Port Canaveral Jetty Beach

[Sigtau21]

On RCCL in March has stop in Port Canaveral. Was gonna go to Cocoa beach or jetty beach so my 3 and 6 year could hang at beach. What would be pros and cons of either place? Seems like Jetty would be closer, so that is good but I want to get a shot glass and someone indicated there were not shops around Jetty beach. ANd Cocoa beach would have shops. Are the beaches equally nice?

[Capt_BJ]

there is a snack shop and a bait shop at Jetty Park so I would not be surprized that there was a small selection of tourist crud.

http://www.jettyparkbeachandcampground.com/park_index

 

When you say you want to go to Cocoa Beach - well that's several miles .... an entire town. You may be thinking of the area immediately around the Cocoa Beach Pier, in which case there are a couple of gift shops on the pier as well as rest', bars, etc.

http://cocoabeachpier.com/cbp/

 

Some cruises have an excursion to the beach and that tends to drop folks on the beach near RonJon ... RonJon is open 24/7/365 ... tourist stuff heaven . . this is still 'Cocoa Beach'

 

Personaly I think Jetty Park has the nicer beach - there is more surfing around the Cocoa Pier . . . so expect a younger crowd if the surf is up.

[Oviedo32765]

This map may give you a better idea of the area around Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

 

If you want to buy souvenirs, you definitely need to venture into town. You can't go wrong starting at Ron Jon Surf Shop. It's open 24 hours a day 365 days a year. And someone mentioned on the boards once, Florida state law mandates all tourists must buy a t-shirt from there. :D

[skrufy]

Ron! Jons would be the best place to find a large array of area items. Most convience -gas stations carry some type of item also. When you finish your day at Jetty Park, head down A1A, you wil be in Cocoa Beach. Ron Jons is a couple of miles from the port on the left side of A1A.

[Sigtau21]

This map may give you a better idea of the area around Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

 

If you want to buy souvenirs, you definitely need to venture into town. You can't go wrong starting at Ron Jon Surf Shop. It's open 24 hours a day 365 days a year. And someone mentioned on the boards once, Florida state law mandates all tourists must buy a t-shirt from there. :D

 

 

Is spot a on the map where the ship would be docked?

[Capt_BJ]

visiting ships usually use one of the terminals just above and to the right of "A" on the provided map. A itself is pretty much on the draw bridge that one crosses to get to any of the 'north' cruise terminals

 

Occasionally a visiting ship will use the south terminals (older and smaller), these are much closer to Jetty Park, on the south side of the channel and just west of the park.

 

everything to want to know can be found here: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/06b7a968

 

and here: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/c5b6c8f9

[jennmaybe]

We were at Ron Jons 2 weeks ago, but we were disappointed because everything actually had "Ron Jon" on it. Not to mention they were way over-priced. (And we travel a lot & are used to paying higher tourist prices, but we weren't willing to pay those).:)

[Capt_BJ]

sorry to differ but

 

I was Christmas shopping @ Ron Jon Saturday and bought 6 items. Not one of them says Ron Jon. They carry a lot of good brand names: beach wear and the sort - it is not cheap stuff.

 

I'll admit they are a tourist trap for crud that does say Ron Jon, but they are also a very large store and sale racks are your friend. dd makes a stop there every trip home.

[jennmaybe]

sorry to differ but

 

I was Christmas shopping @ Ron Jon Saturday and bought 6 items. Not one of them says Ron Jon. They carry a lot of good brand names: beach wear and the sort - it is not cheap stuff.

 

I'll admit they are a tourist trap for crud that does say Ron Jon, but they are also a very large store and sale racks are your friend. dd makes a stop there every trip home.

 

Oh wow! What types of items were you able to find? Everything we were looking at had Ron Jon on it, example, golf ball. DH collects golf balls everywhere we go, but theirs only had Ron Jon on it and nothing about Cocoa Beach. (Just one of the items we were looking to buy).

 

I didn't mean that literally everything in the store had Ron Jon on it, but things that we buy while traveling had Ron Jon on it. :)

 

Yes, they do have brand name items as well, but we can purchase some of those very same things here where we live much cheaper. We were looking at shoes & flip-flops and they were way over-priced compared to what they sell here for, so that's all I was referencing.

[Capt_BJ]

granted, to find things that say 'Cocoa Beach' you are better off at one of the other tourist crud places along the strip ... even Walgreens or CVS! But Ron Jon logo stuff is kinda like Harley D stuff, or Hard Rock .... people pay a price cuz they WANT the logo. You've got to admit the selection of RJ t-shirts is pretty amazing.

 

If you buy beachwear in a beach community that caters to tourists you kinda get used to it not being a bargain. However as I said if you know your prices and know where the sale racks are there are deals. AND RJ carries some non-logo stuff of good quality that is hard to find other places. I have a tradition of giving family members beach themed Christmas ornaments each year and RJ always has a very nice selection. And the only place locally that has Santa themed Hawaiian shirts! (you can find them on the web and in catalogs but RJ has 'em on the rack)

 

The Space Coast's "South of the Boarder" . . . .

[jennmaybe]

granted, to find things that say 'Cocoa Beach' you are better off at one of the other tourist crud places along the strip ... even Walgreens or CVS! But Ron Jon logo stuff is kinda like Harley D stuff, or Hard Rock .... people pay a price cuz they WANT the logo. You've got to admit the selection of RJ t-shirts is pretty amazing.

 

If you buy beachwear in a beach community that caters to tourists you kinda get used to it not being a bargain. However as I said if you know your prices and know where the sale racks are there are deals. AND RJ carries some non-logo stuff of good quality that is hard to find other places. I have a tradition of giving family members beach themed Christmas ornaments each year and RJ always has a very nice selection. And the only place locally that has Santa themed Hawaiian shirts! (you can find them on the web and in catalogs but RJ has 'em on the rack)

 

 

The Space Coast's "South of the Boarder" . . . .

 

Ah man, we must have missed the Santa Hawaiian shirts! I was looking everywhere for one for DH.....he loves Hawaiian themed shirts. I saw a gentleman on the ship with one on and I loved it! I wanted to go over and ask him where he got it, but hubby wouldn't let me.:( I think he thought I was going to embarrass him.:)

[Johncn]

Sigtau,

 

The two beaches are very different. I am on the Jetty Park beach today writing this, and it is beautiful.

 

Here is my assessment:

 

Jetty Park - Quiet, more natural beach park with snackbar, showers and small campground convenience shop (small selection of local tourist stuff). It has slightly gentler surf and drop off (sheltered by jetty) and has lifeguards most or much of the year, but I am not sure on dates. Not likely to be crowded at all unless a long weekend or special event.

 

They do rent umbrellas and chairs, etc. ,and Ron Jon (the shop) owns a timeshare resort that is right next to the Jetty Park. There is a small Ron Jon shop in the resort with typical tourist stuff. ;-) You can just walk in to go to their store.

http://www.jettyparkbeachandcampground.com/park_index

 

The rates for beach rentals are here. You do not have to pay to park if you walk over from the SCAT stop or ride a bike from the Cove (see Cape Marina for bike rentals).

 

http://www.jettyparkbeachandcampground.com/park_admission

 

 

Images from prior posts:

 

Christmas Day, 2011

 

 

An aerial shot showing the beach and the jetty:

 

 

A map I made showing location in relationship to the cruise terminals:

 

 

 

Cocoa Beach:

 

By the pier:

 

Although not a Daytona Beach or Miami type scene at all, Cocoa Beach does draw some tourists. There is the rather tacky but large Ron Jon shop within a 15-20 minute walk, but there is no boardwalk.

 

The beach itself by the pier is nice, but is busier than I like, with some bars at the base of the pier, sand volleyball courts and several souvenir shops. It has a pier with paid fishing rod rental, a couple of restaurants and a small tiki bar at the very end that I like. There is a parking lot, a Publix grocery store (with tourist and beach stuff) about two blocks away.

 

This is accessible via the SCAT trolley bus route (see my other posts for info) here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1318738

 

By Ron Jon's:

 

There is a public park right by Ron Jon's shop that is quite nice, and has a few (three or four) restaurants, but no boardwalk type feel. I love the Sandbar for their tacos and beer specials, and it's not "on the beach" like the ones listed below, but right next to it over the dune.

 

Cocoa Beach proper:

 

Downtown Cocoa Beach has a number of beach bars and restaurants, some souvenir shops and probably the most dense population on spring break dates and weekends (along with the pier). Coconuts is family friendly eatery on the beach with live music. There are umbrella rentals and so on.

 

I think this beach is accessible via the SCAT trolley bus route (see my other posts for info) here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1318738

 

I personally much prefer Jetty Park for a beach experience on a day stop from a cruise, but if you want restaurants, tourist stuff and people watching, the other two beaches above would be more your style.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Johncn

[Johncn]

Seems like Jetty would be closer, so that is good but I want to get a shot glass and someone indicated there were not shops around Jetty beach.

 

Hi,

 

As I was leaving Jetty Park today I stopped in the campground office and gift shop. They have some very nice souvenirs specific to Jetty Park, although it is a small shop. I actually bought a shot glass for my wife that is really cool...has palm trees and tiny Christmas lights on it. ;-) They had about six or seven different styles of souvenir shot glasses.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Johncn

[CTcruizer]

This is very useful information -- just want to know if it is available to walk across the bridge to get from the cruise ship to Jetty beach? This is just a port stop for me not embarkation.

[familyof3cruiselovers]

Did you find out of you could walk to Jetty Beach from the Cruise ship? We are there for a port stop in March and were hoping to be able to walk to Jetty Beach too.

[Johncn]

Did you find out of you could walk to Jetty Beach from the Cruise ship? We are there for a port stop in March and were hoping to be able to walk to Jetty Beach too.

 

Hi,

 

If you are in the main port terminal area, it's "walkable", for some values of walkable. It's a long walk, and I've posted some details on the way to go and the challenges if you search my prior posts.

 

Now, if you on a port call visit for the day, you may be at the designated berths (Terminals B 3 & 4) that specifically for visiting ships. That would be immediately adjacent to Jetty Park. It's really AT the entrance to the park.

 

http://forums.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36414744&postcount=8

 

Here is a marked up shot of the port to show you what I mean:

 

 

Hope this helps,

 

Johncn

[ETski]

OMG I am so confused:eek: Ok please tell me how to get to Jetty Beach. Taxi? Shuttle? Walking? If by taxi how easy is it to get a taxi back from the beach to the pier? Approx cost one way? Last time we ported here we took a shuttle to Cocoa Beach went to the fishing pier and walked around. Do they still have private shuttles and if so the cost? Some of our friends onboard don't want to do the beach thing so I need info for both Jetty Park and Cocoa.

[familyof3cruiselovers]

Thanks so much Johncn for your info.

So it sounds like we need to wait and see where we are berthed. We are there just for a port day so hopefully we are in terminal 3 or 4 and we can walk to Jetty Beach. If we are berthed at the main terminal it will be a taxi ride.

Either way, a pretty cheap day at a pretty nice beach!!!

Thanks again for your help.

Judi

[noche_caliente]

Does anyone know where the Gem docks when she comes in for a visit?