Seashells by MillhillThe Jetty at Ponce Inlet

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The jetty at New Smryna Beach / Ponce Inlet, on the east coast of Florida, is one of the few places in the state where you’ll see big rocks. It’s popular for surfers and fishermen and it’s the most likely place to hear that a surfer has been being bitten by a shark – at least in that area of the state. A number of years ago, a friend of mine’s son had to go to the hospital with a shark bite when he was boogie-boarding near the jetty. I took this shot at the inlet side, this past summer when we vacationed in Edgewater, and rented the Fisherman’s Cottage.

On one of our visits to the beach, we drove along the shore all the way north to this area. The red, Ponce Inlet Lighthouse can be seen on the other side of the opening, which is a waterway for boats to get to and from the Atlantic ocean. This is a driving beach – up to the rocks, but there is more beach over the rocks and around the corner where cars can’t go. Strangely enough, I didn’t take many photos when we were here. But I didn’t bring my favorite (nice) camera with me on the trip, or I think I would have loads more images to share.

Anyway, the jetty is there to keep the sand in place so the inlet is easier to navigate with a boat. As I understand it, the rocks help keep the sand from shifting and creating unwanted sand bars where large ships pass through. But the fact that the rocks are there makes the water behave differently creating larger waves than you’d see just down the beach. That is why the surfers like to go there. Fish like to feed among the rocks, and the sharks come to feed on the fish, so with all that thrown together, you get accidental shark bites.