Canaveral National Seashore/other local beaches

[firstwdw]

Thinking of spending 2 nights near Cape Canaveral and doing Kennedy Space Center and the beach. In search of a nice beach….is the water warm and swimmable? What is a nice, nearby beach? Looking at Canaveral National Seashore. Is it nice? other nice beaches nearby? hotel recommendations?

We live in Maine and frequent Ogunquit Beach which we feel is beautiful. Would just like the kids to experience warm ocean water and searching for shells.
Wasn't sure we wanted to venture over to the Gulf Coast since we want to do Space Center and also Disney.

Thanks in advance for any reviews and experience.

 

[tobikaye]

What time of year are you going? This makes a difference in if the water might be warm.

I can vividly remember going in January 1985 and it being way to cold to swim near St. Augustine and Daytona and having to wear coats and sweatshirts. In February 2011 and January 2012, it was mostly nice, but most people were only hanging out on the beach and not getting in the water.

Now, when I have been in the May - September time frame, the water has been warm on both coasts.

 

[firstwdw]

We were looking to go the third week in April…..if that makes a difference.

 

[tobikaye]

Since I have never been in the ocean in April, I am not sure if the waters have warmed up or not by then.

 

[staceyrhood]

We went to Jetty Park at cape Canaveral in early May...the water was a little chilly still (we are floridians) it's a great beach, owned by the port authority...nice and clean, my favorite part was you can watch the cruise ships leaving port. It was $10 for our family to get in the park.

 

[SarahKate]

We've been to WDW several times and always have a beach day. We switch between the gulf area as well as the Atlantic side and have gone to the Cocoa Beach area as well as Daytona. All we have liked for different reasons but last trip we ventured over to Canaveral Nat'l Seashore. LOVED it. The area is very non-touristy. There are sooo many places to stop off and check out the beach. Beautiful places and you can get great pics as well, since there are few crowds.

As for temps, we were there in October on that visit. We couldn't really SWIM in the water but it didn't stop us from wading around and the sun was warm. It was a beautiful day. It's a little off the beaten path but well worth it in my opinion. Also, we have NEVER seen gators out in the wild until our trip to this area. We saw several that day and it was awesome!!

 

[Danibelle]

I would probably not swim in April. That part of Florida doesn't get warm until summer but it's a beautiful place to walk and enjoy the outdoors.