ADVENTURE | FLORIDA
ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE McCARTHY
Sleep at …
The area attracts a lot of families, who stay by the beach in the strip of three-star hotels and inns at Cocoa Beach. “We don’t have any four-star properties as such,” admits Bonnie King of the Space Coast office of tourism, “but we have a lot of very good three-stars.” Their website visitspacecoast.com is a great place to start planning your visit. When the space shuttle
Board meeting, below, local Phil Turner heads to the surf at Cocoa Beach. The Space Coast boasts 120 kilometres of beaches.
programme was shut down in 2011, the area took a big economic hit. “There isn’t a family around here that didn’t have someone working for the space programme,” says Marcia Gaedcke, president of the chamber of commerce at Titusville. Now, the region is trying to persuade more people to turn east towards the Space Coast when they arrive in Orlando, rather than heading west to the theme parks and Disneyworld. They also want to cater to the thousands of cruise passengers who head to Canaveral Port to board Disney, Carnival, Norwegian Lines and Royal Caribbean cruise ships. They have settled on the slogan “Orlando’s closest beaches”, and it’s a good one. This is the place for an all-American family beach holiday, especially if Dad is a space nerd. Just make sure you bring your first-aid kit.
AER LINGUS FLIES FROM DUBLIN TO ORLANDO THREE TIMES WEEKLY.
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The Space Coast does not have any four or five-star hotels. The accommodation is aimed mainly at families on beach holidays. You could try The Inn at Cocoa Beach, an independently run, European-style hotel close to the beach, behind Ron Jon’s surf shop. Rooms from $125 per night. (4300 Ocean Beach Boulevard, Cocoa Beach, +1 321 799 3460; theinnatcocoabeach.com) A little further south is the Hilton, which is comfortable without being fancy. It’s right on the beach and has a nice pool deck and bar. Rooms from $119 per night. (1550 North Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, +1 321 799 0003; hilton.com) If you want to stay a little closer to the port and the Kennedy Space Center, the Marriott Courtyard, above, at Cape Canaveral is a lively, family-style hotel with a good pool and restaurant. Rooms from $129 per night. (3435 North Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, +1 321 784 4800; marriott.com) You could also try renting a condo or a villa. The area has well over 1,000 rental properties. Three-bedroom units cost roughly $500 per week in low season. Try vacationhomerentals.com or holidayrentals.com.