Hanging Ten on the Space Coast
- From the Canaveral National Seashore in the north to Sebastian Inlet Park in the south, the Brevard County coastline contains some of Central Florida’s most popular beaches, including Satellite Beach, Indialantic Beach and Melbourne Beach. Easily the most popular -- Cocoa Beach -- is home to the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame. At Cocoa Beach you can find good surf, a landmark historic pier and restaurants and accommodations for every taste and budget. For a quieter time, Tables Beach on Patrick Air Force Base offers a wide beach, excellent left-breaking waves and a large lot with ample free parking. Farther south, you can camp at Sebastian Inlet State Park, known for its point break surf and excellent fishing.
It Really is Rocket Science
- America’s achievements in space are celebrated in lavish detail at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex at Cape Canaveral in northern Brevard County. There you can tour exhibits from all periods of the space program, walk among the rockets that carried astronauts into orbit and all the way to the moon, view films in several IMAX theaters, experience a simulated shuttle lift-off, view the shuttle Atlantis, have lunch with an astronaut or tour the launch pads where the rockets roared off into space. The park is open to visitors year round. Admission prices and hours vary.
Talk About Roadside Attractions
- At Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge just outside Titusville, you can paddle a kayak, fish, hunt for waterfowl -- with permit -- hike along marked trails, view manatees swimming in the wild from an observation deck, or take a 7-mile drive through the wilderness observing wading birds, raptors, alligators, river otters, bobcats and a variety of snakes and other wildlife -- from the comfort of your car. Established in 1963 as an overlay to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, this 140,000-acre refuge features dunes, saltwater estuaries, marches, pine flat woods and hardwood hammocks that provide a protected habitat for 500 species, including 15 on the federal threatened or endangered list. Information can be had at the Visitor’s Center, open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Parks and More Parks
- The Brevard County Parks and Recreation department operates 125 parks in three areas: north, central and south. Some are community playgrounds offering playground equipment and picnic tables. Others, like Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral and Manatee Cove Park on Merritt Island, offer more. Cherie Down Park features two wooden crossovers and a 200-foot wooden boardwalk where you can stroll through sea grass-covered dunes on your way to a nearly 7-acre family beach. Manatee Cove Park, meanwhile, is a 30-acre river park where you can fish in a small lagoon where manatees -- and sometimes dolphin -- swim. The park features a canoe launch, and has equestrian rings for horse-riding enthusiasts.
Explore a Park Named for an Explorer
- Southern Brevard County contains many beach parks, such as the 2-acre, native-plant landscaped Seagull Park at Satellite Beach, which features outdoor showers, picnic tables and free parking in a small lot. Juan Ponce de Leon Landing in Melbourne commemorates the famous explorer’s first landing in Florida in 1513. But beaches aren’t the only parks. Rowers and kayakers will enjoy Oars and Paddles Park in Indian Harbor on the Banana River. The park, home to the Space Coast Crew Rowing Club, features a boat house and a floating dock where you can launch your kayak or canoe.
