You’ve all heard of Cape Canaveral, (Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973), home to Kennedy Space Center. It’s where rockets and other spacecraft have been launched since the space program itself was launched. It’s located in Central Coastal Florida in what is aptly known as the “Space Coast” and runs through both Brevard and Volusia Counties.
The area also is home to Port Canaveral, one of the world’s busiest cruise ports, the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Mosquito Lagoon Aquatic Preserve, and the Canaveral National Seashore. It’s where oyster reefs, manatees and bottlenosed dolphins thrive and sun seekers enjoy the natural playground.
The region boasts a very long and storied history as indigenous people occupied the area for at least 12,000 years and were among the earliest to produce pottery. In the early 16th century, it was dubbed by Spanish explorers as Cabo Canaveral (meaning sugarcane plantation). And throughout the area sugar mill ruins can be found from centuries past.
One fascinating and fun fact you may not know is that along a secluded stretch of the Canaveral National Seashore, known as Apollo Beach along the southern tip of New Smyrna Beach, sunbathers can enjoy clothing-optional/nude beach access.
If you’re planning a visit, head to Canaveral National Seashore’s parking lot #5. There are only 35 spots there, otherwise visitors have about a six mile walk from the park entrance to the nude beach area.
To get there take State Road A1A in Volusia County to the park entrance. Along the way you’ll pass dunes, other parking lots and signage warning “you may encounter nude sunbathing within Boardwalk 5.” It’s not officially designated as a nude beach by the National Park Service, but a live and let live vibe exists, as long as there’s no lewd behavior or laws being broken. There are entrance fees: pedestrians and bicycles: $15; vehicles: $25; Annual pass: $45; Senior pass (62+): $20/year or $80/lifetime.
Further south in Brevard County you’ll find Playalinda, another clothing-optional beach in the National Seashore in the town of Titusville. Its proximity to the Kennedy Space Center offers the added distinction of offering up close views of rocket launches. Visitor hours are 6:00am to 8:00pm and entrance fees are same as noted above.
If you’ve never visited a nude beach, you may want to check out the American Association for Nude Recreation’s website and their guide to Nude Beach Etiquette at: https://www.aanr.com/aanr_articles/nude-beach-etiquette/
2 great clothing optional beaches. We have been to both. Apollo Ramp 5 does have limited parking and we have had only 1 time where we had to drive back and park at ramp 4. Headed sound on the beach and after about 100 yards we passed a 4” x 4” painted post marked and then passed naked people enjoying nature as God intended. Apollo sand is soft and hard to pull a loaded beach wagon through. Playalinda Beach ramp 13 was crowded and we had to park at ramp 12. Hit the beach and saw the nude beach begin there all the way north to and past ramp 13. The sand was more level and compacted to make it easy to pull a wagon through. Great beaches with lots of friendly nudes and non nudes or should i say gawkers!
It has been a while, but we went to Apollo several times and were not too impressed. First, the parking was very limited and the fishermen tended to fill it up.
Second, the nude part of the beach was UNMARKED and a ways down the beach.
Third, the beach area itself was very shallow – by that I mean that the distance between the water and the seagrass was very short – just guessing – maybe 30-40 feet (?). Maybe the tide was in that day. Anyway that was maybe 6-8 years ago so maybe none of that is true now. Would appreciate it if I am wrong on any of my statements – I do not want to mislead anyone.
Playalinda, it’s my favorite beach because it’s backed by the wildlife refuge, hence undeveloped, and the limited parking means it’s never crowded. My experience has been that the road to the beach is closed during rocket launches. when I visit family in the area, I always spend a day at Playalinda and have done so for over 40 years. I advise getting there early and never on the weekend
If lot 5 at Apollo or lot 13 at Playalinda are full you can park at other lots and the walk is a lot shorter. Or, is a bicycle allowed?
Yes you can park at other lots that are closer. Did not see any restrictions on bicycles when I was there. Road is paved.
I wish you hadn’t published this. It is always over crowded and with only 35 parking spots it leads to lines of idling cars waiting for someone to leave. Also, with the cuts to National Parks, it further strains the abilities of the understaffed Park Rangers. This is not a good time to bring attention marginalized lifestyles. I could easily see this administration stopping the practice of nude sunbathing at these beaches.