NEW SMYRNA BEACH
Where
New Smyrna Beach’s Flagler Avenue Park, set at the heart of the city, is located at 201 Buenos Aires St, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169. Other area beaches include Canaveral National Seashore, Smyrna Dunes Park, Mary McLeod Bethune Beach Park, and Marianne Clancy Park. The Volusia County Florida Beaches app provides real-time information on beach parks, lifeguard stations, drive-on ramps, access points, restrooms and park features.
Vibe
Laid back surfing hub set in a charming, historic town with a vibrant artist community.
See, feel
When you drive under the cheerful, arched Flagler Avenue sign that marks the beach entrance, you’ll be greeted by a wide beach carpeted with golden-brown, hard-packed sand. The water ranges from a turquoise hue to the deepest blue, depending on its mood, and almost always is rolling with waves, which vary depending on tides, the wind, and offshore systems. Atop those waves, you’ll almost always see surfers. Kids splashing in the ocean, couples walking on the beach, groups of friends and families are typical visitors. The backdrop is dunes and low-slung buildings.
On or near the beach
Soaking up the sun and swimming are popular, but if you’re yearning for more activity, New Smyrna delivers. Take a walk by the waves on the hard-packed sand, or rent a beach cruiser for a relaxing pedal. Surfing is a way of life in New Smyrna, and you can join in the excitement with a lesson from Surfin’ NSB. Fishing is another tradition, with New Smyrna Beach holding reign as the ‘Redfish Capital of the World.’ Surf fishing yields pompano, flounder, redfish, bluefish, whiting and mackerel. Iconic Flagler Avenue spans just five blocks from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway, brimming with one-of-a-kind shops, eateries, and galleries.
Accessibility
You can drive on the beach from the Flager Beach access, so it's easy to get your gear out to where you want to go. Free Beach wheelchairs are available for use at the Flagler Avenue lifeguard station. Here’s information, including a map, about public parking lots (with ADA parking noted) and driving beach access.
Facilities
Pavilion, restrooms, picnic tables, benches and beach showers. Located at the Flagler Beach approach, Harvey’s Beach Rentals provides beach chairs, umbrellas and tables.
Lifeguards
Yes, year round
Parking
Flagler Avenue Park offers both beach driving and off-beach parking, with the latter at 201 Buenos Aires St, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169. Here’s information, including a map, about public parking lots and driving beach access. Here’s a list of off-beach parking, including costs.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT NEW SMYRNA BEACH
Q. Where is New Smyrna Beach?
A. On the Atlantic in Volusia County, south of Daytona Beach, on a barrier island that starts at Ponce de Leon Inlet and runs south toward the Canaveral National Seashore boundary. City Hall is at 210 Sams Ave.
Two things shape a day here more than anything else: which parking system you are dealing with, and whether the stretch of sand you pick allows cars on it. Both are covered below.
Q. There seem to be two different parking systems. What is the difference?
A. There are. The city and the county run separate operations, and a pass for one is not valid for the other.
The City of New Smyrna Beach operates five beachfront parking lots. Each vehicle in one needs an NSB parking permit or pays the daily fee of $20, charged from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kiosks at all five lots take Visa, Mastercard and cash, and each lot posts signs with a QR code and a text-to-pay option. The city is also rolling out PayByPhone for daily parking. Here’s where you can see the city's parking FAQs.
Volusia County charges separately to drive onto the sand, and for its own off-beach lots. Passes are sold through Park Volusia.
Q. Where are the five city lots?
A. Spread along the beachfront from the north end to the south:
Grayce K. Barck North Beach Community Park, 1100 N. Atlantic Ave. Esther Street Beachfront Park, 551 Esther St. The Flagler Avenue Boardwalk, 210 Buenos Aires St. Marianne Clancy Park, 901 S. Atlantic Ave. And 27th Avenue Beachfront Park, 3701 S. Atlantic Ave.
One annual permit covers all five. Volusia County residents get the city pass free with proof of residency, and non-residents pay $100 a year. The $100 nonresident annual permit is prorated to $50 after July 1. Holders of a disabled parking permit park at no charge and do not need a pass at all. Apply online or in person at the New Smyrna Beach Police Department, 246 Industrial Park Ave.; the parking enforcement office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Details are on the city's parking pass page.
Q. What does it cost to drive on the beach?
A. Volusia County charges $30 for a day of on-beach driving, or $150 for an annual visitor pass. Its off-beach lots are $20 daily or $100 for the year. County residents pay nothing for either once they register online.
Anyone with verified permanent or temporary disabled parking documentation gets no-cost beach driving, no-cost parking in county off-beach lots and free entry to the inlet parks. Buy passes and check the current rules on the county's beach driving and parking page.
Q. Can I drive on the sand everywhere?
A. No. Driving is allowed only in designated areas, and large stretches of the New Smyrna Beach shoreline are walk-on only. If you want sand without traffic, use one of the city lots and walk over.
Where driving is allowed, park on the seaward side of the conservation zone. Your vehicle must not cross beyond the conservation zone markers, and posted speed limits apply on the sand the same as on a road. Ramps open and close with the tide and with conditions.
Q. Are there lifeguards?
A. Yes. Volusia County Beach Safety staffs the beach here, with coverage that expands through the summer and contracts outside it. Towers are daytime only.
Swim near a staffed tower. Away from one, and outside staffed hours, you are swimming at your own risk. Watch the posted beach warning flags. The daily beach flag warning can be found on New Smyrna’s base towers, each county beachfront park, all beach approaches, its four lifeguard stations and the mobile app.
Q. Why is the surfing here so well known?
A. Geography, and specifically the inlet. Ponce de Leon Inlet sits at the north end of the island, and the tidal flow through it moves sand constantly, building and rebuilding sandbars along the beach below it. Sandbars are what turn open ocean swell into a rideable wave, so this stretch picks up surf on days when flatter beaches elsewhere get nothing.
The practical effect for a swimmer is the same feature working against you. The water near the inlet and the jetty is deeper, the current runs harder, and it is not the place to put small children in the water. Move south, down the open beach, and swim near a tower.
Q. What is the water like otherwise?
A. The Atlantic has more waves than the Gulf side of the state, not simply more variety. Surf is a normal part of a day here rather than an exception. Conditions change daily, and rip currents can occur even when the ocean appears calm.
If a rip current takes you away from shore, swim parallel to the beach until the pull releases rather than fighting straight back in. Signal a lifeguard if a tower is staffed near you, and call 911 in an emergency. Conditions are never guaranteed calm, whatever the forecast says.
Q. What is on Flagler Avenue?
A. It is the beachside main street and the busiest way onto the sand. The avenue runs down to a boardwalk and beach approach, with restaurants, bars and shops along the few blocks behind it, so it is the one access where you can park, swim and eat without moving the car.
Canal Street, back on the mainland, is the city's other walkable district, with its own restaurants. The area has a Saturday farmers market at 210 Sams Ave., in front of City Hall. It is not on the beach.
Q. Can I bring my dog?
A. Not onto the main Atlantic beach. In New Smyrna Beach the one place dogs are permitted is Smyrna Dunes Park at the north tip of the island, on the inlet side.
Dogs must be leashed at all times on a leash no longer than six feet, they are not allowed in the wildlife areas, and you clean up after them. The county's dogs on the beach page lists every permitted location in the county.
Q. Is the beach accessible?
A. Partly, and the provision is concentrated at one spot. Beach wheelchairs are free at the Flagler Avenue lifeguard station, first come and first served, checked out from the lifeguard for a couple of hours depending on the waiting list. The supply is limited, so arrive early rather than mid-afternoon.
Vehicles displaying a displaying a handicap insignia in their vehicles will be permitted to park adjacent to the east side of the established traffic lanes. Vehicles with a handicapped ID are admitted to the beach free. The county's beach information for the disabled page has the full picture.
Q. What about sea turtles?
A. Nesting season in Volusia County runs May 1 through Oct. 31, and New Smyrna Beach leads the county in nest counts, so the rules matter more here than almost anywhere else on this coast.
Keep lights off the beach after dark. Use a red, low-watt flashlight if you need one, and dim your phone. Leave nests and their markers alone, fill in any holes you dig, knock down sandcastles, and take chairs and gear off the sand overnight, since a hatchling can be stopped by any of it. The county's sea turtle page has the local rules.
