Canaveral National Seashore Beaches

Overview: Canaveral National Seashore is a remote beach that is divided into three sections for purposes of access. It comprises more than 30 miles of completely undeveloped Atlantic coastline, much of it with very limited access. Vehicles are NOT allowed on the beaches of Canaveral National Seashore.

The southern access, known as Playalinda Beach, is reached by crossing Merritt Island National Wildlife refuge from Titusville. The photo above was taken at Playalinda Beach looking north from access #12.

The northern access, known as Apollo Beach, is reached by driving south on A1A from New Smyrna Beach and is located in Volusia County. See the New Smyrna Beach section of this web site.

Although there is an unpaved road that runs behind the dunes from Playalinda to Apollo Beach, it is not open to the public, so you can’t drive the length of the entire seashore. The entire beach is open however, so you can walk on the beach as far as you like. You can also ride a bike on the beach, but I’m not sure it is firm enough for good bike riding; perhaps at low tide. This very remote area between Playalinda Beach and Apollo Beach is known as Klondike Beach and stretches for about 23 miles or so. Wow!

Comparing Apollo Beach to Playalinda Beach:

• Playalinda Beach is accessed from the Titusville/Cape Canaveral area (Brevard County).
• Apollo Beach is accessed from New Smyrna Beach (Volusia County).
• Playalinda Beach is more remote than Apollo Beach. You have to drive through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to get to Playalinda. Apollo Beach is at the southern end of New Smyrna Beach. It’s still a very remote beach and both are adjacent to and separated by the more than 20 mile stretch of wilderness beach known as Klondike beach.