Things to Do in Cocoa Beach

Cocoa Beach has four oceanfront parks with parking and restrooms, plus 40 street ends east of A1A where a dune crossover leads straight to the sand (Cocoa Beach Beach Access Parks).

The city counts 6 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches (City of Cocoa Beach Weddings and Special Events page). The city operates two of the four oceanfront parks. The 5 acres of Alan Shepard Park at 299 East Cocoa Beach Cswy are open daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM and hold 10 large picnic pavilions, covered tables, beach rentals, a children's playground, restrooms and showers (Alan Shepard Park facility page). It is named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the city notes its view of space launches, and its facility page counts 300 spaces for automobiles and recreational vehicles, where parking fees apply. Sidney Fischer Park is a 10-acre park at 2200 North Atlantic Ave with the same 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM hours, picnic shelters, a playground, showers, volleyball and fishing (Sidney Fischer Park facility page); parking fees apply there too.

Brevard County runs the other two: Lori Wilson Park, listed by the city at 20 acres with 274 spaces, and Robert P. Murkshe Memorial Park, a 2-acre park with bathrooms, showers and picnic areas. The Beach Access Parks page spells the second city park Sidney Fisher, while its own facility page says Fischer. Each of the 40 stub-end streets has metered parking and a litter barrel. Rates, permits and free spots are covered in the Cocoa Beach beach parking guide, and Lori Wilson Park has its own Digital Towns guide.

Dogs may go only to the designated dog beach area, beach fires and overnight camping are not allowed, and surf fishing is allowed under state fishing rules (Cocoa Beach Beach Guidelines).

The dog beach runs from 4th Street South to the north side of Robert P. Murkshe Park (spelled Murshe on the guidelines page), and dogs there must be on a leash no longer than 10 feet. Dog beach hours change with the clock: during standard time the area is open 6 to 10 AM and 4 to 7 PM, and during daylight saving time 6 to 10 AM and 5 to 9 PM.

Umbrellas, canopies and shade tents are allowed up to 10 ft x 10 ft, kept away from dune lines, turtle nest zones and pathways, and removed before leaving. Fireworks and glass are banned on the sand, and beach fire permits are currently unavailable. The city asks beachgoers to stay off the dunes and use the marked access points. Sea turtle nesting season on the guidelines page runs March 1 to October 31, and the page asks beachgoers to fill in holes, knock down sandcastles and remove chairs, umbrellas and other gear before leaving. The guidelines page lists 888-404-3922, the state fish and wildlife line, for reporting a stranded marine animal. The guidelines page also invites surfing but points to conditions and warning flags first; the Cocoa Beach surf conditions and rip currents guide explains those flags and lifeguard towers.

The city owns a public 27-hole golf club and a public tennis complex on Tom Warriner Blvd, and Ramp Road Park has tennis and pickleball courts (Cocoa Beach Country Club).

Cocoa Beach Country Club, 5000 Tom Warriner Blvd, calls itself a public facility with three courses, Dolphin, Lakes and River, totaling 27 holes. Its 17 lakes sit near the Banana River Lagoon, and each hole is named for a bird species seen on the course. Same-day tee times are booked by phone through the Starter Shack at 321-868-3361. Carts are mandatory on the main course before noon from December 15 to April 15, and beachwear is not permitted on the course. The club page lists Pro Shop hours of 7 AM to 6:30 PM daily, while the course rates page says 6:45 am to 6:30 pm.

Posted green fees cover the summer season, May 1, 2026 through October 31, 2026 (Cocoa Beach Course Rates). Tee times can be booked up to 28 days in advance, and rental clubs for 18 holes cost $65 plus tax. The table below shows the posted riding rates for 18 holes before 3 pm. No rates after October 31, 2026 were posted on that page at this check, and the Pro Shop takes rate questions at 321-868-3351.

The Racquet Club of Cocoa Beach, 4600 Tom Warriner Blvd, is owned by the city and operated by USTA Florida Section, with 2 lighted clay courts and 10 hard courts, 6 of them LED lit (Cocoa Beach Tennis Club page). Walk-on play from 8am to 1pm costs $9 for residents and $10 for non-residents on clay, and $5 and $6 on hard courts; hard courts are free from 1pm to 3pm. Ramp Road Park's tennis and pickleball courts have rentable lights at $15 an hour between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM; recreation staff approve each booking, and a weekend request needs approval by the preceding Friday (Ramp Road Park facility page).

A day at the Cocoa Beach Aquatic Center costs $4 for a resident adult and $8.50 for a non-resident adult, with children at $3 and $5.50 (Aquatic Center Fees and Rentals).

Anyone may swim at the center on Tom Warriner Blvd (number 4800), whether or not a city resident; its 50 meter pool is kept warm in winter and cool in summer, and the site adds a jumbo water slide, diving boards, a children's pool and a water spray park (Cocoa Beach Aquatic Center facility page). Swim lane bookings and pre-paid pass applications run through the city's RecDesk portal or the front desk. Frequent swimmers can buy passes: a one-year single swimmer pass is $225 for a resident and $510 for a non-resident, and a 30-day pass is $40 and $67.50. The pool pavilion rents for $250 a day for residents, and the main line is 321-868-3240.

The Cocoa Beach Skate Park sits at 1450 Minutemen Causeway and has no attendant on duty (Cocoa Beach Skate Park page). It opens 3:30 PM to 9:00 PM Monday through Thursday, 2:30 PM to 10 PM on Friday, 7 AM to 10 PM on Saturday and 7 AM to 9 PM on Sunday, with 6 AM to 9 PM hours on holidays when school is out. Helmets are required for riders 18 and under, BMX bikes are banned, and smoking, vaping, alcohol and graffiti are prohibited.

Indoors, the Offenhauser Recreation Center at 321 Ramp Road, also called the Ramp Road Recreation Center, is a gym used for basketball, Zumba classes, pickleball and league play (Offenhauser Recreation Center facility page). The gym closes on holidays including Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

Boaters and paddlers launch from three city ramp sites (Holiday Lane, Constitution Bicentennial Park and Ramp Road Park), and kayaks also go in from a dock at Cove Park (Cocoa Beach Boat Ramps page).

At the west end of Ramp Road, number 401, Ramp Road Park pairs a launching ramp for motorized and non-motorized boats with a separate kayak ramp, and it is open daily from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM (Ramp Road Park facility page). Since the lot joined the city parking program, a driver who already holds a city parking permit pays nothing more there. On the causeway at 801 W Cocoa Beach Causeway, Constitution Bicentennial Park fits a boat launch, a fishing dock and restrooms into 1 roadside acre. Cove Park on McNabb Pkwy (number 540) covers half an acre with a fishing dock and a kayak launching dock; it has no restroom facilities, and parking is limited to 6 spaces on the street beside it (Cove Park facility page).

Those ramps open onto the Banana River Aquatic Preserve, which the state Board of Trustees designated an aquatic preserve in 1970 and which covers 30,000 acres of long, wide and shallow estuarine lagoon (Florida DEP Banana River Aquatic Preserve page). The state lists boating, fishing, kayaking, snorkeling, diving and wildlife viewing there, names the Ramp Road Park boat ramp as an access point, and counts the West Indian manatee and Atlantic bottlenose dolphin among its animals.

Just west of the city, the Thousand Islands are 336 acres of islands, wetland and submerged land covered by a management plan prepared by the City of Cocoa Beach and the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program (Thousand Islands Conservation Area Management Plan). That plan, revised in December 2008, calls for a canoe and kayak trail reached from the Ramp Road and golf course canoe launches and notes a canoe and kayak launch built at Ramp Road in 2008. The plan is old, so the trail's current markings are worth confirming with Leisure Services first.

On the ocean side, Maritime Hammock Preserve at 1225 North Atlantic Ave is open 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and its page lists activities, some written as future plans, such as strolling, picnicking, photography and bird watching, with no fishing in its pond and no biking on its trails (Maritime Hammock Preserve facility page). The city bought it in 2003 with a Florida Communities Trust grant covering 40% of the $1.52 million price. Its page still describes a 2015 grant application and amenities planned for 2016, text the city has not updated.

Every wedding or event on city property needs city approval, and the Leisure Services menu lists programs such as the Frightful Fairway 5K (Cocoa Beach Weddings and Special Events).

A Beach Wedding Permit covers private ceremonies of 50 guests or fewer on the beach or in city park space, with minimal setup and no vendors, amplified sound or road closures. A Special Events Permit is required for events open to the public such as festivals, concerts, races and fundraisers, and for any event with vendors, food trucks, alcohol sales, tents, stages or amplified sound, or one that affects streets and parking. For beach ceremonies the city suggests three oceanfront parks with restrooms and easy parking: Alan Shepard Park, Lori Wilson Park and Sidney Fischer Park. Other city venues named on that page are the Cocoa Beach Country Club, Centennial Park with open space and a stage, and the Cocoa Beach Community Room, which is for residents only.

City of Cocoa Beach event staff answer questions about which permit applies at 321-868-3252. The Leisure Services menu lists the Frightful Fairway 5K, also called the Fall Into Winter 5K, among its golf course programs, and the city calendar is the place to check dates for that race and other city-run events.

Last verified: October 21, 2026, by reading the city's park, golf, pool, tennis, skate park, boat ramp and event permit pages, the 2008 Thousand Islands plan and the state Banana River Aquatic Preserve page for this Cocoa Beach activities guide.