The 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.
Picnic Tables
A block-wide strip of land with a gorgeous ocean front view, Patrick Air Force Base occupies several miles of coastline south of Cocoa Beach. Highway A1A runs through the base and along the oceanfront, providing access to several similar breaks, including the Picnic Tables, First and Second Light and the Hangers. Patrick Air Force Base also features the first signs of coquina, sedimentary shelves of reef-like rock that run south all the way into Indialantic. The rocks make getting in and out of the water potentially hazardous. Watch your shins and toes. Driving south from Cocoa Beach, Picnic Tables is the first parking lot on the left. Known as Pine Trees in the 70’s, it has always been a great place for friends to gather, featuring plenty of parking, a decent sandbar, and a pavilion with picnic tables, showers and bathrooms. The waves here are usually peaky and fun, provided there is a bit of a swell. |
First & Second Light
Sliding further down the A1A trail from Picnic Tables, First Light is the next in line. It’s called that because, at one time, the break was marked by the first traffic light you met when leaving Cocoa Beach. First Light works well on small swells and high tide, making it a favorite place for longboarders. Still, when the waves are mere ripples, it’ll attract everything with fiberglass, foam, fins and flippers, much like its similarly named but more famous counterpart to the south called Second Light.
The sliver of migratory and man-deposited sand makes the most of whatever dregs the ocean can stir up. The rock-lined bottom actually offers some extra juice compared to most Cocoa Beach spots, and the break sometimes moves closer to shore with some added thrill, but Second Light has been hopelessly branded as a gutless, perpetually outside mushburger filled with the outcasts of surfing culture: inlanders, longboarders and those too scared to take the drive south. At times, it really is Cocoa Beach’s best spot, especially during the summer doldrums.
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R.C.'s
Central Florida’s best big wavespot, R.C.’s was made famous by Bill Harley and Matt Kechele during the Halloween swell of 1991 – the largest waves ever to hit Florida. Park in the large Satellite Beach Publix parking lot on the other side of Highway A1A. Cross at the light and walk over the public beach access wedged in next to a condominium. A narrow beach gives way to a rock shelf in the shorebreak. There’s an outside sand and rock bar that works best at 5 feet and above, as well as a shallow inside section that can get hollow on mid and high tides. If the surf is big from any direction, R.C.’s is a good call. It’s also a favorite for producing long rippable lines on mid-grade swells. Indialantic Boardwalk
Indialantic Boardwalk
Halfway between Sebastian Inlet and Cocoa Beach, you’ll find Indialantic’s Boardwalk, easily identifiable by the presence of several surf shops. Shorebreak is the Boardwalk’s claim to fame; it’s the place to go when the tide gets too high for Sebastian Inlet. The outside sandbar can be fun on a medium tide, but it is best when linking all the way to the inside.
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