Cocoa Beach Vibes: Where Daytime Fun Meets Surf and Casual Florida Charm

When you live in Miami, the thought of leaving town for a beach party seems preposterous. Why would you waste your gas and time when you live in the beach party capital of America, right? But if you think about it, we really don’t have much in the way of actual parties on the beach here. Sure, there’s the trendy upscale Sunday shindig on the sand at Nikki Beach. And the weekly collection of Kendall and Hialeah All-Stars on 8th Street. But if you want that young, All-American, chug-some-beers-and-play-some-pong beach scene, you have to look to the north. And that, friends, means Cocoa Beach.

Dreaming of Hundreds of Genies

Cocoa Beach, long known as the home of Major Nelson, is now home to the best weekend beach party in the state of Florida. Yeah, I said it. People like to talk about South Beach like it’s the be-all, end-all of parties in this state. But if you’re not down to party with South Americans and Eurotrash, the daytime sand scene leaves something to be desired.

In Cocoa, the crowd is All-American, like an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog dumped onto the Central Florida sand. The people hail largely from UCF and various Central Florida Community Colleges, with some service industry folk and strippers sprinkled in. Basically, it’s exactly the kind of people you want to be partying with on an 85 degree day in June.

Every Sunday, right behind Coconuts Beach Bar on Minuteman Causeway, hundreds of 18-34 year-old American partiers cram the sand for what can only be described as a reigned-in Spring Break. College girls in bikinis everywhere. Domestic light beer, everywhere. Beer pong, flip cup, barbecues and good old fashioned binge drinking, everywhere. Right on the sand. As long as you don’t have glass, nobody bothers you.

A “Tent City” In Cocoa Is a Whole Lot Sexier

Cocoa Beach is also the only beach in Florida that is at all known for its surfing. So it is no surprise that the scene here is reminiscent of Fourth of July in Newport Beach, with a little less tattoos and a lot less meth.

Those girls you just don’t find in South Florida. The ones with the long legs and slim waists, with long blonde hair that can only be described as Heaven in flip flops, those girls are as ubiquitous as the beer cans. And they all seem to flock to the rows and rows of tents that guys have set up to attract them.

Yes, unlike in South Beach where you need $700 worth of mediocre vodka to get a girl that hot to talk to you, all you need in Cocoa is some Natty Light and a tent. And so people get there as early as 8 or 9 a.m. to set up shop right behind Coconuts. Some with grills. Some with full liquor bars. But all with tables set up for drinking games. Because nothing gets the bleached blonde beach bunnies in a partying mood faster than a good old fashioned game of flip cup.

The party rages on into the early evening, and people begin to make their way into Coconuts or one of the nearby beachfront bars. After another few hours of shots and suds, they somehow drive back to Orlando or Sanford or Lake Mary or Lakeland. This is the event of the week for young Central Floridians. And while they may not be able to compete with us in South Beach when it comes to nightlife, they’re kicking our ass during the daytime.

Editor’s Note: Originally published June 02, 2011. Updated in 2026 with new photography; Matt Meltzer’s original writing remains unchanged.