Looking at taking a family trip to Coco Beach, FL. Mainly picked Coco Beach because I've read its the East Coast surf capitol. Got a teenager wanting to give surfing a trip. What's the surf like in May? Worth planning a trip around or better to just enjoy a better beach somewhere else?
OT: Coco Beach, FL Surfing
- Thread starter drail14me
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Congrats. I don’t remember us ever discussing surfing on here. Way to expand our limited topics of discussion. Also, what happened to your avatar?
Coco is "Old Florida" . I've only been once but this cracked me up. Right on the main strip (A1A) in the middle of town where one of the panhandle tourist towns would have souvenir store or trendy over priced burger café , Coco has the gaudiest looking strip joint you've ever seen. Classic.
That reminds me of the strip joint in Biloxi behind the Putt Putt for Big Play. It’s shut down now but you were literally playing Putt Putt feet away from a strip club or worse you were feet away from Putt Putt while at the strip club.
Figured. Is there enough to at least learn the basics? Or are the waves typically just not big enough in May?
Picturing the average Sixpacker plopping his stomach on to a surfboard and then trying to stand up and keep his balance is comical, to say the least.
It's Cocoa Beach, FL home of the world's largest surfing shop in the world Ron Jon's Surf shop.
I was in Cocoa Beach a in June of 2021. Surfing is a big deal there. I didnt do it myself, but I saw signs for surf lessons and surf camps all over. They definitely have the waves for it. We sat on the beach and watched people surf all day. There were kids out there as young as 11, 12 and some guys into their 60s surfing. If surfing is what youre looking for, its probably the best place to go in Florida.
Something to keep in mind... and I couldn't stop thinking about it while I was swimming... that central Atlantic coast area of Florida, New Smyrna beach specifically, which is north of Cocoa, is the shark bite capitol of the world. More than Australia.
Like others said, the town is old Florida. It reminds you a little of Panama City beach. Its a little ran down in places. Kind of has a Northeastern board walk feel about it. Should be a fun trip though.
Something to keep in mind... and I couldn't stop thinking about it while I was swimming... that central Atlantic coast area of Florida, New Smyrna beach specifically, which is north of Cocoa, is the shark bite capitol of the world. More than Australia.
Like others said, the town is old Florida. It reminds you a little of Panama City beach. Its a little ran down in places. Kind of has a Northeastern board walk feel about it. Should be a fun trip though.
The only surfers I ever knew were two older cousins of mine that took me once when I was visiting. I was perhaps 12 years old, probably younger. I was able to get up once, for about a second. Back then there was only one Ron Jon surf shop. It must have been there for a reason.
Childhood home of the surfing GOAT, Kelly Slater. My kid had a lesson from Randy Howell, his son is a pro, at the pier when he was 9 and it went well.
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Been to Cocoa Beach three times.
It’s definitely some old school Florida but it’s laid back and the Hilton there is a good one right on the beach.
Not too many great food options.
I didn’t surf either but as someone else stated, the surf capital of FL and maybe east coast.
I don’t think the waves are all that great but compared to the Gulf they are.
It’s definitely some old school Florida but it’s laid back and the Hilton there is a good one right on the beach.
Not too many great food options.
I didn’t surf either but as someone else stated, the surf capital of FL and maybe east coast.
I don’t think the waves are all that great but compared to the Gulf they are.
I surfed a little when I lived on the east coast as a kid (Virginia Beach and Charleston). Haven't tried it since I was 10 or 11. My older brother was pretty good and I was good enough to ride a wave and turn once or twice before wiping out. Learning to ski 30 years later reminded me of learning to surf, better to do it while you are young because it isn't fun when you are old and run out of breath easily.
If you are just going on a vacation for a week or so I would expect an athletic teenager that puts in solid time with an instructor to at least be able to ride a wave straight after a few days. I am sure you can find some youtube videos of ways to learn techniques like standing up on the board at home before you go. I could imagine just practicing laying flat on a 2X12 on some egg crates and jumping up would be beneficial.
Anyhow, you don't want big waves as a beginner, which he will be the entire time likely, 1-2' waves are great. Try to go at the highest tide you can in the beginning as the waves are slower. He will get his *** kicked on windy day with 4' waves at low tide starting out.
Now I have to go dig through some old photo albums to see if I can find a picture of 10 year old PooPop wearing a 17th street tshirt and rubbing some sex wax on the old log.
If you are just going on a vacation for a week or so I would expect an athletic teenager that puts in solid time with an instructor to at least be able to ride a wave straight after a few days. I am sure you can find some youtube videos of ways to learn techniques like standing up on the board at home before you go. I could imagine just practicing laying flat on a 2X12 on some egg crates and jumping up would be beneficial.
Anyhow, you don't want big waves as a beginner, which he will be the entire time likely, 1-2' waves are great. Try to go at the highest tide you can in the beginning as the waves are slower. He will get his *** kicked on windy day with 4' waves at low tide starting out.
Now I have to go dig through some old photo albums to see if I can find a picture of 10 year old PooPop wearing a 17th street tshirt and rubbing some sex wax on the old log.
You can definitely surf in the Atlantic, its just not going to be west coast type waves until you get storm surges.
You can still have some fun and ride a few waves in. It is usually pretty calm in May though.
You can still have some fun and ride a few waves in. It is usually pretty calm in May though.
Eat at 4th street filling station.
The condo rental market is good there, you can find cool “beachy” type units on airbnb or vrbo.
don’t drive home after having a few drinks at dinner. They have a solid police force down there without much crime to police. Ubers are easy to get.
Kennedy Space Center is 30 minutes up the road. Check the launch schedule. If there’s a launch when you’re down you’ll at least want to find a good place to look up. Space x was sending up a batch of StarLinks on falcon 9’s quite often a while back, not sure if they’re keeping the same pace now. The KSC visitors center is cool too with rides and exhibits, it’s a good visit even if space isn’t your thing, spend a whole day there if space is even kind of your thing.
Wife is from Melbourne, the town south of Coco. Everytime we drive to visit our family, we spend a day there.
Coco Village (neighborhood before you cross Indian River to get to Coco Beach) is a great place to walk around. Cool shops, good places to eat (Irish pub/sushu/pizza), etc.
You should be fine regarding surfing. Tons of options.
Will echo what uptowndawg said about Kennedy Space Center. VERY cool and worth it to spend day there.
All that said, from my experience anything more than 3 days and you are really pushing it (unless this is your beach vacation). If the family gets bored easy, there isn't that much to do. Orlando is only an hour away so it's very easy to drive to Disney/Universal/Disney Springs in the morning, then drive back to Coco that night.
Coco Village (neighborhood before you cross Indian River to get to Coco Beach) is a great place to walk around. Cool shops, good places to eat (Irish pub/sushu/pizza), etc.
You should be fine regarding surfing. Tons of options.
Will echo what uptowndawg said about Kennedy Space Center. VERY cool and worth it to spend day there.
All that said, from my experience anything more than 3 days and you are really pushing it (unless this is your beach vacation). If the family gets bored easy, there isn't that much to do. Orlando is only an hour away so it's very easy to drive to Disney/Universal/Disney Springs in the morning, then drive back to Coco that night.
If he's looking to learn you can almost surf anywhere that there's enough of a wave to create whitewash... just need a longboard that carries enough volume. I surf the Texas coast year round but winter conditions are better in the gulf due to swell and offshore wing.
We did Coco as a long weekend (it's only 3 1/2 hours from my home in Coastal GA) 7-8 years ago. I would definitely set up private family surf lessons if you can. Our guy provided boards for each of us - asked about heights/weights/age beforehand so he could pick good options for beginners. All four of us were able to get up and ride at least 2-3 waves fully before the session was over. It was a fun way to spend the morning. Definitely hit Ron Jon and the Coco Beach Surf Co. We stayed at a local Tiki themed 1950s motel on A1A with a kitchette and also spent a day at Kennedy Space Center. Overall, for people who live at the beach it was a nice getaway to a different beach.
Spent a Spring Break there in 1989, my then MSU gf's stepdad worked for NASA (he was one of the lead engineers for the Hubble, MSU grad fyi) thus had a free place to crash. I loved Cocoa Beach, great town, so much better than the rest of the Spring Break towns I had stayed before.
As someone pointed out, it's Kelly Slater's hometown so there is surfing. When starting out, smaller waves are preferred, so find some lessons and shred.
We got to see the Shuttle launch for the Hubble too, pretty cool.
As someone pointed out, it's Kelly Slater's hometown so there is surfing. When starting out, smaller waves are preferred, so find some lessons and shred.
We got to see the Shuttle launch for the Hubble too, pretty cool.
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