One afternoon, on one of our cooler Florida days (60’s), I headed to the New Smyrna Beach peninsula and got my 2018 Smyrna Dunes Park pass for the year. I asked the woman at the gate about the boardwalk’s progress, because I hadn’t been there for months. I was told that soon (possibly May) the entire walkway would be finished, which is earlier than planned.
Passes are only $20 (or pay $10 per visit), and the area is perfect for walking and sightseeing, swimming and fishing. It seems that the biggest draw is for dog-walking. Nearly everyone has a dog on a leash and those dogs look very happy!
Dogs are not allowed on the boardwalk other than early AM and just before sunset. Signs are posted. Dog owners must take the sandy paths.
Those who like to fish will appreciate the new fishing pier.
The boardwalk that heads directly toward the Inlet is nearly finished. There is one sandy area that must be crossed, and I’m not sure why that little section is not done, but maybe something special is going in there.
Still, I was happy to be able to get to the stairs leading down to the Inlet beach. Last time I visited I couldn’t get there on the boardwalk.
Lots of people kept going out toward the ocean on the boardwalk you can see in my photo below. It was a very windy day and not exactly perfect for beach-walking. I was alone by the time I reached the stairway.
The jetty rocks are fun for kids to climb on, and it’s a favorite place for fishing. I’ve never been very coordinated so I stayed off the rocks. I did walk down to the jetty in search of seashells, but found none.
I took a short video of the sand blowing along the beach. My legs definitely got sand-blasted, but it was a great day for collecting unique shells. I collected a Baby’s Ear seashell, which I’d never found before.
Pass it on
Everything costs money here because we have constant tourists and they will pay! As a resident I can get a free parking pass for beachside lots, but I pay $25 a year (Jan.-Dec.) to drive onto the beach, and $20 a year for Smyrna Dunes Park. The park can be accessed from the drive-on beach, or by boat also. Paying for the parking lot pass is worth it because I can walk any time- even at high tide when sometimes driving on the beach is unavailable. I think most people go to this park with their dogs. Dogs are everywhere! And dogs are not allowed on the drive-on beach.
The boardwalk was built to keep people off the dunes, where the gopher turtles live. I like that they have preserved the area as a natural habitat and also given us a beautiful place to walk.
What a beautiful beach. I did not know that you needed a pass to go to a beach in Florida. Is this for parking? In Melbourne you must pay in the carparks at some beaches if you are not a local ratepayer, who get free windscreen stickers, but access to the beaches is free as they are all public. It looks like New Smyrna Beach is worth the $20 with all those gorgeous dunes, white sand and shell treasures.
I initially thought that $20 was a lot to use the boadwalk and then I saw just how long it is. You’d be exhausted walking across the dunes, and presumably it wouldn’t do the dunes much good either!