Cocoa Beach and Pier

Cocoa Beach is a rugged beach with hard-packed sand near the shore. People can even ride their bikes on the sand! Surfers enjoy waves by the pier and beginners can learn on the waves further south down the beach. Ron Jon Surf School offers some fun two-hour group lessons at the beach for a reasonable price. This is the home town of world champion surfer Kelly Slater so it makes sense to have a surf lesson here!

It can be quite hazy and windy at Cocoa Beach, and the water murky rather than clear. But this is a popular beach and there's a fun atmosphere at the shore.
The pier is quite low over the sand, with cross bars, so it's not easy to sit under it in the middle of the day for shade like you can at other Florida beaches. 
The pier and its restaurants have had better days- it is pretty depressing to eat there. There is a charge to go to the tip of the pier (free if you get a receipt from a restaurant you ate at). The town itself is dowdy and has awful 1960s architecture, though the retirees are very friendly. The restaurants we've eaten at in the town have been of low quality.
This beach is polluted, as Florida beaches go. There are nicer beaches if you head north or south, away from the port. 
At night the pier looks pretty, lit up. After your swim or surf, eat a meal nearby in Cocoa Beach town. For a prettier spot, but a much longer drive, eat in Cocoa Village, on the river. While in the area, make sure you check out the expensive but well-worth-it Kennedy Space Center. 
Also on the Space Coast is Brevard Zoo, which is in a gorgeous jungle and is a pure joy to walk around!

Directions

Exit Highway 95 at Highway 528 and head toward the ocean for 15 miles. It becomes Highway 1A/Atlantic Ave. Turn left on E. Cocoa Beach Causeway and follow it to the end. There is a large free beach parking lot on your right.
Ron Jon Surf School, 150 E. Columbia Lane  Cocoa Beach, FL 32931, call (321) 868-1980.

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