Ponce de Leon Inlet is a natural passage through the barrier islands of central Florida where Mosquito Lagoon and the Halifax River meet the Atlantic Ocean, beside the town of Ponce Inlet and the Ponce de Leon Inlet Light. Originally called Mosquito Inlet, it received its present name in 1926 as part of a wider shift away from older local names, though Mosquito Lagoon retained its historic name. The inlet remains an active coastal waterway maintained by the Ponce de Leon Inlet and Port District of Volusia County, linking inland waters to the open Atlantic and serving as a defining geographic feature of this coast.