JFK & Cocoa Beach day trip

[AR81]

I am considering going to spend one day at JFK center and cocoa beach. Aren't they pretty close to each other/in the same vicinity? I am not sure exactly on directions and travel time between the two but I have a general plan and hopefully it will work. Please give me your advice and experience for those of you that have visited JFK center while visiting Orlando.
Leaving hotel early and getting to JFK center when it opens (9am?).
Tour exhibits and shows til about 2:30ish.
Go to Cocoa beach for the afternoon around 3 or 3:30 ish.
I want to go to a park that will be near a pier for the guys to fish and a umbrella/chair rental place that we can easily rent some chairs etc.. to set up and enjoy the beach. Also want to have dinner at the beach, maybe some type of beachfront restaurant. Any suggestions on some nice places to eat around or on the beach? Any suggestions on what part of Cocoa to go to or which park?
Probably try to leave after dinner around 8:30ish to head back to Orlando...
Didn't intend on this being so longwinded but not sure of how this is going to work since we have no idea of what is around the Cocoa Beach area.
Thanks in advance.

 

[cjlvsccm]

I am considering going to spend one day at JFK center and cocoa beach. Aren't they pretty close to each other/in the same vicinity? I am not sure exactly on directions and travel time between the two but I have a general plan and hopefully it will work. Please give me your advice and experience for those of you that have visited JFK center while visiting Orlando.
Leaving hotel early and getting to JFK center when it opens (9am?).
Tour exhibits and shows til about 2:30ish.
Go to Cocoa beach for the afternoon around 3 or 3:30 ish.
I want to go to a park that will be near a pier for the guys to fish and a umbrella/chair rental place that we can easily rent some chairs etc.. to set up and enjoy the beach. Also want to have dinner at the beach, maybe some type of beachfront restaurant. Any suggestions on some nice places to eat around or on the beach? Any suggestions on what part of Cocoa to go to or which park?
Probably try to leave after dinner around 8:30ish to head back to Orlando...
Didn't intend on this being so longwinded but not sure of how this is going to work since we have no idea of what is around the Cocoa Beach area.
Thanks in advance.

You didn't mention when you plan to be there, but if it were the day before or on a launch date, the crowds and traffic would make it nearly impossible to enjoy a day like you describe. But for any other day, it'll be a great outing!!

The public beach has many access points through neighborhoods along the coast. We picked up some Cocoa/ Cape Canaveral brochures and maps at the FL welcome ctr, and got around fine with those, and easily found the pier. There were people fishing right from the shore, and catching lots!

Several restaurants were recommended along the beach and near the pier, but we chose to have dinner at Fish Lips, which is by several other restaurants along the ships' harbor, just back to your left as you arrive off the Beachline Expressway. They have award-winning Clam Chowder, and the Scallops Risotto and Crab Cakes were both TERRIFIC dishes!! It's got a hopping upstairs, with band and bar atmosphere, while the downstairs is just a nice family-style place, and a patio from which you can watch the ships.

If you want to go a bit North to Titusville (nearer KSC), there's a place called Dixie Crossroads that is famous for their rock shrimp... lots of shrimp varieties there, depending on the season. We enjoyed our meal there very much, but Fish Lips was more memorable.

Sorry I can't help you with recommendation for renting beach chairs, but I'm sure anyone working at KSC would be happy to give you ideas on that. There are several clubs and restaurants, but there's not much else going on. It seemed to be just a nice little town with beach-touristy places. And you won't miss the signs for Ron Jon's.

Just use mapquest or googlemaps to explore the area, and google for restaurants, you should find several with their menus posted. By driving 528/ Beachline Express (toll) it's a fairly quick and straight drive. If you want to avoid the tolls, we found a southerly route thru the countryside that was nice. But if you're going to KSC first, look N toward SR 50.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[AR81]

Thank you for all the info. You gave me a lot to think about and good tips. So is Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach basically the same thing/area?

 

[AR81]

And one more thing, we don't plan for it to be around any launch dates. We are just going to tour the space center/exhibits. We haven't pinned down exact dates but our trip will definitely be in June next year...

 

[DVCconvert]

Personally, I think you're bitting off a big chunk by tring to do both - explore KSC and have a beach day. The tickets you buy at KSC are good for 2 consecutive days for a reason. There is ALOT to see and do. It depends on your personal choice of course, but KSC needs (IMHO) one solid day at least, and even then you won't get to everything. The standard admission includes a bus tour for example that most folks would not want to miss.

If I were in your place, I'd consider devoting the day to KSC.

Cocoa Beach is about a 20 min drive south of the visitors center at KSC.

If you decide to beach-it for the day, a place called Sea Dogs offers beach chair/umbrella rentals
http://www.cocoabeachpier.com/index.html

HTH

 

[AR81]

Thanks for your advice. That's exactly what I was trying to figure out if the plan would be doable. I definitely need to do more research about KSC to find out exactly what we want to see and accomplish. Then just go have dinner around the beach area afterwards. Or if we are ready to leave by 3 from the KSC then we will have a few hours to spare at the beach. So i should go not expecting a lot of time at the beach and just see how it goes at KSC. Because unfortunately we will have one day in our schedule to spare....

 

[joesemo]

Kennedy Space Center is pretty much an all day thing.

It takes about an hour to get there from the Disney resorts.

Yes Cocoa Beach is about 15 minutes, but if you go to the KSC you should expect to be there all day.

go to

kennedyspacecenter.com/attractions

You can see they have a lot to do and see.