What are your favorite places to hang out on Florida's east coast?

[dennisjay]

My wife and I are slowly making our way down to the Florida keys. We like to stop at interesting places and stay for a week. So far we've hung out at Fernandina Beach, St. Augustine and New Symrna Beach, which we like a lot with its historic section, arts community and fine restaurants. Beach is nice here too.

So where should we stop from here?

Canaveral
Melbourne
Vero
Ft. Pierce
Stuart?

And what about farther south?

Jupiter
West Palm
Boca
Pompano

Where are the interesting and cool places between here and the keys?

[redsky49]

Originally Posted by dennisjay

My wife and I are slowly making our way down to the Florida keys. We like to stop at interesting places and stay for a week. So far we've hung out at Fernandina Beach, St. Augustine and New Symrna Beach, which we like a lot with its historic section, arts community and fine restaurants. Beach is nice here too.

So where should we stop from here?

Canaveral
Launch scheduled for Feb. 8
Melbourne
Interesting stop for a day but the marina harbor entrance has shoaled and the marina needs some TLC
Vero
Affordable moorings, great local bus service. Worth a couple days stop
Ft. Pierce
World's best Farmers Market, local music and theatre
Stuart?

And what about farther south?

Jupiter
Friends love it. No personal experience
West Palm
Our jumping off spot for the Bahamas. All services available here. Fun to see how the 1%s live across the bridge to Palm Beach
Boca
Pompano

Where are the interesting and cool places between here and the keys?

You might like Cocoa for the bars and restaurants, and one huge hardware store.
Great restaurants all along the way. Harder to find decent anchorages than Georgia or the Carolinas. Too many bridges south of West Palm, but Biscayne Bay/Miami can be fun.
South Florida is a different experience then the northern part. Some love it, others hate it. Both sides make valid arguments.
Enjoy your cruise.

[OnTour]

Stuart is pretty nice....kinda like New Smyrna.. Sunset Bay anchorage is walking distance to everything .


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[rwidman]

You've already passed it but a cruise up the St. Johns River as far as Sanford would have been really nice if you're into nature, wildlife and "rustic".

Here's a description of our trip a couple years ago:

http://www.widman.biz/indigo/HIGH_COTTON.pdf

[zboss]

We are big fans of St. Augustine... Also passed.

We don't really care for much of central Florida, except maybe Stuart and Ft. Pierce, because its like one big retirement home. We spent last winter in Jensen Beach and it was pretty boring.

The Miami area is fun but can be expensive.

[CaptainBW]

Vero Beach is one of our favorites. Miami Beach, Dinner Key/Coconut Grove are second place to Vero, but very good and fun places. Some feedback on other places we have stopped:

Cocoa - was ok, but would not stay there more than overnight
Lake Worth/West Palm Beach/Palm Beach - fun stop for a couple of days. You can dinghy up to West Palm free docks to go ashore.
Fort Lauderdale - fun place also for a few days. Not many anchorages. Marinas are expensive unless you go up the New River. Stayed a week a Cooleys Landing.
St Augustine - way too touristy for us, but mooring field is good
Peck Lake - loved the anchorage there. Great beach to check out.
Biscayne Bay - you can sail around to many anchorages/mooring fields/marinas and explore for several weeks.

[RichinBoca]

Lake Boca.... Just inside Boca inlet.
Nice spot to anchor for the weekend.
Smack in the middle of the Boca Resort and Hotel main and Beach Club.