Clear Lake. Know what matters before you buy.

The 60-Second Overview

Most buyers shopping Marsh Landing Country Club learn the headline names first: Harbour Island for the yachts, the golf streets for the fairways. Clear Lake is the quieter answer, a three-street enclave, Clearlake Drive, Keelers Court, and Turtle Run Court, on the marsh side of the 1,700-acre gated community, where a third-party Ponte Vedra guide says most homes overlook serene marshlands or protected preserve areas.

What sets it apart administratively is rare inside Marsh Landing: Clear Lake is one of the few enclaves that is its own named sub-association. The master HOA lists the Clearlake Association by name, defines its three streets, and publishes its dues, $395 per quarter for 2026, on top of master dues of $990 per quarter. Most of the community's ten sub-HOAs are just numbers on a map; here, the paperwork already knows where you live.

The product is established custom construction from roughly the 1990s through the early 2000s, mostly in the 3,500-to-5,400-square-foot range per recorded sales, on lots where the marsh does the work a fairway does elsewhere. Public trades are infrequent and the recorded comps, $1.23M to $1.98M between 2022 and 2024 per Redfin and Trulia, are honestly stale, which makes pricing here analysis work rather than arithmetic.

Clear Lake is the rare enclave where the views are protected, the dues are published, and the only thing scarce is a listing.

The Fee Stack: Two Published Layers, No CDD

Every Marsh Landing property carries two association layers, and Clear Lake is one of the few places where both are spelled out publicly. Per the master association's 2026 schedule: Marsh Landing master dues of $990 per quarter, which fund the 24-hour gates, patrols, parks, parkway landscaping, and community infrastructure, plus Clearlake Association dues of $395 per quarter for the enclave's own common areas and administration. Combined: $1,385 per quarter, billed separately. Dues are reset each November, so confirm the current figures before you rely on them.

One more line for the closing statement: the association's Capital Contribution program charges new buyers a one-time fee equal to one year of the current master assessment at closing, split 80 percent to the master and 20 percent to the sub-HOA's reserves. Current Marsh Landing owners moving within the community inside 120 days are exempt per the association. Budget for it; it is not optional and it is not always on the listing sheet.

Two things simplify the stack. There is no CDD: Marsh Landing predates the CDD financing era in this corridor, so no district assessment rides the tax bill, unlike the newer masterplans down A1A and in Nocatee. And Marsh Landing Country Club membership, the Ed Seay golf course, ten Har-Tru courts, fitness, pool, and dining, is optional and priced separately across multiple categories, a choice rather than an obligation.

Marsh and Preserve: The Amenity That Cannot Be Built On

The reason Clear Lake exists as a name is the land behind the lots. A third-party Ponte Vedra guide describes the enclave as one where most homes overlook serene marshlands or protected preserve areas, and past Clearlake Drive listings back that up with language like a bird sanctuary of tidal marshlands and balconies over panoramic marsh and tidal-stream views. Instead of a fairway with golfers on it, the backyard sightline is conservation land with egrets on it.

Be precise about what you are buying, though. A protected view is only as protected as the recorded documents behind it: plats, conservation easements, and wetlands lines, not adjectives. Part of our diligence on every Clear Lake purchase is verifying what the buffer behind the specific lot actually is, who controls it, and whether anything can change. Most of the time the answer is reassuring; the point is to know before closing, not after.

Marsh frontage also carries the usual tidal-water paperwork: FEMA zone and elevation for the parcel, and a real insurance quote inside the inspection window. And one quirk worth knowing from the recorded data: a Clearlake Drive home was marketed as almost three-quarters of an acre of tidal marshland setting while county records show 0.30 acres, the gap being marsh versus buildable upland. Both numbers are true; only one of them is yours to use.

The Three Streets: A Map You Can Memorize

The master association defines the Clearlake Association as Clearlake Drive, Keelers Court, and Turtle Run Court, full stop. Clearlake Drive is the spine and carries most of the recorded sales history: homes built around 2000 to 2002 in the 3,500-to-5,400-square-foot range, per Redfin and Trulia records. Keelers Court and Turtle Run Court are the quiet cul-de-sac arms; a Keelers Court home shows a recorded sale as far back as 1997, pointing to a 1990s start for parts of the enclave.

Three streets means the market math is simple and brutal: a handful of public trades in a good year, recorded comps that age fast, and a meaningful share of activity that happens in quiet conversations before a sign ever goes up. The most recent widely recorded public sales cluster in 2022 through 2024, which in a moving 32082 market is ancient history.

For buyers, that cuts two ways. The bad news: you cannot simply wait for inventory; there may not be any this quarter. The good news: in an enclave this small, a registered, document-ready buyer is genuinely competitive, because sellers here value certainty over auction theater.

The Gates and the Club: What Marsh Landing Provides

Daily life in Clear Lake runs on Marsh Landing's infrastructure: 24-hour staffed gates with roving patrols, two community parks with playgrounds and courts, sidewalks doubling as bike paths, and a location wedged between JTB and A1A that puts the beach about ten minutes east and Mayo Clinic roughly 8 miles north per past area listings.

The country club at the community's center is optional. The Ed Seay-designed par-72 course, rated 73.3/138 and a past U.S. Open qualifier host per the club's history, plus ten lighted Har-Tru courts, fitness, pool, and dining, operates on a membership structure with categories from full golf to sports and social tiers, under Concert Golf Partners ownership since 2022. One Clear Lake wrinkle worth chasing: some resales here have historically conveyed memberships, a past Clearlake Drive listing advertised a full golf membership included, so always ask what transfers and confirm terms directly with the club.

Schools: The 32082 Anchor

Clear Lake sits in the Ponte Vedra feeder pattern of the St. Johns County district, typically PVPV-Rawlings Elementary, Alice B. Landrum Middle, and Ponte Vedra High, the zoning that underwrites demand across 32082; 2026 Marsh Landing listings reported GreatSchools marks of 10, 10, and 8 for that trio. Boundaries shift, so verify the current assignment for the specific address; at this price point many families also weigh Bolles, Episcopal, and the other private campuses an easy run up JTB.

What Living Here Is Actually Like

Daily life is Marsh Landing life at its quietest: the gate, the parkway, then a turn onto a street where the traffic is residents only and the view out back changes with the tide instead of the tee sheet.

Five Costly Mistakes Clear Lake Buyers Make

Thin markets multiply mistakes. The five we see on enclave purchases like these:

Lots, Views, and Where Value Hides

Relative value pressure, not prices. A verified, recorded preserve buffer can move a lot a full rung; an unverified one should not.

The Clear Lake Buyer Checklist

• Confirm both dues layers in writing: master ($990/qtr) and Clearlake ($395/qtr) on the 2026 schedule, both reset each November.
• Budget the Capital Contribution: one year of master dues, due at closing per the association.
• Verify the buffer behind the lot: plat, easements, and wetlands lines, not listing adjectives.
• Separate upland from marsh acreage: county-recorded lot size is the number that matters.
• Walk the lot at high and low tide: the marsh presents differently twice a day; price the view you will actually own.
• Pull the FEMA zone and elevation read for the exact parcel, and get a real insurance quote in the inspection window.
• Ask what conveys: some resales here have historically included club memberships; confirm transfer terms with the club.
• Build a fresh, view-adjusted comp set: the recorded 2022-2024 sales are context, not prices.

Clear Lake vs. the Alternatives

For a buyer who wants gates, protected views, and a Ponte Vedra Beach address, the honest shortlist:

The pattern: inside Marsh Landing, Clear Lake is the view-first, mid-dues, no-dock enclave, the pick when marsh light and preserve quiet matter more than slips and acreage. If that is the brief, the comparison ends fast.

The Honest Pros and Cons

Our Clear Lake Buyer Playbook

How we run a Clear Lake purchase, in order:

• Define the brief first: marsh front, preserve quiet, lot depth, or renovation potential; three streets reward a precise spec.
• Register the search quietly: in an enclave this small, off-market conversations are the market.
• Pull documents before touring: master association, the Clearlake Association budget, and the plat behind the lot.
• Walk the marsh at both tides and get the FEMA, elevation, and insurance reads early.
• Offer off a fresh view-adjusted analysis with both dues layers, the Capital Contribution, and any club plans already in the math.

Questions We Ask Before You Sign

Six answers we get in writing on every Clear Lake contract:

• What is recorded behind this lot: preserve, conservation easement, marsh, and who controls it?
• What do both associations charge today, master and Clearlake, and what do the budgets and reserves show?
• What is the Capital Contribution on this purchase, and is the buyer exempt?
• What does insurance actually quote for this parcel, elevation, and flood zone?
• What is the recorded upland acreage, separate from any marsh in the marketing?
• What were the true comparable trades, including any that never hit the MLS, and does a club membership convey?

Is Clear Lake Not For You?

The honest cut, both directions: