The Ponce de Leon Inlet is a natural opening in the

barrier islands Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few is ...

in central

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

that connects the north end of the

Mosquito Lagoon Mosquito Lagoon is a body of water located on the east coast of Florida in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard and Volusia County, Florida, Volusia counties. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon system and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It exte ...

and the south end of the

Halifax River The Halifax River is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, located in northeast Volusia County, Florida. The waterway was originally known as the North Mosquito River, but was renamed after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (for ...

to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The inlet originally was named Mosquito Inlet. In 1926 the Florida Legislature changed the name from Mosquito Inlet to Ponce de Leon Inlet. There was precedent for the change. Mosquito County had long before become Orange County, and the Mosquito River had become the Halifax River. Only the Mosquito Lagoon has kept its old name. It is the site of the town of

Ponce Inlet, Florida Ponce Inlet is a town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Halifax area. The population was 3,364 at the 2020 census. The to ...

and the

Ponce de Leon Inlet Light The Ponce de Leon Inlet Light is a lighthouse and museum located at Ponce de León Inlet in Central Florida. At in height, it is the tallest lighthouse in the state and one of the tallest in the United States (the Cape Hatteras Light in North ...

. The inlet is maintained by the Ponce de Leon Inlet & Port District, a division of the

Volusia County, Florida Volusia County (, ) is a county located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2 ...

government.Ponce deLeon Inlet and Port District

References

External links

* Inlets of Florida Bodies of water of Volusia County, Florida Indian River Lagoon {{VolusiaCountyFL-geo-stub