Things To Do in Daytona Beach

The beautiful and hard-packed beach here runs for 24 miles along a skinny peninsula separated from the mainland by the Halifax River. The bustling hub of activity is at the end of Main Street, where you’ll find the Daytona Beach Boardwalk & Pier, a 1,000-foot wooden pier that has been around since 1925 even after being pummeled by several hurricane and tropical storms In 2023, it got a $1.56 million makeover that will hopefully extend its life another hundred years. Beginning at the pier, the city’s famous oceanside Boardwalk is lined with restaurants, bars, old school arcade, bait shop, and T-shirt shops, as are the 4 blocks of Main Street nearest the beach. The city’s $400-million Ocean Walk Shoppes redevelopment project begins here and runs several blocks north, featuring a movie theater, boutiques, and restaurants.

Just north and across the street from the Boardwalk and Ocean Walk Shoppes, is the Daytona Lagoon waterpark, 601 Earl St. (tel. 386/254-5020),  with waterslides, go-karts, bumper carts, and all sorts of theme-parky activities. Admission ranges from $20 to $50. Just  south of the Boardwalk on A1A, are some sky-high thrill rides at the aptly named Screamer’s Park, where rides like The Slingshot, which propels you 365 feet into the air at 70 miles per hour, are open seven days a week, 365 days a year. Have fun with that.

There’s another busy beach area at the end of Seabreeze Boulevard, known as the Seabreeze Historic District or Seabreeze Entertainment District, which has a multitude of restaurants, bars, and shops.

Folks seeking privacy usually prefer the northern or southern extremities of the beach. Ponce Inlet, at the very southern tip of the peninsula, is especially peaceful, as there is little commerce or traffic to disturb the silence. Lighthouse Point Park, 500 S. Atlantic Ave., is the best beach, consisting of 52 acres of pristine beaches on the northern end of Ponce Inlet. It features fishing, nature trails, an observation deck and tower, swimming, and picnicking. Admission is $10 per vehicle.

Driving on the Beach at Daytona

You can drive and park on sections of the sand along 18 miles of the beach from 1 hour after sunrise to 1 hour before sunset. During sea-turtle nesting season, May 1 to October 31, driving hours are from 8am to 7pm. Traffic lanes and speed limits are clearly marked at low tide, but watch for signs warning of nesting sea turtles. There’s a $20-per-day, per-vehicle access fee and 10-mph speed limit. Windows must be down for safety. Watch out for the tides. If you park at low tide and lose track of time, your vehicle may become an artificial reef at high tide!