Getting to loanDepot Park

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Miami’s rail system does not reach loanDepot park. The two closest Metrorail stations, Culmer and Civic Center, each sit about a mile from the gates, and the Metromover, downtown’s free elevated loop, never comes near the park at all. A mile sounds walkable until you picture it on a July evening in Miami. So the practical order here runs differently than at most downtown parks: rideshare first, then driving, which works better at this park than almost anywhere in the league, then the rail options for the trips they actually fit. And anyone coming down from Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, or Orlando has a fourth option, a Brightline train ticket that includes a free shuttle to the gates.

Rideshare

The official rideshare pickup and drop-off is East Lot 1, at 1380 NW 6th Street on the east side of the ballpark. Uber and Lyft geofence to it, so the apps steer you and your driver to the same curb without either of you having to think about it. The Brightline shuttles stage in the same lot, which makes that corner the busiest patch of pavement after the last out. Expect surge pricing and a wait once the game ends. Ordering the car before you clear the plaza shaves some of it.

Driving and parking

Driving to a ballgame is a last resort in a lot of cities. Not this one. Miami is a car-first city, the Marlins draw soft crowds most nights, and the park owns its parking: four garages and six surface lots ring the building. Three of the garages are named for what they face. Home Plate Garage is at 1502 NW 7th Street, First Base Garage at 1502 NW 4th Street, and Third Base Garage at 1402 NW 7th Street, with a fourth garage and the surface lots filling out the ring.

All of it runs on license-plate recognition, free-flow. Your plate is the credential. The cameras read it on the way in and on the way out, and there is no ticket to scan and no gate arm to sit behind while a line builds. Prepaid parking is sold online ahead of time, and it’s a good idea for a marquee opponent or a heritage night. Marlins Members, the team’s season-ticket program, get reserved parking in the three named garages up to 30 minutes before first pitch, so garage space that looks wide open early can tighten near game time. The garages and lots also carry complimentary roadside assistance, running from an hour before the game to two hours after it, in case the night ends with a dead battery.

If you’d rather settle the spot before game day, SpotHero lets you reserve and prepay a space near the park ahead of time, so you drive straight to a confirmed spot instead of picking a lot on the fly. Reserving early also tends to beat the drive-up price on the dates that draw a crowd.

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The Brightline Home Runner

Brightline is the privately run intercity rail line connecting Orlando and the South Florida coast to MiamiCentral station downtown. For Marlins games it sells a package called the Home Runner: a Brightline ticket from Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, or West Palm Beach, or all the way from Orlando, with a complimentary round-trip shuttle between MiamiCentral and the ballpark built in. Shuttles leave MiamiCentral about 10 minutes after the designated arrivals, and return shuttles leave the park about 45 minutes before the designated departures, so the ride home is on a schedule instead of a hope. For a visitor staying up the coast without a car, this is the best car-free way to a Marlins game.

Metrorail, Tri-Rail, and the bus

Metrorail is Miami-Dade County’s elevated rail system. Fares run about $2.25 a ride, paid with an EASY Card, the county’s reloadable fare card, or through the county’s mobile fare app. The team’s own wording puts the Culmer and Civic Center stations “within a mile” of the park, and it’s a long mile. It is a real walk through residential blocks in Miami heat and humidity. Fine on an April evening, a slog in August. Cheap and doable, but not the default recommendation for a first visit, especially for the walk back after a night game.

Tri-Rail, the commuter rail line running the coastal corridor between Miami and West Palm Beach, connects through the Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre station toward MiamiCentral, which means that, like everything else downtown, you still need a way to cover the last mile, either a shuttle if you paired it with a Home Runner-style plan or a short rideshare hop. Eight Metrobus routes serve the area around the park, and the City of Miami Trolley, the city’s free trolley-style bus service, runs a route through the neighborhood as well.

By bike

Citi Bike, Miami’s bike-share system, has a dock at the ballpark, and the Third Base and Home Plate garages offer free bike parking at ground level. On a shoulder-season evening it is a legitimate way to skip the garages and the rideshare line both. In midsummer, know what you’re signing up for.

Getting here from the airport

Metrorail stops at Miami International Airport (MIA), and its Culmer and Civic Center stations are the two the Marlins say sit within a mile of loanDepot park. Trains leave from the Miami International Airport station at the Miami Intermodal Center. A ride is as low as $2.25 each way.

On weekdays, most Orange Line trains run straight from the airport to both stations. Late on weekday evenings and all day on weekends, Orange Line trains only shuttle between the airport and Earlington Heights, so you change there to the Green Line for Culmer and Civic Center. MIA says trains run every 30 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends.

From either station, you can walk the rest of the way. From Civic Center, you can also ride the City of Miami’s Stadium Trolley, which stops at the station and at the ballpark Monday through Saturday from 6:30 am to 11 pm.

Heading back after a night game. A rideshare or a taxi is the easier way back to the airport. If you take the train instead, the last train that runs straight through to the airport leaves Culmer at about 8:45 pm on weekdays, so after a night game, you will need to change at Earlington Heights to the airport shuttle. On weeknights and Saturdays, the last Green Line trains that make that connection leave Culmer just before midnight, and the last shuttle reaches the airport at about 12:30 am. Miami-Dade says those times may change when trains run on a single track, so check the schedule for your date before the game. On the county’s schedule, Civic Center is listed as UHealth|Jackson. After a Sunday or holiday night game, take a rideshare or a taxi back.

Rideshare and taxi. At MIA, taxis wait on the arrivals level, outside the baggage claim areas, and you meet your rideshare on the arrivals level too. At the ballpark, the Marlins say rideshare riders must be picked up at East Lot 1, at 1380 NW 6th Street, and the taxi stand is on NW 16th Avenue between NW 5th and NW 6th Streets.

If you land at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL), free shuttles run from the terminals to the airport’s Tri-Rail station at Dania Beach. The Marlins list Tri-Rail’s connection at the Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre station, which is laid out in Metrorail, Tri-Rail, and the bus above. For the ride back to FLL after a night game, take a rideshare from East Lot 1.

Driving works well at this park, and you can find more about the four garages and their license-plate entry in our Driving and parking section above.

Take Metrorail from MIA to the game, and ride back to the airport by rideshare or taxi.

Luggage

The Marlins list bag lockers for rent on the north side of loanDepot park, between the North Ticket Office and the PNC Club entrance. A medium locker, 18 by 15 by 14 inches, rents for as low as $15 plus tax. A large locker, 18 by 32 by 14 inches, rents for as low as $18 plus tax. The Marlins say every bag is inspected before it is stored. Before you leave your bag, ask how late you can pick it up after the game.

Inside the ballpark, the Marlins allow clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC bags up to 16 by 16 by 8 inches and small clutches up to 6 by 8 inches. A suitcase does not meet that rule, so it cannot come inside with you. You can find more about the bag rule in our Clear bags and outside food section.

A suitcase bigger than 18 by 32 by 14 inches will not fit the large locker, so drop it off at your hotel on the way in from MIA, and if you land hours before you can get into your room, ask the front desk to look after it.

The four entrances

Four public entrances ring the building: First Base at West Plaza Gates 4 through 6, Home Plate at West Plaza Gates 2 through 4, Third Base at East Plaza Gate 11, and Center Field at East Plaza Gate 9. Rideshare and Brightline shuttle riders arrive at East Lot 1, which puts the East Plaza entrances at Center Field and Third Base closest to the curb. Drivers should let the garage pick the door rather than backtracking around the building for a specific entrance.

Gates open 90 minutes before first pitch. The premium entrances open two hours out, and Marlins Members get in two and a half hours early on Fridays and Saturdays through East Plaza Gate 11. Before you scan your ticket, remember that there is no re-entry at loanDepot park, so finish the plaza art walk and anything else outside first.

Know loanDepot Park better than we do? Tell us what we got wrong, or where we should be sending people instead.

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