The Space Coast provides the ultimate in adventures for travelers, providing an array of small towns that all come together to celebrate the miracle of the sea, the beaches, and of course, explorations of space and if this is your first visit to Indian Harbour Beach, you are about to join that celebration. Originally founded to provide housing for the workers that were employed by the space industry, today it is a peaceful and serene area that also just happens to be where many of our Happy Palm Stays vacation sanctuaries are located. Today’s ultimate first-time visitor guide to everything that makes Indian Harbour Beach “The Greatest Little City in Florida!” will give you a preview of the excitement, fun, and comfort you will enjoy during your inaugural visit to the Space Coast!
The Beach Is the Word
If this is your first time to Florida, or just Indian Harbour Beach, we know that your first thing on your travel bucket list is toes in the sand time. The beaches of Indian Harbour Beach offer a beautiful tranquility, a wonderful vibe, and the sense that time has stopped as the ocean ebbs and flows. And because choices are important in life, your sandy adventures will have multiple locations in which to take place, you just have to choose the one that fits you best.
Bicentennial Beach Park in Indian Harbour Beach
Bicentennial Beach Park is more than just white sand and blue waters; it offers a variety of amenities that families will love. Picnic areas are set where visitors don’t have to worry about getting a little sand in their sandwiches and a playground provides another way to help tired parents eke out that list bit of extra energy their children has in spades. But even if you didn’t travel with the kids, this stretch of beach promises to be one where memories are made as you walk along shore’s edge in the bright new hours of the morn, not having to walk far to get here because you chose one of our Happy Palm Stays beachfront escapes!
Canova Dog Beach in Indialantic
As some of our Indian Harbour Beach retreats are pet friendly you may have traveled with your sweet little fur baby and you might have already discovered that most beaches do not allow dogs. We said most beaches, however, not all beaches and Canova Dog Beach, located in nearby Indialantic, Florida can be the answer to the question you haven’t asked yet. The only dog friendly beach in Brevard County, there are some rules attached to spending a day at the beach with your pup, including that they must be licensed and vaccinated. The beach itself offers waste bags if you forgot to bring your own, restrooms, water, picnic areas, and outside showers, ensuring that your day at the dog beach will be memorable and fun.
Area Attractions
Indian Harbour Beach lies on the Space Coast, just one of a selection of towns that owe their existence to the space race in the 60s, and their proximity allows travelers to explore all of the different towns and still come home to sleep in their Indian Harbour Beach sanctuary at the end of every day.
Banana River in Indian Harbour Beach
Not all water activities have to be ocean ones, especially as the Banana River flows through Indian Harbour Beach, offering a variety of activities that will hit differently simply because the vibe of river life does. Oars and Paddles Park, located at 1329 Banana River Drive, offers a variety of ways to explore the river, providing a floating boat launch for kayakers and canoers, both of which are our favorite ways to explore the river. Doubling as a manatee sanctuary, the chances of you coming across one of the gentle giants of the water world are high, but we ask you to admire them from afar. Manatees are an endangered species, not recognizing the threat that frolicking with humans can cause, so you must keep your distance but feel free to take as many pictures as you like. Your friends and family won’t be able to hide their envy when they see all the pictures you take during your Florida vacation, especially the parts you enjoyed during your kayak (or canoe) adventures with the lumbering manatees serving as the star attractions.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex, Space Commerce Way on Merritt Island
As you explore all that Indian Harbour has to offer, you must not forget to set aside at least one day to explore what we consider the heart of the Space Coast, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex located on nearby Merritt Island. Every movie you’ve seen about the space race, every story you have heard about those glorious days in the 1960s when our heroes showed off their bravery with the first tours of space, all of them began right here at the complex. Today, you can meet an astronaut, learn how to drive a space shuttle on a simulator, even walk through a garden of rockets, marveling at their immensity and your proximity to history. Tours of the complex are popular and if you time your vacation right, you may even get to witness a space launch yourself. The Kennedy Space Center website offers a schedule of all launches that are expected to occur each year, but even if you miss a launch just walking in the footsteps of America’s space heroes will still offer a thrill that will also make you the envy of all those who didn’t get the opportunity to visit themselves.
Area Events
There is something wonderful about attending a small town festival or event of any kind and if your first-time visit coincides with any of the events listed below, we can assure you that good times will be had and a greater understanding of what makes us tick in this part of the world. The ones listed below offer a good representation of all there is to offer in the area.
Space Coast Key Lime Pie Festival, February, Space Coast Daily Park in Viera
Although Florida has a new state dessert, strawberry shortcake, we Floridians know that Key Lime Pie best represents the taste of Florida and the Space Coast Key Lime Festival celebrates that wonderful fact. Offering two full days of family friendly activities, live music, children’s games, and all the Key Lime Pie you can eat, this festival just makes us happy. It is impossible to keep from smiling as you devour key lime treats of all types. Feel like eating more than your share of pies and treats? There are generally all sorts of fun things to eat at the festival and if you want to try your hand at baking a pie, your Happy Palm Stays vacation sanctuary in Indian Harbour offers a fully equipped kitchen that will make pie baking so very enjoyable.
Annual Strawberry Fest, March, Castle Park in Melbourne
Since strawberry shortcake is the state dessert, it makes sense that the Annual Strawberry Fest in Melbourne is a much loved event worth exploring during your first-time visit to the Space Coast. Offering everything you could want from a small town festival, including family fun, arts and crafts, and a petting farm, visitors can also expect pie eating and cutest baby contests, bounce houses and monster truck rides, and so much more you really need to attend to understand the scope of this charming festival. There’s even the world famous dog frisbee show that is guaranteed to make you wish the two days of the festival could last an entire week, and because everything is better with food and drink, food, beer, and wine vendors will be on hand to ensure you experience it all. It is the strawberries, however, that will have you planning a return visit in the following year, devouring them in all their glory, especially when their glory involves shortcake and whipped cream!
Crepes in Paris, Tacos in Tucson, and Good Southern Comfort Food in Indian Harbour Beach
Every vacation offers that one meal that represents the area you are visiting, creating memories with every bite, and filling your nights with the best food dreams and during your visit to Indian Harbour Beach, you may discover that it is our good old fashioned Southern home cooking that will become the star of the tales you tell upon your reentry to real life. The restaurants listed below are some of our favorites, but if you happen to be out and about and discover some yummy new scents wafting out of one of our local restaurants, please open the door and go in!
Scrambled Egg Café, 727 Pine Tree Drive in Indian Harbour Beach, Open Daily at 7 AM
In the south there are certain facts we know to be true. Spiling the tea is great, but sipping sweet tea is even better, saying bless your heart counteracts any rudeness in your comments, and breakfast IS the most important meal of the day, a fact that the Scrambled Egg Café holds near and dear to its heart! Their regular menu shines bright, but their daily specials make our hearts skip a beat, including wonderful meals such as an Avocado Salsa Swiss Omelet, Blueberry Pancakes, and a Southern Benedict on which a fluffy golden biscuit is the star!
Hula Moon Tiki Grill, 1900 Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway in Indian Harbour Beach, Closed Sundays & Mondays
Offering a Hawaiian take on American pub grub, Hula Moon offers a taste of land and sea with a menu filled with locally sourced deliciousness. Because this is your first time visiting Florida, you may not know about the wonders of grouper and although we would normally advise you to try a grouper sandwich, the Forbidden Grouper served here gets our vote for meal of the year every day. Made with fresh (and sweet!) grilled black grouper topped with a delectable tomato black olive caper relish, this healthy dish doesn’t taste like it is good for anything but your soul! And of course, you are on vacation and we are going to say what we always say; save room for dessert! Enjoy a delicious traditional Hawaiian dessert of Moku plantains (fried plantains coated in cinnamon sugar) or stick with the tried and truly fantastic Key Lime Pie.
Maverick’s Hangar Bar & Grill, 1132 Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway in Satellite Beach, Open Daily at 11 AM
We’re going to take you out of your comfort zone for dinner or your night out on the town, but don’t worry, Satellite Beach isn’t that far down the road and Maverick’s Hangar Bar & Grill offers a fun vibe, a Top Gun theme that is awesomely represented in the murals that adorn the walls, and a place to let your hair down as you chow on an elevated selection of pub meals and maybe play a game or two of pool after. One thing you are going to learn during your initial visit to Florida is that with the exception of some cities further south, we offer no pretensions. We have the sea, a warm climate, and an abhorrence to fancy and places like Maverick’s reflect our vibe precisely.
Your Home Sweet Vacation Home
Travel isn’t always comfortable and if this happens to be not just your first trip to Florida and Indian Harbour Beach but your first major vacation ever, you are going to be spoiled. We at Happy Palm Stays have put a lot of research into what travelers seek, but we also use our firsthand knowledge to give our guests the comforts they deserve. You will want to spend time “at home” exploring all that we offer, napping on soft sofas, sitting on back patios with a mojito in hand celebrating the sunset, and sleeping late nearly every morning of your stay in the most comfortable beds in the state. (Try to set aside at least one morning for a sunrise walk on sandy beaches; you can thank us later!) Every moment with us will be the one you compare all other vacation rentals against for years to come; reserve your favorite Indian Harbour vacation rental today!
