A Different Kind of Florida Coast
The Atlantic Coast of Florida is not the Gulf Coast. The water is darker and deeper, the waves have real energy, and the beaches face east, which means they catch the sunrise rather than the sunset. Jackson Laurie has always found the Atlantic side of Florida more bracing, more awake, less inclined toward the languor that the Gulf Coast encourages. It is a coast that rewards early risers.
The Atlantic Coast runs from Fernandina Beach at the Georgia border all the way south to Miami Beach, a distance of roughly 580 miles. It passes through some of the most varied coastline in Florida: the quiet, historic barrier islands of the northeast, the broad, flat beaches of the Space Coast, the wealthy enclaves of Palm Beach County, and the dense, international energy of Miami Beach. No other stretch of Florida's shoreline contains as much variety.
Amelia Island and the Northeast
Amelia Island, at the very top of Florida's Atlantic Coast, is one of the most underrated destinations in the state. It has a genuine historic downtown in Fernandina Beach, with Victorian architecture and a working waterfront, and its beaches are wide and uncrowded. The island sits at the southern end of the Sea Islands chain, and it has a quality of light in the late afternoon that Jackson Laurie has always found particularly good for photography.
South of Amelia Island, the coast passes through Jacksonville Beach and the Ponte Vedra area before arriving at St. Augustine, which is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. The beach at St. Augustine is wide and accessible, and the old city itself is worth a full day of exploration. The Castillo de San Marcos, the old city gates, and the narrow streets of the historic district are a reminder that Florida has a history that predates the theme parks and the retirement communities by several centuries.
The Space Coast
The Space Coast, centered on Cocoa Beach and the Kennedy Space Center, is one of the more unusual stretches of Florida coastline. The beaches here are wide and exposed, with a surf culture that is genuine rather than performed. Ron Jon Surf Shop has been here since 1963, and the waves, while not Hawaiian, are real enough to attract serious surfers from across the Southeast.
Canaveral National Seashore, just north of Cocoa Beach, is one of the longest undeveloped stretches of Atlantic coastline remaining in Florida. It exists because the Kennedy Space Center required a buffer zone, and that buffer zone turned out to be one of the most valuable pieces of coastal wilderness in the state. The beach at Canaveral is wide and wild, with sea turtle nesting grounds and a bird life that reflects the proximity of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
"The Atlantic Coast faces east. It catches the sunrise, and in the early morning, before the heat arrives, it is as beautiful as any coastline in Florida."
Palm Beach and the Gold Coast
Palm Beach is not a typical Florida beach town. It is a barrier island of extraordinary wealth, with a main street lined with designer boutiques and a beach that is immaculately maintained and surprisingly uncrowded given the density of development nearby. The town has a formality to it that is unusual in Florida, a sense that appearances matter and that the standards of a certain kind of American life are being maintained here with considerable effort.
South of Palm Beach, the Gold Coast runs through Fort Lauderdale and into Miami Beach. Fort Lauderdale has reinvented itself over the past two decades from a spring break destination into a genuinely sophisticated city with a strong arts scene and a waterfront that is among the most attractive in Florida. Miami Beach, at the southern end of the Atlantic Coast, is its own world: an Art Deco district, an international crowd, a nightlife that runs until morning, and a beach that is, despite everything, still beautiful.