass World Lodge and Marina, Cherry Blossom RV Resort and the 1892 Sprague House Bed and Breakfast Inn in Crescent City
• Hog Waller Campground & ATV Resort in Palatka, if ATVs and mud are the point
• Fern Oak Estate in Pomona Park, a wedding venue and luxury vacation rental

Book early. There is not much of it and the fishing seasons fill it.

When should you come?

Late winter into spring is bass spawning season and the busiest stretch of the year. Most boats at the ramp, so book everything ahead.

September and October bring the shrimp run, which is a different kind of trip and mostly happens after dark. See Shrimping in Welaka.

Fall is the other strong fishing stretch and much quieter. FWC says the best striped bass fishing runs fall through spring. If you want the river without the crowd, this is the window.

Summer is hot and wet. Afternoon storms arrive most days and pass in under an hour. Mornings are lovely, afternoons are for sitting still, and the water is warm.

Winter outside the spawn is mild, slow and cheap. Snowbirds settle in for weeks at a time.

What should you book ahead?

How do you get around once you are here?

Everything in Welaka is within a few minutes of everything else, so the real question is what you want to be sitting in while you do it.

Your car works and you will barely use it. Once you are here, most trips are two minutes long, and moving a car for a two-minute trip is how a weekend gets tedious.

A golf cart is what most people end up wanting. Every road inside Welaka town limits is posted 35 mph or under, County Road 309 and 308B included, and a street-legal low-speed vehicle can use all of them. That means the ramp, the bait shop, dinner and the sunset are all one loop rather than four errands.

A boat, obviously, if you brought one. The Welaka Boat Ramp on Elm Street is the town's public ramp.

Walking works for a short stretch of town and not for the rest of it.

What does a golf cart cost, and what are the rules?

A 4-seater is $80 a day, a 6-seater $95, both with a two-day minimum, which lines up with a Friday-to-Sunday trip. Seven days or more takes 10% off. We deliver it charged to where you are staying, free inside Welaka city limits, with a cable so you can plug in overnight.

Every driver has to be 21 or older, hold a valid driver license, and show proof of their own auto insurance. Payment in full at booking, no deposit. Cancel at least 48 hours ahead for a full refund.

Staying outside Welaka? We deliver by arrangement to Fruitland, Georgetown, Pomona Park, Crescent City, Palatka, East Palatka and St. Augustine. Call (386) 603-0295 first to confirm availability for your address, then book online.

Golf Cart Rentals in Welaka, FL has the full detail.

What is there to actually do?

Fish, first and mostly. Beyond that:

• The Welaka Boat Ramp on Elm Street, plus Bryant's Wharf Kayak Launch for kayaks and paddle craft
• The Welaka National Fish Hatchery and Aquarium, on the river since 1926, with the Beecher Run Nature Trail
• Welaka State Forest and the 1.7-mile Mud Spring Trail
• 40 Acre Park, birding trails through former hatchery wetlands
• Mason Newstead Memorial Downtown Park, with lighted tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, swings and shuffleboard
• Jefferson Smith Memorial Ball Park, ballfield, playgrounds and a basketball court
• The fenced Welaka Dog Park on Orange St., with separate areas for shy and confident dogs
• The Croaker Hole, a spring in Little Lake George that FWC names as a warm-weather hotspot for striped and sunshine bass
• The Bartram Trail, following William Bartram's 1770s route through Welaka, Georgetown and Crescent City
• Six good places to eat and drink, all within a few minutes of each other
• Welaka Pickleball, open play Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Further out: Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka with spring-fed ravines up to 120 feet deep, Dunns Creek State Park at 6,200 acres, and the Mt. Royal Indian Mound near Crescent City, one of Florida's largest ceremonial mounds, built between 1250 and 1500 AD.

Things to Do in Welaka by Golf Cart turns that into a route.

What does a weekend cost?

Welaka is not an expensive place to spend a weekend. Most of the good parts do not charge.

What Welaka is not

Worth saying plainly, because it saves the wrong person a drive.

There is no beach. There is no shopping. There is one stoplight, roughly seven hundred people, and a river.

If that reads as a list of things missing, this is not your weekend. If it reads as the point, you will probably come back.

Getting a cart for your trip