Cocoa Beach, Florida

Hey Wanderers!

We got the opportunity to travel out of the area at the beginning of last September to Cocoa Beach, Florida. We were longing to just get away to the beach! 

When we are able to get away on a vacation like this then we use a company called Resorts Condominiums International (RCI). We own a timeshare which my husband Scott purchased from a friend a long time ago for a song. He made the purchase and then took over the maintenance fees.  Our actual timeshare location is Canaan Valley, West Virginia. It is a great area to ski in the winter and hike in the summer. The week that we own is in March which is the end of the ski season, a time which could be very snowy or, more likely than not, wet, cold, and muddy. We usually bank our time which means we can then use the week another time and place in the network. Maintenance fees have increased a lot over the years; but, for now, we are still involved and enjoy having a condo when we stay a week.  

So The Resort on Cocoa Beach is right on the beach!

We exited a door from a hallway off the main lobby to the beach. It is always ever so nice to get to stay right on the beach! Our condo looked sideways with a sideways glance view of the beach. It had two bedrooms and a full kitchen. That means one of our girls sleeps on the pullout couch which, so far, has worked out just fine for us. We love a full kitchen so that the majority of our meals we just make there for the week. That involves a grocery store run soon after arrival and check-in. We pick and choose a few meals to eat out. We also usually have a washer and dryer which we especially appreciated to get out bathing suits dry for next use. 

Cocoa Beach has a lot to offer. The Space Center often launches rockets that you can see from the beach. There just happened to be no rocket launches the week we were there. We considered the Space Center grounds and museum briefly. I am sure it would have been very interesting and educational and opened our minds and created memories too. But, our girls are not particularly fascinated with rockets and space. We were there for the beach and the pool. We opted not to spend our time and money there that week.

Cocoa Beach area is also known for manatees. It was also the wrong week (first week of September) to see manatees. We did seek out a beach where we might find them as a long shot but got kind of lost trying. It is also an area where you can see and appreciate sea turtles and their nesting and eggs. But, once again, wrong time of year for that.

A family member, who had frequented the area in the past, told us about a peacock beach! We searched and found a neighborhood with peacocks to our delight! The neighbors said sometimes the peacocks wander onto the beach in the early morning or sunset time. We did enjoy the ones we saw when we were there at midday! 

We visited a park where we thought we would see a lot of variety of birds that we are unaccustomed to in Pennsylvania. Also, there was supposed to be a pier to enjoy. We arrived early afternoon to discover there was a larger parking/entrance fee than we had imagined. When you divide by five (number in our family,) the fee was not too bad, I guess, if we had a arrived at a good time (probably earlier) in the day. We opted out and took a drive instead that seemed promising for bird sightings. We found an upscale neighborhood with a number of beach birds to our delight! We never found a park-like wildlife area that we thought we might find. Maybe we are just bad at finding things. It was extremely hot away from the water’s edge and our mini-van’s air conditioning was not working at one hundred percent. That is an excuse, I guess; but, believe me, we were starting to melt!  

Now stick with me! You can see that Cocoa Beach has a lot to offer although we did not get to enjoy it all that one short week that we were there (good reasons to re-visit). It is interesting to realize that all families are different and in different seasons of growing too. It is important to try to honor your own family dynamic. What one family embraces and loves may not be right for another family. We were recommended to a particular restaurant. Sounded nice! We did find its location. Also, you could see the cruise ships, that come and go from there, up-close and personal. Interesting to realize how truly big they are! We could also see them out aways from our resort beach. Well, upon arriving to the restaurant, it was very busy so there would be a wait. Not too bad! But, as we approached, we noticed a band playing. Sounds nice, right? But, it was to difficult for us to communicate with each other. We proceeded to look at the menu. We noticed meals that we would not all like to eat for a more extravagant price than we were looking and hoping for. We all decided to bail and told them politely that we changed our minds. 

So, we sought out another restaurant that had been recommended to us at the pool. We thought we had seen it that day; so, we headed that way. It was called Squid Lips! Upon arrival, we saw a koi pond with koi fish. They look a lot like very large gold fish. The pond also had turtles. This simple thing welcomed and delighted us as we crossed a little bridge to get to the front door of the restaurant. Approaching the front desk, we saw some friendly merchandise that we enjoyed perusing. It was quiet in there. (a little music in the background over the sound system) We looked at the menu and found a variety of things we all liked, especially some nice seafood choices and other things for the whole family, at much more reasonable, family-friendly prices (although still a splurge for us). We were seated at a window overlooking the water. It was cooler inside– very needed and refreshing for us. They had outdoor seating with water spray mists in place. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals with very friendly and helpful service. We were able to talk to each other during eating.

And, the bathrooms were very pleasant and well kept. After dinner, we ventured out to their pier and enjoyed the view and took pics! On the way out, we enjoyed the fish pond again and indulged in feeding them from some pay-feeders they had. A very different dynamic than the other restaurant and just right for us. 

Another day, ventured out to Cocoa Beach Pier. It was very hot! There are a number activities to sign up for or enjoy the beach there. They had small gift shops and some dining options. But, we walked as far as we could out the pier, enjoyed the view, took pics, glanced in a few shops which were air-conditioned and scurried back to our minivan.

My daughter wanted to enjoy a Waffle House. They are a chain restaurant but we don’t see a lot of them where we are from. We had a nice meal more affordably than other options. A brunch meal while you are traveling can be a very affordable, pleasant option for eating out for family. 

Early in the week, we visited a huge beach department store called Ron Jon Surf Shop. We did not know about it, but, it is quite popular. It was fun to shop around and see all that they had to offer. It was quite an experience all by itself! 

Otherwise, we enjoyed the beach! We went out multiple days and multiple varieties of times. We got waves that were so fun to enjoy and another time waves too strong where a storm was brewing out at sea. We took pics, enjoyed the sand, water, and people watching. We even decided to watch the sunrise on the beach. So we got up super early (very unlike us). It was slower and less dramatic than I thought it would be but still very beautiful, leaving good memories. We dealt with some extra bugs as I recall. Some flies did not want to leave us alone after the sun was risen. We did not like that but we did enjoy seeing some small crabs on the beach and very small lizards on the boardwalk from the resort to the beach.

When we were not on the beach, we were at the pool. It was a very fun pool with a fountain and lily-pad-type shape. Our girls love their pool time. We also enjoyed access to a hot tub a couple of times.

A couple of rainy and stormy times, we enjoyed a resort game room. We splurged a little to play arcade games we usually always pass on, table pool, and some vending machines. Another time, the two older girls and I enjoyed a complimentary movie in a theater room at the resort while our youngest baked cookies at the condo with her daddy. We enjoyed the condo down time to regroup and relax in between all of our bigger fun. 

Cocoa beach is a great destination for the family! There are a lot of options and variety to enjoy! We probably just skimmed the surface. We, as a family, like to slow down and enjoy things in our own way and timing.

In case you were wandering!