Was wondering if anyone had a recommendation of a good beach near Orlando (hour or two drive is fine). Have heard cocoa beach is nice but curious if there are other suggestions.

Clearwater is nice white sand

I'm a Daytona fan. Flying down on the 24th!

It all depends on what you want. On the East Coast, Daytona has the neat factor in which you can drive on the beach and park. Sometimes they have car shows/gatherings right on the beach as well but it can get crowded quick. They have a boardwalk, closer to the Northern side of the beach towards Ormond Beach, which is good if you have a family. Cocoa is also nice.

The West Coast has nice white sandy beaches. I have been to Ft. Myers a few times and it is a nice place to visit.

West coast is Madeira beach, st Pete, Indian rocks, Clearwater….but depending on traffic sits three hours sometimes longer…

Cocoa Beach is good, also close to Kennedy Space Center, which is a good place to visit, no animated characters, lots to see and do, IMAX theater etc.

Daytona is quintessential East Coast FL, you can drive on it, park, hang out.

New Smyrna, south of Daytona, a bit more laid back still drive on the beach and parking good hamburger joint right on the beach where you can have a beer and look out over the beach.

Daytona, New Smyrna and Cocoa are just an hour away. Oct 14-17 is Biketoberfest in Daytona, so there will be a lot of traffic, motorcycles and things to see if you are here at that time.


Clearwater and St Pete, Sarasota are nice but that's 3 hours of travel over and back and heavy traffic on I-4, west.

Need to define nice beach.
Cocoa beach is nice but very commercial with hotels , Ron Jon surf shop, etc. It’s about an hour east of Orlando. You have to pay to park for beach access.

Check the red tide reports before going to west coast.

https://myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide/

Depends on what you want, but if it's the east coast I'd say New Smyrna beach.

I usually point people to St Pete/Clearwater.

Thanks everyone. I should have said what we were looking for. We are doing the Disney thing and then have a day we would like to go to the beach and just relax, get in the water etc. walking around a boardwalk area seems pretty cool too.

That being the case, you are not far from Cocoa Beach, just head out 528 East, or Daytona, either are an hour +/- away

I'd avoid the west coast simply due to I-4 traffic, you can spend a whole day on that stretch, and it's like a race, not a fun or vacation drive.

Ok, Cocoa Beach is not what you are looking for.

Look at the Vero Beach Disney Resort. This will give you an idea of what a pristine East Coast beach is like. This is a time share/hotel. All the beach amenities for rent including beach chairs, umbrellas, jet skis.

Another option is any of the state parks along A1a = the road that traverses the barrier islands.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
That being the case, you are not far from Cocoa Beach, just head out 528 East, or Daytona, either are an hour +/- away

I'd avoid the west coast simply due to I-4 traffic, you can spend a whole day on that stretch, and it's like a race, not a fun or vacation drive.

Solid advice here, especially the part about not going to the west coast from Orlando.

Jetty Park directly south of Cape Canaveral AFS is neat for watching the cruise ships. If you drive south from there, watch out for the peafowl roaming the streets. True story, the City of Cape Canaveral has peacocks and peahens roaming the streets.

If you want the "tourist" beach then go to Cocoa Beach or Daytona/New Smyrna Beach. If you're just looking for a quiet and usually unvisited beach (by comparison) drive about 15 minutes south of Cocoa Beach on A1A to Patrick AFB (or whatever they're calling it now). The beach is immediately across from the base but you don't need any special permission or passes to use it.

You can park for free, have a nice, wide, clean beach with very few people, and as a bonus, on occasion watch military aircraft fly right over you (if they're landing from the sea - but the base isn't as busy as it once was so you might be there all day and not see a military aircraft fly in). Places to eat are within 5 minute drive as well (local places as well as chain stores)

When we go home to FL to visit my parents it's the only beach we go to. But then again I'm a native Floridian and try to avoid the tourist areas (although a trip to Ron Jon's Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach is neat just to say you've been there).

If he wants pure back to nature there's always Playalinda at Canaveral... Yes it has a clothing optional area, but that's restricted to a specific area. The rest is pure non commercial beaches...


Playalinda

Quick comment about the beach across from Patrick AFB. At low tide there is a slate ‘shelf’ that can be a bit treacherous to navigate. My Mom lives in Melbourne and I tend to go to the beaches a littler further south down A1A. My favorite is Indianlantic - they have a little boardwalk and Bizzarro’s NY pizza.

If you just want peace, no place walking distance to eat, no vendors, no nothing, the beach at Patrick Air Force Base is my favorite. A1A runs along the sea side of Patrick, and it is open to the public. Every quarter mile or so, there is a small parking lot, with a set of wooden stairs over the dune to the beach. Not a great beach at low tide, as there are cochina rocks at the low water line, but to just sit, or to swim at high tide, it can't be beat from Orlando. There are plenty or restaurants just south of Patrick on A1A, or it's a quick jaunt up A1A to Cocoa for a bit more excitement.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ArtieS,

Really appreciate the suggestions everyone.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:
Depends on what you want, but if it's the east coast I'd say New Smyrna beach.

Yep. I don't go to the beach much any more, but when I do, I don't want to deal with crowds or commercialization, and I want to park on the beach and setup next to my truck. New Smyrna fits those requirements.

We live in Orlando and our family's preference is New Smyrna Beach. We like it because I can pull our Suburban onto the beach. We can set up a canopy, pull out the chairs, pull out the grill and have the cooler there. Basically, we tailgate for the day and have everything we need right there.

At any other beach, you are parking the car in a parking lot and hauling everything you need / want down to the sand.