The annual family vacation is a time-honored tradition, one that should be protected and continued. Families change, growing larger, growing smaller, and often growing apart, so this week of beauty, fun, and excitement during a family-friendly journey to Cocoa Beach will help build memories that tighten those loosened family bonds. Today, we at Stay In Cocoa Beach are providing a Cocoa Beach family vacation guide to adventures that can be enjoyed all around the Cocoa Beach area that will appeal to everyone in your family, especially the parts where you come home to relax and play in our family-friendly sanctuaries!
Day 1: Minigolf in Cocoa Beach
Lighthouse Cove, 3811 N Atlantic Avenue, is one of our favorite places to go when we are looking for a fun night out with our family, and we think you will appreciate its charm as well. Open daily from 10 AM until 11 PM and offering two courses, Paradise Falls and Lost Lagoon, they also feature a small café (Dune Dog) offering beer and wine for the over 21 golfers, plus an ice cream shop, 3 Scoops, for a frosty treat everyone will love!
Day 2: Keep Your Eyes on the Stars on Merritt Island
The space race is still ongoing, and you can experience where it all started all those years ago with a visit to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex. Located at Space Commerce Way on Merritt Island and offering a peek into the past, present, and all that we have to look forward to in the stars in the future, this family friendly activity blows all other activities out of the water! Offering special events that include meeting real live astronauts, a Rocket Garden where actual rockets from times past are “planted,” and the opportunity to see launches that light up the sky and which roars can be heard across the island, we can’t recommend a better family adventure.
Day 3: The Family Who Fishes Together in Melbourne
The family who fishes together in Melbourne has an incredibly fun time, and guests can choose to do it from the Melbourne Beach Pier, Indian River Lagoon State Park, or they can hire a local captain to take them on a fishing expedition they will never forget. Southern Thunder Fishing Charters offers half- and whole-day inshore and offshore charters that never fail to ensure that your family will be enjoying a nice grilled fish dinner at least one night of your stay. They can be reached by phone to set up a charter.
Day 4: Beach Days in Indian Harbour
A day at the beach never gets old, and as many of our Stay In Cocoa Beach vacation rentals offer the larger gear you need—chairs, umbrellas, coolers, etc.—all you will need to bring is your inner child, ready to experience this toes-in-the-sand experience. Bicentennial Beach Park in Indian Harbour is one of our favorite beaches, offering picnic areas, a small playground, restrooms, and great spots for fishing. Your happiest moments may be the ones spent building sandcastles with your toddlers (Pro tip: The sand to water ratio should be eight parts sand to one part water.), but if your children are older, a beach day is also the perfect time to catch up on your reading, work on your tan, and sip frosty margaritas you prepared in your home sweet vacation home.
Day 5: Rainy Days and Dinosaurs in Cocoa Beach
A little rain must fall, and in Florida it may fall more than in other places, but if you are patient, all you need to do is wait a bit and the sun will be shining again. On those days where the rain doesn’t want to go away, however, a visit to the Dinosaur Store, 250 W Cocoa Beach Causeway, can make you forget about the extra moisture. Kids are fascinated with dinosaurs, and we have to say we adults find them intriguing as well, and the Dinosaur Store offers a comprehensive peek into their existence, providing a Hall of Dinosaurs filled with cast skeletons, authentic fossils, and dinosaurs that look as they must have in their natural habitat all those millions of years ago.
Day 6: A Walk on the Wild Side in Melbourne
In our own family travels, we have discovered that visiting zoos in different parts of the world is always a fascinating and fun experience, and Brevard Zoo, located at 8225 N Wickham Road in Melbourne, is destined to add an extra sparkle to your family journey. Offering 75 acres of animal habitat and more than 800 species of animals, they also provide adventure courses, kayaking tours, and animal encounters where you may be able to feed the animal you are encountering. Currently, their newest encounters involve sloths, feeding stingrays and kangaroos, but the really cool thing about this place is that they are always continuing to add new adventures!
Day 7: Going Coconuts in Cocoa Beach
After a day filled with family adventures, the last thing you will feel like doing is cooking a meal, but families with young children may often worry about dining out with kids. Fortunately, Coconuts on the Beach, 2 Minutemen Causeway, is a laidback restaurant offering live music, a wood deck that looks out over the sea, and the best conch fritters in the area. Plus, they love kids! And as the sun sets on another beautiful day in paradise, coming home to Stay In Cocoa Beach will be your best reward. Reach out to us and reserve your favorite vacation rental in Cocoa Beach today!
