The Top Five Beaches to Watch a Space Shuttle Launch
October 01, 2009
It’s only the most spectacular event this side of the galaxy. I’m talking about a Kennedy Space Center space shuttle launch, a miracle you can only watch in the Sunshine State. Here are my five favorite beaches to watch it from.
1. Parrish Park in Titusville is smack-dab across the Indian River from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and you can see clearly across the water to both launch pads 39A & 39B. In this 36-acre playground, you can fish, sunbathe, jet-ski, water-ski, windsurf, bird watch, spot dolphin and manatee, kayak, canoe and swim (shoreline, unguarded). Its amenities include picnic shelters, restrooms, boardwalk, fishing pier and boat ramps.Spaceview Park and Sand Point Park are other great locations to view launches from in Titusville. Though they both offer activities, they do not offer swimming, so you can’t really call them beaches. All of the aforementioned areas are outside of the NASA property and are free to the public.
2. Play Frisbee on the sand, ride a boogie board, surf the waves, be moved to tears when the shuttle shakes off the surly bonds of gravity at Jetty Park, south of Kennedy Space Station. This is the closest Atlantic beach you can watch a shuttle launch from (13.8 miles from it to Pad 39A). I like to get a spot out on the pier about 45 minutes beforehand and listen to the countdown on the radio while I watch cruise ships sailing in and out of the inlet to Port Canaveral and para-sails flying high above the action.
3. Cocoa Beach is just a hop, skip and a stretch of sand south of Jetty Park. You can fish, surf, check out Ron Jons or just catch some rays until launch time rolls around. Here’s a great video that highlights some of the activities you can enjoy at Jetty Park as well as at Cocoa Beach. Be forewarned: You can’t see the launch pad from either Cocoa Beach or Jetty Park, and you won’t see the shuttle until after lift off. The main draw to these locations is being able to play in the ocean before the launch – and during it, if you’d like.
4. Kelly Park in Merritt Island happens to be just across the river from Cape Canaveral. The park offers picnic areas, playground, restrooms and pavilions, swimming and boating. You can learn how to windsurf or wade in the shallow Banana River while you wait for the launch. You won’t see the shuttle until after it lifts off there – unless you rent a kayak from Calema Windsurfing and Watersports and paddle out for a better view. Another option is catching a lift into the river on their catamaran. How cool would that be?
5. Just pull up a patch of sand where the Beach Line (also known as State Road 528) crosses over the Banana River. Hang out, sunbathe or wade – and snag a good view of the launch, including the liftoff. Where the Beach Line crosses the Indian River provides a similar vantage point.
Don’t care about getting your toes wet and just want to see the shuttle launch up-close-and-personal? The NASA causeway at KSC is the best and closest place to do it. The view is awesome over the water and the pad is only 6.5 to 7.5 miles away. However, tickets are required and they sell out faster than ice cream melts on a Sunshine State sidewalk in July. The next space shuttle launch is scheduled for Nov. 12. For the full shuttle schedule at Kennedy Space Center, visit the center's web site.
