The beach is such a big part of my life that packing to spend time on the sand is second nature. Whether boating to a deserted island, or driving onto the beaches here in New Smyrna, necessary take-alongs are nearly the same.
For vacationers from out of state, and especially those unfamiliar with Florida beaches, I will share some advice. First, if you are traveling to the beach in a car, find out if it will be high tide. Sometimes the drive-on roads are closed if the tide is high!
What You Need To Bring For a Day at the Beach
Money to pay for entrance to drive on the beach. Even if you park and walk on, there is a fee to park these days.
A big bag, preferably waterproof with a zipper. It can be very windy. Maybe more than one bag depending on the number of people in your family. Fill it with towels, sunscreen, shirts, hats, beach toys, money, sunscreen, snacks, and whatever else you need for a fun day on the sand.
Cooler filled with drinks (alcohol is not allowed, neither is glass) and food and lots of ice. Drink a lot while out in the Florida sun. Trash cans are provided by the dunes.
Clothing and Hats with UPF / sunscreen built in. This is an especially good idea for little kids. I prefer to wear beach shoes as well.
Extra Towels for the car on the ride home. My advice is to NOT use towels to sit / lie on in the sand. The sand is so fine that it is difficult to remove it from towels. Sit in lightweight chairs meant for the beach.
I bring a container of water for rinsing (empty milk cartons, empty ice-tea cartons and cat litter containers work well) to rinse my feet, chairs, boogie-boards, etc., before heading home. It helps with the car mess and makes the ride more comfortable. This is in addition to lots of bottled water for drinking.
SUNSCREEN: Sunscreen has an expiration date. DO NOT BUY IT ONLINE. Go to a local store to buy your sunscreen and check the expiration date. Apply before you leave the house and preferably before you dress in a swim suit. That way you will cover all areas easily. Bring it with you to re-apply when needed. My favorite brand is Coppertone. I use an SPF 8 when we go out for hours on the boat, but I bring a shirt and wear a hat. A 15 or 30 SPF should work fine unless you are super pale skinned or plan to stay on the beach the entire day. Once you look “a little red” you need to cover up. That red will get brighter as time goes on!
The end of Flagler Ave is a popular entrance ramp to the beach. In this photo the beach access is closed.
While at the beach, don’t feed the birds, do watch for traffic, drive slowly, don’t litter, stay off the dunes, and away from any turtle nesting sites (they will be marked), and follow the rules. Go to a spot near a lifeguard and be careful if there are rip current warnings, or you see jellyfish on the sand. Most often the jellyfish are not the kind that will hurt you but I’ve seen man-of-war on the beach too!
No glass is allowed on beaches, and music must be contained to your area. You will have to get out of the water if there is thunder / lightning. It can strike from very far away even if the sun is out…! Check out theBeach Safety page for Daytona and New Smyrna Beach area for more useful information before you head to the beach.
Low tide beach at Ponce Inlet beach
There is no car access at Ponce Inlet to the north of the jetty. You must drive onto the beach further south at one of the ramps and slowly make your way to the south side of the jetty. Parking at the jetty is usually busy in summer months because the surfers and people fishing from the rocks will take up the spaces. This is where the waves are good, and it’s also where most shark bites happen!
Jetty from boardwalk, a winter day
I took the photo above while walking the boardwalk at Smyrna Dunes Park.
Beach at the jetty, north New Smyrna Beach
In summer, and big vacation times like Spring Break, expect the beach to look like the photo below. Busy. Crowded. Crazy.
A friend called and we met up at 27th Ave. in New Smyrna, down on the beach. We both needed to buy our yearly beach passes, so we drove onto the beach and took a walk. County residents pay $25 for New Smyrna Beach access and it’s good until the end of the year.
Walking north from 27th Ave.
It was a warm February day, but very windy on the beach. We watched the kite-surfer jump some nice waves until he came onshore and packed up to leave. Then we took a walk north near the waters edge.
Sea birds
I suspect that most of the people on the beach were “snowbirds”, or people who only come to Florida for the winter months. Some may have been vacationing on their Spring Break. Unless you love to surf, locals don’t generally visit the beach at this time of year. For me, the water is too cool to swim, and there are no lifeguards. But it’s a nice place to walk.
Low tide is my favorite time to visit any beach. As you can see, there is a lot of space between the edge of the water and the driving area. There is a specified “road” where vehicles must remain, and the speed limit is 10MPH.
Long ago we could park in a second line down by the water. (Check out the old beach postcard at Fresh Slices of Old Florida, which shows what I mean.) I wasn’t in Florida in the 1050’s, but we parked like this in the 1980’s. Of course it could only be done at low tide. I don’t remember when they stopped allowing it.
With two rows of cars – one up by the dunes and another near the sea – there were too many accidents, and it was more difficult to see kids running around.
More People Equals More Rules
These days there are MANY rules to follow, and one is how you park. Also the person at the entrance booth will tell you to have your windows down and lights on while driving on the sand. During the summer months, surfers can only surf as specified locations called “surf zones“. A visit to the Volusia County beaches page is a good idea if you are new to beach driving.
Heading back to the car
My friend and I had a short walk and then she had to go home. We drove north on the sand to the 3rd Street ramp where we got back onto the main road.
I’ve written about my visits to Smyrna Dunes Park before and usually I head to the beach area at the Inlet to search for shells. This time my visit was to check out the newly finished boardwalk which makes a circle around the peninsula.
The Boardwalk is Finished!
Because I hadn’t visited this area for a few months, I asked the woman taking the money at the entrance how it was coming. The finished date was in mid-summer I believe, but said they got finished ahead of schedule.
This was exciting. I’d already seen part of the pathway and had been looking forward to walking all the way around the loop, which goes out by the ocean. It was Memorial Day, so I hoped people would be home having backyard cookouts. But many people were at the Park! I was lucky to find a parking space, but was pleasantly surprised that either they were walking a dog, or heading to the beach to swim. The boardwalk loop was mostly empty of people.
New boardwalk at Smyrna Dunes Park
The boardwalk and pavilions along the walk are nicely done. Here’s hoping the damage will be minimal whenever another hurricane sweeps through – because it will. I’m betting that was at least part of the reason for the improvements. If you search online for Smyrna Dunes Park, you can see older images of the wooden walkways. This new design is very nice.
The walkways wide, and are wheelchair accessible, with ramps at the entrance to the walkways. You won’t be able to get down onto the beaches, except on the “river” side where there are ramps down off the boardwalk… but you will then be in sand. Some of the pathways on that side may be re-done, but I’m not sure. I didn’t pay much attention to that area. Next time I will get photos of the new offshoots leading to the fishing pier, Intlet and river access.
Second pavilion on boardwalk, with picnic table
I entered the boardwalk next to the main entrance (which is to the left of the yellow building in my last photo on this page) and walked clockwise all the way around. The other end comes out near the condos and according to the website it’s 1.5 miles in length. It’s an easy walk in cool weather. The only shade is under one of these pavilions, and today is was hot. Because the area is surrounded by water, there is often some type of breeze, but it’s not a cooling breeze at this time of year!
It was a cloudy day, but the humidity was horrendous (not surprising) and I won’t be going back for a walk until October. I’ll drive onto the beach where I can cool off quickly without the long walk. I dislike Florida summers and don’t understand how anyone can enjoy doing anything strenuous in this heat.
Pavilion #2 has a picnic table.
Usually I head out to the Ponce Inlet and Jetty area so I can walk along the beach. Today my main goal was to walk the loop, so I didn’t check out the beach. If the weather had been cooler I would have.
Take a left from the main walkway to get to the inlet beach and jetty
The Ponce Lighthouse is located on the other side of the Inlet, so it is not accessible from this park. I could see waves in the inlet, so the sea was rough. Probably would have been a good time to do some beach-combing, but my son needed the car to get to work, so time was short. I trekked on toward the parking lot. I don’t call a walk like this “hiking”. Hiking is something I do in the mountains of New Hampshire. In Florida there is no such thing.
Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is not accessible from this side of the Inlet, but makes a nice backdrop for photos.
As I got closer to the ocean side of the peninsula the beach and waves came into view. All along the ocean side are separate walkways that lead down to the beach. This means that anyone driving onto the beach could park in this area and come up and use the pavilions. I’m wondering if they can be rented for special occasions, as they are each numbered. Or are they first come, first serve? I couldn’t find an answer online, so I’ll keep an eye out.
Ocean view from boardwalk
Now this was cool… the pavilion in the photo below was raised up, and quite large. A family was up there as I walked by, so I didn’t want to bother them, but it would give a good view of the ocean and dunes area. (Read my post about the Two-Story Pavilion here.) I was so hot at this point I just wanted to get back to my car and turn on the AC! Onward toward the condos.
Raised, large pavilion by the beach
One of the last pavilions on my trek around the peninsula contained seating only – no tables. All areas to rest are covered, which is nice, but cover doesn’t really help with this heat. I suppose if the sun was out, it would be a nice place to rest, but more importantly, if a rainstorm hit there would be a place to shelter. Today I was hoping for rain to cool me off! There are many new, blue trash cans too, so hopefully people will be respectful and use them.
When I stopped at the entrance to the park, the woman who scanned my pass told me to be sure and lock my car. I’m assuming there have been break ins. I always lock my car in Florida, so I didn’t need the reminder, but when living in New Hampshire people left their cars open and unlocked. Sometimes keys were also in the ignition! Visitors who come to Florida from such places may not realize it’s not all Disney World here. I certainly know enough to lock up, but the state is full of vacationers. Kudos to the woman at the entrance for the safety reminder.
Benches and trash can only in this covered rest area with an ocean view.
Two sets of picnic tables and benches with boardwalk access to the beach beyond.
I found this map of the peninsula, which shows picnic areas and walking trails. The restroom sign is where parking is located. At busy times, the lot fills up with additional parking along the road. Many visitors are locals who come here to walk their dogs. I’m not sure of the rules for that, except to pick up the poop, and keep them on a leash. The dog-walkers are allowed on the boardwalk early in the morning I believe, but after that they must stay in the sandy walkway. Dogs are not allowed on the ocean beach, but they can access the river beach and inlet (I think). I don’t have a dog.
Looking back at raised pavilion with lighthouse in the distance
Looking back where I just walked along the ocean side of the boardwalk with covered pavilions along the shore.
Blanket Flower ? Growing wild in the dunes. I took this photo over the side of the railing.
Getting closer to the condos means getting closer to the parking area where AC awaits!
Gopher tortoise in protected area of dunes near high-rise condos
The Gopher Tortoise is an amazing creature, and the center of this entire peninsula / boardwalk area is home to them. It’s an extensive area, but the gopher tortoise requires a lot of space to house it’s family. My daughter once did some volunteering at the Central Florida Zoo. One thing she learned about was the tortoise, and I was surprised at how it lives. At Wikipedia it says this: “Each gopher tortoise needs about 4 acres to live“.
This creature is now a threatened species and is protected. Can you guess why? Because development in Florida has been ongoing rapidly for many years and do you think anyone really cared if the hundreds of acres of land they developed meant destroying turtle houses underground? NO. Don’t get me started. I’m happy that this Park is a safe place for this wild animal, but so many others have been killed because of development. See the Minorca Condominiums in the background of my picture as well as the other condos around it? How many tortoises lost their homes to build those do you think? Not to mention other wildlife, trees, shrubs and more. Where are these animals supposed to go? There is no place safe. Certainly not on prime oceanside land!
The law now requires that the tortoise is moved to a new location before building ensues. So what happens then? Does someone dig up 4 acres per tortoise? Just where can they go that is not land which will eventually be built on? And how does the tortoise adjust to a new piece of land where he must start all over again to build his community?
Florida’s wildlife has been pushed aside as greed and tourism has taken over. Thankfully there are some people, and places, that look after wildlife. Honestly, I think it’s a losing battle in this state. I’m done ranting for now.
Back at the parking lot, in need of a cool down!
At last my car was in sight and that meant air-conditioning! I was glad I was able to walk the loop and see all the new pavilions and walkways. The Smyrna Dunes Park is a great place to visit if you love being outdoors and getting close to the best part of Florida – nature (what’s left of it). I suggest you visit between October and May. And one day it may be one of the only spots left to view the gopher tortoise in the wild. I’m serious.
It’s Memorial Day. Today and every day I say “thank-you” to all military members and families who serve, have served, or plan to serve. Thank you for all you sacrifice to give me this freedom.
