Cocoa Beach?

[lbklyn]

How is Cocoa Beach? Is it clean, pretty, safe? Is Clearwater nicer?

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Clearwater is WAY better than Cocoa. White sand beaches at Clearwater, and you can see the ocean floor. I actually watched a manatee swim right along the beach, it was way neat. Cocoa is just blah. Looks dirty to me, and a stingray brushed against my friend's leg, and the week before that someone we knew watched a huge herd of stingrays pass by. The only thing I like about Cocoa is Ron Jon and the Cocoa Beach Pier is cute.

 

[swilshire]

I love Clearwater, too. Just for the record, though, there are stingrays on the Gulf side of Florida also. I think the season makes the difference.

Sheila

 

[Canusa Family]

I read in time magazine that the gulf side is full of pollution, and that it was not a good idea to be getting in the water

 

[2BigKIdz]

We spent a night in Cocoa Beach in June awaiting our cruise. We were very disappointed. While the beach itself was nice and our hotel was great, the rest of the area is very run-down and seedy. We went to the laundromat as we had spent 4 nights in Orlando before heading to Cocoa Beach, we witnessed a fight outside of the laundromat in the middle of the afternoon as there was a bar attached to it. We ended up having dinner at Pizza Hut because there really weren't many choices and were approached by 2 homeless, very drunk men in Pizza Hut asking for a ride. There really isn't anything to do there other than go to the beach, it wasn't what I was expecting at all. I would go back but only to get on the cruise ship, I wouldn't plan to spend any time there.

As for Clearwater, we have loved it there every time we have visited. The beaches and the water are just perfect, plenty of restaurants to choose from.

 

[Weegl]

With all due respect to the detractors, my family believes that Cocoa Beach is wonderful. We live in north Florida and have a vacation condo on the beach in Cape Canaveral, which is adjacent to Cocoa.

Frankly, we love the area because of what it is not: overly commercial and spoiled by tourists and out of state interests. The beach is long and the water is warm. Again, with all due respect, there are stingrays in the water EVERYWHERE. Just because someone saw them in Cocoa, doesn't mean that's where the population entirely resides.

And just last week, my family and I went kayaking and enjoyed the company of a family of manatees...they played with us for over a 1/2 hour. You cannot find a place in Florida any better suited for outdoor activities (boating, fishing, kayaking, etc.) than this part of the state.

We also love the restaurants down there and there is a huge variety. As with any community, it helps to know where to go because there are some that aren't so great too.

In summary, we do love this part of the state and hope that it can maintain this unspoiled status. Clearwater is plenty nice too, and you won't be disappointed. i just hate to have your opinion swayed by people that may not have a full understanding of the respective areas.

 

[anna1111]

We made 2 day trips to Cocoa on our last trip to Orlando 6/21 -7/5/08. There is public parking near Ron Jon's I think it was $7 and they had restrooms available. The beach was clean we thought it was rather nice. I have never been to the west side beaches so I can't compare. We would go back, for a day trip but not for a vacation. If your looking to spend some down time at the beach, we found it worked well for us.

 

[Lisa06468]

With all due respect to the detractors, my family believes that Cocoa Beach is wonderful. We live in north Florida and have a vacation condo on the beach in Cape Canaveral, which is adjacent to Cocoa.

Frankly, we love the area because of what it is not: overly commercial and spoiled by tourists and out of state interests. The beach is long and the water is warm. Again, with all due respect, there are stingrays in the water EVERYWHERE. Just because someone saw them in Cocoa, doesn't mean that's where the population entirely resides.

And just last week, my family and I went kayaking and enjoyed the company of a family of manatees...they played with us for over a 1/2 hour. You cannot find a place in Florida any better suited for outdoor activities (boating, fishing, kayaking, etc.) than this part of the state.

We also love the restaurants down there and there is a huge variety. As with any community, it helps to know where to go because there are some that aren't so great too.

In summary, we do love this part of the state and hope that it can maintain this unspoiled status. Clearwater is plenty nice too, and you won't be disappointed. i just hate to have your opinion swayed by people that may not have a full understanding of the respective areas.

We're going to Kennedy Space Center for a day and I thought we'd go to Cocoa Beach afterwards for dinner and walk around. Can you recommend somewhere kid friendly, not expensive, to eat. And what is there to do or see in just an evening? Any suggestions? Thanks!!

 

[Classical_Minnie]

Cocoa Beach is very very nice! waaaay better then clearwater! Clearwater is boring to much people. Cocoa beach is most for the tourists but is so nice.

 

[BriarRose04]

we love cocoa beach!! it is like a small town with a beach! if you want good seafood, go to Florida Seafood Company.try the rock shrimp! a good Italian place is Italian Courtyard. and across the street from that is the Dinosaur Store, which is really fun. we like to park at the pier-$5 and there is a little ice cream shop with an arcade in it right there. the pier is fun. and it is a very nice beach! we've been to Clearwater too, and liked it, but we like waves.

 

[Weegl]

We're going to Kennedy Space Center for a day and I thought we'd go to Cocoa Beach afterwards for dinner and walk around. Can you recommend somewhere kid friendly, not expensive, to eat. And what is there to do or see in just an evening? Any suggestions? Thanks!!

Florida Seafood is goods for rock shrimp
The Cove down south in Satellite Beach (south of Patrick AFB)
We like Rusty's at the Port if its a cruise day...get there at 4Pm and watch the cruise ships depart on Sat. & Sun. Rusty's is good with the simple food (wings, oysters, fish sandwiches etc.).

 

[Classical_Minnie]

hehe, BTW, the first thing that i saw at the tv in the lobby when we came to our hotel in Coucoa beach was The little mermaid

 

[mkel34]

My good friend was stationed in Cocoa Beach while in the Air Force, he says theres a reason that every other episode of Cops is filmed in Cocoa beach, take from that what you will.