Orchid Island Beach Parks

Indian River County lists lifeguards from 9:10 a.m. to 4:50 p.m. at its Golden Sands, Wabasso Beach, Tracking Station and Round Island Oceanside beach parks on Orchid Island.

Every county beach park on Orchid Island opens daily from 7 a.m. to sunset and shares one beach condition hotline, 772-226-3384, printed on each county park page (Indian River County, Tracking Station Park). The table lists the county's beach parks and accesses from north to south as the county pages describe them. Indian River County posts current park closures on its park pages, each of which lists the beach condition hotline (Indian River County, Tracking Station Park).

Every park in the table carries a Vero Beach 32963 address on its county page (Turtle Trail Beach Access). The Town of Orchid notes that the beach in Orchid itself is generally not lifeguard protected (Town of Orchid beach page).

Orchid Island is the whole barrier island in Indian River County, from Sebastian Inlet south to St. Lucie County, and Indian River County manages 22.4 miles of Atlantic coastline.

The Town of Orchid states that the entire barrier island, stretching from the Sebastian Inlet in the north to St. Lucie County in the south, is called Orchid Island, and that the name also belongs to the private club community the town encompasses, which the town says often causes confusion (Town of Orchid Quick Facts). The town's Town Hall, for example, is on Orchid Island but outside the Town of Orchid.

Indian River County divides its 22.4 miles of coastline into eight beach management sectors, using 119 FDEP range monuments spaced roughly every 1,000 feet as reference points (Indian River County beach management sectors). The Vero Beach parks guide covers the city's own beaches.

Tracking Station Park, at 800 46th Place on Orchid Island in Vero Beach, is a 5.53 acre guarded county beach with 78 parking spaces, three boardwalks and ADA beach access, plus a beach wheelchair on request.

Indian River County guards 624 linear feet of the Tracking Station beach from 9:10 a.m. to 4:50 p.m., and the lifeguard tower number is 772-268-4363 (Indian River County, Tracking Station Park). The park has paved parking with 4 handicap spaces, a pavilion with a grill and two picnic tables, a water fountain, restrooms and outdoor showers, and the entrance is off Highway A1A.

A beach wheelchair is available at Tracking Station from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The county requires a copy of a photo ID and a completed Beach Accessible Wheelchair Use Agreement/Waiver before use, and asks visitors to call 772-268-4363 on arrival (Tracking Station Park, beach wheelchair). Fishing is allowed outside the guarded area, along with surfing, scuba diving, sunbathing and picnicking during park hours.

Tracking Station also marks a line on the county's erosion map. Beach management Sector 4 runs 3.2 miles from half a mile south of the Turtle Trail access to just north of Tracking Station Beach Park, and Sector 5 then stretches 2.6 miles through the City of Vero Beach, starting about half a mile north of Tracking Station (Indian River County beach management sectors). The county plan recommends applying for FDEP Critically Eroded Area status for Sector 4 and building a dune only project there.

Round Island Oceanside Beach Park, at 2201 South Highway A1A near the south end of Orchid Island, is an 11.36 acre guarded county beach with five pavilions, a playground, 73 parking spaces and a beach wheelchair.

Indian River County describes the Round Island park as pet free, with free parking, covered pavilions, grills, restrooms, outdoor showers and a children's playground, and guards 390 linear feet of beach from 9:10 a.m. to 4:50 p.m. (Indian River County, Round Island Oceanside Beach Park). The beach wheelchair is available from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a photo ID and the signed waiver. The page lists two numbers: (772) 268-5978 at the top, also given as the number to call for the wheelchair, and a lifeguard tower line of 772 492-2412 at the bottom.

The Round Island shore has a World War II past. The county says the park is tied to the Fort Pierce Amphibious Training Base, where over 140,000 World War II military personnel prepared for the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, and that concrete tank traps were placed offshore, some of which, with interpretive signs, can still be seen (Round Island Oceanside, history). During sea turtle nesting season, March 1 to October 31 on the county page, several sections of the Round Island beach are blocked off to protect nests. Round Island Riverside Park sits across A1A on the lagoon side.

At the south end of the county, Sector 8 stretches 2.2 miles from near Mangrove Lane and Reef Road to the county line south of Round Island Beach Park, and the county describes that coastline as growing, with semi-annual beach profile surveys as the only recommended strategy (Indian River County, Sector 8).

Treasure Shores, Seagrape Trail, Turtle Trail and Ambersands are unguarded county accesses on north Orchid Island; Treasure Shores lists an ADA crossover, while Seagrape Trail and Turtle Trail list none.

Seagrape Trail Beach Access, at 8462 North Highway A1A about half a mile south of County Road 510, has a paved lot with 20 spaces, 2 of them handicap, and a boardwalk to the beach, with no lifeguard on duty and no ADA crossover (Indian River County, Seagrape Trail). Turtle Trail Beach Access, just south of Seagrape Trail at 8102 North A1A, has 30 paved spaces and 2 handicap spaces and a sandy path to the ocean, and the county page warns there is no lifeguard and swimming is at the swimmer's own risk (Indian River County, Turtle Trail).

Treasure Shores Park, three miles north of CR 510 at 11300 Highway A1A, covers 20.8 acres with 74 parking spaces, a playground, restrooms, showers and picnic tables under oaks, but no lifeguards (Indian River County, Treasure Shores Park). Ambersands Beach Access, about 6 miles north of County Road 510, lies inside the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and has unpaved parking and a boardwalk (Indian River County, Ambersands). The guarded Golden Sands and Wabasso Beach parks, both on north Orchid Island, have their own Sebastian guides; Golden Sands lists 128 parking spaces plus 8 handicap spaces (Indian River County, Golden Sands), and Wabasso Beach lists a tower number of 772-268-4732 (Indian River County, Wabasso Beach Park).

Indian River County bans pets, alcohol, open fires, camping, overnight parking and fireworks in all of its Orchid Island beach parks, and asks visitors to stay off the dunes.

Each county park page prints the same core rules with their ordinance numbers: no pets in any county park (205.03.22), no alcohol (205.03.26), no open fires (205.03.04), no camping (205.03.16), no overnight parking and no trespassing after hours (205.03.19) and no fireworks (205.03.5) (Tracking Station Park rules). The Tracking Station, Round Island, Wabasso Beach, Seagrape Trail, Treasure Shores and Turtle Trail pages add no remote controlled aircraft (205.03.27(a)), and the Golden Sands, Ambersands, Wabasso Beach, Seagrape Trail, Treasure Shores and Turtle Trail pages add no equestrian activities (205.03.3) (Golden Sands Beach Park rules).

The dune rule asks people to stay off the vegetated area west of the open beach. Pages such as Seagrape Trail and Tracking Station cite it as County Ordinance 205.02.25 (Seagrape Trail rules), while the Wabasso Beach Park page prints 205.03.25 for the same rule (Wabasso Beach Park rules). At guarded parks such as Round Island and Tracking Station, fishing is allowed only outside the guarded area. Injured or dead sea turtles on any Orchid Island beach are reported to FWC at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922), with the exact location and the closest access point.

Indian River County reports that, as of 2025, FDEP classified 19.3 miles of the county's 22.4 mile shoreline as critically eroded.

The county page names three critically eroded segments (Indian River County beach management sectors). The northernmost runs 9.5 miles south from Sebastian Inlet, where erosion threatens State Road A1A, Sebastian Inlet State Park facilities and development along Ambersand Beach and Wabasso Beach. A second 3.1 mile segment covers the northern section of Vero Beach, where seawalls have been built along part of the shore, and a third 3.1 mile segment in the southern part of the county threatens development interests. The county adds that Sector 7, south of the city, is heavily armored and erosive, and that it continues pursuing a construction project there.

Every county park page on Orchid Island lists the beach condition hotline, 772-226-3384, as the line for current beach conditions (Round Island Oceanside Beach Park). The Indian River County beach preservation plan guide explains the renourishment program behind these sectors.

Last verified: October 22, 2026, against the Indian River County park pages, the county beach sector page and two Town of Orchid pages for this Orchid Island beach park comparison.