Wabasso:
Driving south from the Inlet, the second you cross the bridge, you’re in Indian River County. Over the next few miles, the Sebastian area’s protected wildlife refuge recedes into glorious oceanfront and river view homes that line A1A heading south into Vero Beach. Shy of a half-hour from Sebastian, the scenic voyage is interrupted by a traffic signal at the Wabasso beach park. Due west at the light takes you to US1 and Interstate 95, but just a block east is a super punchy, high tide tube zone. Because of a series of submerged rocks waiting outside, it must be high tide for this spot to really work; however, when it’s too big at most other spots, Wabasso’s ridge of deep water near shore often allows swells to clean up and dump thick in the shorebreak. Wabasso has many faces: the most fun not always being the friendliest. Local groms can resemble inland hicks with South Florida flair. Spongers here carry weight in numbers and nine days out of 10, bodyboarders outnumber the surfers, taking on closeouts in inches of water. However, on the right tide and swell, the bar becomes epic for surfers of all forms. There is only a block or so of good sections and plenty of hungry mouths, so this one can be a long wait.