Jetty Park:
One of Cocoa Beach’s few saving graces when victory-at-sea south swells stir up the coast, Jetty Park really only breaks well a couple of times a year. It’s actually not supposed to be a surfing beach according to the posted signs — and sometimes the lifeguards who work the area — but the name surfaces when better breaks blow out.
Jetty Park doesn’t sit on A1A like most Central Florida breaks; however, it’s still easy to find, as the jetties mark the entry into Port Canaveral where cruise ships dock and sail regularly. Coming from I-95 or US 1 in either direction, simply take 528 east, which becomes A1A south, and take the South Cargo Exit east. (If driving north through Cocoa Beach on A1A, which becomes 528 west, again take the South Cargo Exit east.) You should see signs for Port Canaveral, as well as several massive cruise ships. Keep driving east between the loading areas and parking lots and you’ll run directly into the entrance for Jetty Park. Pay the man at the gate his three bucks, plow eastward and you’ll find a parking lot bordered by a boardwalk with crossovers to the wide, sandy beach. When it’s on, Jetty Park can transform 8-foot windblown chop into more sculpted 4-foot lines, provided the lifeguards don’t decide to bounce you.
Kennedy Space Center:
Cape Canaveral? Cape Kennedy? Which is it? For the record: the land mass itself is now Cape Canaveral; the large area of concrete-covered asphalt where man prepares for Star Treks yet to come is called the Kennedy Space Center. It shares the property with the Canaveral Air Station and is easy to find: make your way toward Titusville along A1A or US1 — or veer east onto 528 off I-95 — and follow one of the signs or billboards to KSC.
Unfortunately, all this clarification is pretty pointless since KSC’s coastal areas are highly restricted; however, the space center has recently allowed surf fisherman to enjoy certain areas with a permit, so perhaps there’s hope for the board riding community. Being a cape, there is plenty of speculation as to what kind of wondrous wave opportunities must exist — especially along the south-facing beach during a strong nor’easter — but personal accounts are extremely rare. The handful of people who have surfed along this stretch are either astronauts or their relatives, who are allowed to visit the beach house where members of a coming mission are quarantined prior to launch. Still, boatmen who have witnessed the offshore shoals in action report impressive waves — and more than a few sharks.