What’s nice about getting here is that it is a straight drive East via the Beachline Expressway (528 toll road) from the Orlando International Airport, Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, International Drive, and other Orlando area attractions and hotels. The stress-free drive is virtually through a wilderness area until you reach the outskirts of Port Canaveral. Traffic can be light to moderate with nothing to slow you down from the posted speed limit of 70 miles per hour (mph).

What you should know while driving in the area.

While in the city of Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, and Indialantic you should watch your speed. The Brevard County Sheriffs and the local city police are very dedicated and will not hesitate to pull you over for speeding. Just do the speed limit and no more than plus 5 mph and you should be fine.

The second thing is don’t go too slow. Locals are not happy with out-of-towners who impede traffic flow by going less than the speed limit or who drive slow in the left hand lane (passing lane) blocking those who want to get by. So please stay to the right when driving less than the posted speed limit and be aware of others.

LOCALS’ ALERT Another aspect of driving in the area, is that Cocoa Beach has several traffic lights that are photo enforced. So if you don’t want your picture taken and pay a hefty fine, please be aware of these cameras and drive carefully.

There are many places along Florida’s Space Coast that offer beach access, but some require a fee to park. If you want to save yourself some money, visit the beaches and parks that are FREE. Check out our Space Coast area map and look for the Free Parking symbol.

If you want to support the local economy, frequent the businesses or restaurants in the area, which in most cases do not charge for parking and also have beach access. Cocoa Beach is at the top of the list for charging beach access fees, with Indialantic coming in a close second. There are 3 places in Cocoa Beach that do offer free parking:

• North Lori Wilson Park
• South Lori Wilson Park
• 16th Street South

There are a few limited spots in downtown Cocoa Beach along the main highway (A1A) as well. If you want to visit and spend the day at the Cocoa Beach Pier, you can park 4 short blocks north for free and walk down on the beach to the pier.

There are beaches and parks that provide facilities. Check out the map for those that offer bathrooms and showers for washing away all the sand, before getting back into your vehicle. For local surfers, who take advantage of the beaches with facilities, it is a refreshing finish to several hours in the waves.

Another option for washing away the sand and cooling your feet before getting back into your vehicle — pack a few jugs of water.

If you want to watch some of the best local surfing, there are a couple of areas you should watch from. Although on good days you will find surfers just about anywhere along the coast, there are a couple of hot spots that attract the best.

To the north in Cape Canaveral is Cherie Down Park. In Cocoa Beach, it’s the Cocoa Beach Pier. South in the Patrick Air Base area is a place called 2nd Light and at the end of Brevard County is Sebastian Inlet.

Kite surfing has taken hold in the area and when the wind is up, Cape Canaveral Beach and the South side of Cocoa Beach 520 Causeway are the two places of note. You’ll also find wind surfers along the causeway as well.