New Smyrna Beach?

[lbklyn]

]Hi! My family and I will be coming to Orlando for 7 days early November. My son who is 26 and just got into the timeshare thing would like to go stay at a beach town for a few days after Orlando. It seems one of the few choices he has that is close to Orlando is New Smyrna Beach. I have looked on sites on the internet but I would rather hear first hand from those of you who know. Is it a nice beach? Clean, safe etc.. How is the town? I believe you can park cars on the beach (he's not liking that) but I figure it should not be very crowded early November. Has anybody ever been there and if so would you also have a recommendation for a place to stay. Preferably on the beach. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DalGal]

I don't have a whole lot of experience with New Smyrna but late July of last year we stayed at Ponce Inlet, which is between New Smyrna and Daytona Shores and loved it. It wasn't crowded and the only cars that actually drove on the stretch that we were at was the Beach Patrol. The beach was clean and no late night partying.

When we visited New Smyrna it was pretty similar...not a ton of ppl (but a little more crowded than Ponce), nice wide beach. I think it will just depend on the location of the timeshare as to how many cars/ppl you will see on the beach. As for the town, it had tons more restaurants than Ponce Inlet. Breakers has awesome burgers!

 

[lbklyn]

Thanks DalGal! Since posting this morning I looked more into Smyrna and to my surprise I read it was the shark capital of the WORLD! I do not know if that is completely true but I am not so sure he would want to go now. I do believe it is a very nice beach and area but we all do alot of swimming and probably could not relax in the water with this on the mind. Going to look more into Clearwater I think. Thank you for the response!

 

[DalGal]

Yeah, there is a large shark population in that area. I think its because of the inlet: lots of fish going in and out attract the sharks. People just get in the way

I like the Gulf beaches better. Clearwater/St. Pete is a nice area. Very clean, white sand. Hope you have a great time!

 

[pjinaz]

Hi:

We go to New Smyrna Beach every summer and have for the last 8 years. We absolutely love it. Yes, it supposedly is the shark capital but we have never had a problem. Most of the sharks are down by the inlet. My daughters who are 6 and 9 boogy board and have only seen a shark once and it was very small. The lifeguard saw it and called the kids out of the water. My friends have gone to this beach since they were kids and now they are in their late 40's and have only seen a shark once (the same time we saw it).

Driving on the beach: There is only a portion of the beach that you can drive
on. We stay at the Moontide, which is on the nondriving part of the beach. I would not like to stay on the part you drive on, but check because a lot of the condos are on the nondriving part of the beach.

The Town: Small town feel, very nice southern people. Very few chain restaurants. Lots of seafood restaurants. We live in Phoenix, and we love
going to New Smyrna Beach because it is so laid back, most of the restaurants are very casual, nice, but casual. It really is a beach vacation, not a city with a beach.

I love it. If you have any other questions, I would be happy to try to help.

Pam

 

[MiaSRN62]

I looked more into Smyrna and to my surprise I read it was the shark capital of the WORLD!

Here's a very recent story out of New Smyrna :
http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/popup.html?v=794011132

 

[AlexTina]

My DH is from Florida and until a few years ago his dad, step mom, and step brothers still lived there and so we would always go to visit them (living in Port Orange at the time). Well they absolutely loved New Smyrna and we would go there on every trip, it's a great little town with some really wonderful mom and pop type restaurants so if he's looking for a great town then yes New Smyrna is a nice place. If he's looking for a beach it's definately not my cup of tea. There are a lot of surfers there so you've got to be on the look out for a surf board flying toward your head, and then there's the sharks. It's definately true that it is the shark capital. We go to the beach on every trip and I have never seen anything more than tiny little fish getting washed up with the waves but the last time we were at New Smyrna Beach my DH and DBIL were way out swimming and I saw a huge fin behind them I immediately started yelling and of course they could not hear me but it scared the tar out of me. I know what I saw and it was definately not a dolphin like they were all trying to tell me. Later that same day DH, DBIL, and DSIL all were stung by manowar. So needless to say this is not my favorite beach and I personally won't even go in the water there. Keep in mind that I am a chicken but I wouldn't recommend New Smyrna for the beaches.

Tina

 

[MiaSRN62]

I'll add a second recent story in addition to my first link involving sharks at New Smyrna :
http://www.local6.com/news/16967979/detail.html

 

[lbklyn]

Thank you all so much for the responses! I still think it sounds like a great little town but I am hearing to many reports re sharks. We had never heard of New Smyrna and the day after looking into it and asking on the board my son comes home with a picture and small article on it. The picture had 2 surfers completely oblivious to a shark fin behind them!!! It was in New Smyrna and this was in our New York paper!

 

[olbear]

]Hi! My family and I will be coming to Orlando for 7 days early November. My son who is 26 and just got into the timeshare thing would like to go stay at a beach town for a few days after Orlando. It seems one of the few choices he has that is close to Orlando is New Smyrna Beach. I have looked on sites on the internet but I would rather hear first hand from those of you who know. Is it a nice beach? Clean, safe etc.. How is the town? I believe you can park cars on the beach (he's not liking that) but I figure it should not be very crowded early November. Has anybody ever been there and if so would you also have a recommendation for a place to stay. Preferably on the beach. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi there,
We live in Ormond Beach. Next to Daytona Beach. I would not recommend New Smyrna Beach. They have had a rash of sharks attacks as of late. Some photographers here locally have gotten pictures of a certain type of shark jumping out of the water.

Ponce Inlet is nice. Has some great seafood restaurants. Just don't swim near the jetty's as that is where sharks hang out as well. Daytona/Ormond Beach would be a nice alternative. Plus you could make a side trip to our Daytona International Speedway, Go to Daytona USA and take a tour of the speedway. Just a suggestion.

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[MiaSRN62]

The picture had 2 surfers completely oblivious to a shark fin behind them!!! It was in New Smyrna and this was in our New York paper!

Yes OP....I posted the video to that exact story in my post #6 from July 17. Amazing. And I posted a second link to a shark news story in post just after that Apparently it's shark alley at New Smyrna.

 

[pjinaz]

I would still tell anyone who loves a laid back beach vacation to give New Smyrna Beach a try.

I think people get too freaked out over the sharks. You are in the ocean. There are sharks in the ocean, no matter which ocean or beach you are at. There are lifeguards who will call people in when they see the sharks out there. Most people never see the sharks, yes the surfers do, but they are where the sharks are. New Smyrna is such a great place, I hate to see anyone miss out on it, or for it to get a bad name over the sharks, although I guess that's what keeps it so nice for me (less people).

Pam

 

[lbklyn]

Hi pjinaz, truly I am not trying to give New Smyrna a bad name. I am sure it is a great town. In fact, no matter which beach we wind up in I still want to go to New Smyrna now that such a big deal has been made of it. Curiosity got the best of me. And for sure, I will NEVER forget the name! But still, as far as the swimming is concerned I want to check out other places. Thinking of St. Petersburg now.

Hi MiaSRN62,

I tried to look for the video from July 17th but could not find it! If you still have it I would love to see it. My son says we are going to frame the picture.

 

[pjinaz]

Hi ibklyn:

Sorry don't have the video, but I am sure someone on here does. I think I saw a link somewhere and saw it on the news.

I am sure you will be happy at any of the beaches cause hey, you are at the beach!!!

Have Fun!

Pam

 

[MiaSRN62]

Weird....the video works for me.....I did however, find the news article and another in regards to sharks in that area (I just feel keep your wits about you when entering the water).


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4333715.ece AND http://www.boingboing.net/2008/07/18/photograph-of-jumpin.html

http://www.wftv.com/news/15338029/detail.html


And here's another shark bite news story out of New Smyrna as of today (July 25) :
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/breakingnews/shark072508.htm

And another from today ( I understand where Pam is coming from, but I'd still be very careful since warnings about this beach and sharks are abundant) :
http://www.local6.com/news/16987667/detail.html

 

[lbklyn]

Thanks again! That is from the picture we saw!

 

[kerrynic78]

We go to New Smyrna every weekend with our kids and our friends and love it! We love that we can drive on the beach and don't have to haul every item in our car with us. The husbands are always boogie boarding and I will admit that thinking of the sharks is always in the back of my head but we have yet to see one in all the times we have been (knock on wood!) We would rather drive the hour to go to New Smyrna then to go to Cocoa, it is a great beach!