Cocoa Beach Surfing and Water Sports
From King Kamehameha to Kelly Slater, surfing has always been the sport of kings. Florida’s Space Coast has a number of prime surf-spots suited for anyone from novice to pro. The combination of laid-back local attitude and easy access to most breaks makes the Space Coast one of the best places in the world where visitors can feel at home in local spots as soon as their boards hit the water.
Cocoa Beach Pier
Known as both Canaveral Pier and Cocoa Beach Pier, this cradle of East Coast professional surfing made its name as the stomping ground of Gary Propper and a number of longboarding contests. Despite the inevitable infiltration of shortboards, the pier remains a longboard haven supported by the regular crew of log aficionados drawn to its long crumbly lines. Each year a couple of contests honor the sport’s heritage of cross-stepping and grace, the most notable of which is the Ron Jon Easter Suring Festival, a decades-long tradition that draws thousands of spectators.
The National Kidney Foundation Labor Day Surfing Festival is the largest event of its kind in the world to benefit charity. The Pier features restaurants and tourist attractions, and you can get your picture taken in a fake fiberglass stand-up tube if the real ocean isn’t cooperating. Like most of Cocoa Beach, the Pier remains a great place to score at high tide, which is when South Brevard’s more critical breaks can doze for several hours. More importantly, the Pier offers surfers the only wind shelter between Sebastian Inlet and Cape Canaveral’s Jetty Park.
Lori Wilson Beach
Lori Wilson Park is located about a mile and a half south of S.R. 520 on A1A in Cocoa Beach. This is south of the Cocoa Beach Pier. There is no fee to park here, and the two parking areas are quite large. Short trails lead past public restrooms, over the boardwalks through a small wooded area and over the dunes to the beach.
The Numbered Streets
Numbered streets begin just south of where Highway A1A splits and Cocoa Beach’s residential area takes hold. From 1st Street north to 4th Street north and 1st Street through 30th Street south, mansions, quaint beach hideaways and family homes line the land overlooking the ocean; however, there’s public access and parking on every block.
The streets offer, in general, another semi-mushy wave that turns on and off with the rest of Cocoa Beach, serving as a better high tide spot than Brevard’s southern coast, while occasionally getting blocked from north swells by Cape Canaveral. Still, there’s plenty of room for surfers to spread out and no scene to drive competitive attitudes. The sandbars are constantly changing, so a bike ride can help to find the best spot, or you can simply look for the most cars.
Additional Watersports
Jet Skis
Airboat and Fishing Tours
Kiteboarding/Wind Surfing/Parasailing/Paddle Boarding
