A Morning in Cocoa Beach, Florida - Part 1
Despite living on the east coast of Florida and just minutes from the Atlantic ocean for ten years, I was never a fan of spending a day at the beach. As a young kid I was afraid of everything any anything that might be swimming, creeping, or crawling underneath the opaque waves of the Atlantic. Aside from an obvious fear of sharks, I was on the constant lookout for crabs, barracudas, seaweed, and jellyfish. Hitting a random rock or stepping into a random drop-off always meant sent my heart racing. On top of this was my general dislike for the heat and humidity. After I finished playing in the water, I was ready to dry off and go home. I could never understand why anyone wanted to just hang around and sit in the hot & humid sun covered in grains of sand. It didn't make sense.
A year or so after I moved away to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University, my feelings towards spending a day at the beach began to change. Throughout college and the years following, I really grew to enjoy going to the beaches along Florida's panhandle. I loved the cool white sand, the emerald water, and body surfing the waves. Whenever I visited back home during the summer, I took advantage of nearby Cocoa Beach.
Now that I am back in Viera, Florida (just 20 minutes from Cocoa Beach) I decided to hit up the beach.
Getting to the beaches requires a short trip down the 520 causeway. It's a beautiful little drive that takes you over the inter-coastal waterway and past Merritt island.
Entering into Cocoa Beach there is a neat sign and tiki on the right hand side of the road. I pulled over at a boat ramp to snap a few pictures of it.
This wider shot shows the Banana River in the background and makes it look like its a tropical paradise
Taking 520 directly down to the shore you end up at Shepherd park, which is a very nice stretch of beach. It's a few blocks south of the Cocoa Beach pier and just a block or so north of Ron Jon Surf Shop. Parking is $10 so I recommend finding a nearby metered spot or a free spot at Ron Jon's.
I arrived around 9am. That's early enough to beat the worst heat of the day and the worst crowds of the day. The beach has a large dune area and short little boardwalk over it.
There are a lot of Cocoa Beach locals who hang out around the beaches all the time. Many of them can be found biking the boardwalks.
Shepherd Park has a nice lifeguard stand and lots of rental umbrellas for the tourists to use. It was a nice, bright, beautiful morning.
I love how this shot turned out. The red, white, and blue paint scheme really looks great.
The rental umbrella area felt a bit crowded for my tastes.
So I found a spot away from the rental umbrellas and just spent a bit of time relaxing.
It was a beautiful morning.
Enough relaxing! It's time for some body surfing! It took a little while to get used to the cool water, but after diving into a wave it doesn't take long to forget about the cold. There was another guy nearby who was struggling with the cold water and only got in up to his knees. I admit, I judged him a bit.
About 30 minutes in the water was enough for me. I dried off, threw on a shirt and some tunes and just relaxed for a while longer. My overgrown beard tasted very salty after m time in the water.
That's it for Part 1. Click HERE for out Part 2 of my Cocoa Beach trip
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