This is a great beach in Port Canaveral with fishing, camping, snack bar and rocket launches.
Cruise ship departures to watch. Check the schedules from Port Canaveral, normally two or three ships sail on Sunday’s and Thursdays including Disney’s Wonder. The ships usually sail between 4-6 pm. You can watch from your car or on the beach. The ports getting bigger so there will be even more opportunities.
Check out the observation deck above the snack bar. It was added after the last hurricane, so climb up for a great view of the beach and harbor.
Jetty Park has lots of parking along the harbor. You can sit in your car or use a nearby picnic site. After a day on the beach, we like to grill here and watch the cruise ships. We’ve even seen a submarine going into the naval station at the south end of Kennedy Space Center.Ron Jon resort in cocoa beach (Port Canaveral) shares the beach with Jetty Park Beach.
Jetty Park Beach Amenities
Life guards, restrooms, snack bar, bait shop, break wall fishing, camping, picnic area, campground store, board walk…another great place to spend the day. There are also several restaurants in the Cove. See Cocoa Beach Restaurants under Port Canaveral restaurants.Picnic Area and grills are available in the park. The camp ground store usually has hot dogs, chips charcoal and condiments. They sell beer and pop at the bait store and you can get other supplies at the nearby campground store. So even if you didn’t plan on staying, you can always make some last minute plans and grill some hot dogs for dinner.
Camping - The campground here is a bit rustics, but it’s about as close as your going to get to the beach. If you camp here, you're here for the beach or fishing is what you do. If you’re thinking of camping here for a rocket launches, better make your reservation well in advance.
Fishing the break wall at Jetty Park Beach is a popular spot for the locals. The bait shop seems to have the necessities. I think they even rent fishing poles for beach fishing or casting off the break wall.
Watch Rocket Launches at Jetty Park Beach
Rocket launch days get pretty crowded here, especially the manned launches. Those who watch from here agree that it’s the best place to watch a launch other than Kennedy Space Center. I’ve seen two launches from Jetty Park Beach and one from Titusville. Titusville is a little closer.The streak of smoke is the space shuttle, your closer than the picture looks and the rumble you hear a few seconds after launch is really cool. Jetty Park Beach is the closest beach to Kennedy Space center. It’s probably 10 miles to the launch pad. If you want to get closer to the launch you can go downtown Titusville or onto the causeway which heads from Titusville to the National Sea Shore. Personally I’d rather relax on the beach while waiting for the launch. Whichever option you choose, plan to spend the day.
On a side note, you may also consider the National Sea Shore, which now stays open during launches.
- Other things to do nearby Jetty Park Beach:
- Port Canaveral Cove Restaurants are about a mile east, see Cocoa Beach for details
- Cocoa Beach Pier is a couple miles south.
- Parasailing boat sales from the Port Canaveral Cove, about 1 mile east
- Cocoa Beach Florida, see the Cocoa Beach page for a bunch of other stuff
- Kennedy Space Center, is about 15 minutes north
- Sun Cruz Casino Ship and Sterling Casinos Ships about 1 mile east in Port Canaveral Florida
- Playalinda Beach in the National Sea Shore is about 40 minutes North
