Florida Beach Bar | East Central Florida

On Friday the 8th, with the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, the U.S. manned space flight brew to a close, at least for now. Shuttle launches may have come to an end, but rocket launches haven’t. Unmanned rockets still launch from the Kennedy Space Center. You may have a hard time finding an astronaut, but not some of a rocket’s red glare.

Just south is Florida's Treasure Coast, aptly named for the discovery of sunken treasures in the Atlantic Ocean. The Treasure Coast stretches from Sebastian in the north to below Hobe Sound in the south, including all of the coastal counties of Indian River, St. Lucie, and Martin. Among the space technology and hidden treasures, you'll find some great Florida beach bars.

Just south of the Kennedy Space Center is Port Canaveral, a cruise, cargo and naval port and one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. Over a million passengers a year start their cruises here. If they arrive a bit early you may find them on Glen Cheek Drive, on the south side of the port, enjoying a local band at one of the local beach bars.

Bars include Fish lips Bar and Grill, Grills Tiki Bar, Milliken’s Reef, and Rusty’s Seafood and Oyster Bar. It’s a happening waterside strip with good food, good fun, and plenty of entertainment. It’s a great place to party even if your cruise ship isn’t leaving the next day.

Cocoa Beach is just south of the Space Center and gained popularity during the development of the U.S. Space Program. It was also the setting for the 1960's sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie", but no episodes were actually filmed there. Barbara Eden did make 2 publicity appearances in 1969. I Dream of Jeannie Lane in Cocoa Beach is a street named after the show.

This stretch of beaches has plenty of Florida beach bars. At the northern tip of the beach is Cocoa Beach Pier, but this is way more than an ordinary fishing pier. Established in 1962 and extending 800 feet over the Atlantic, this fishing pier is home to four beach bars including the Mai Tiki Bar at the very end of the pier. This is old Florida at its best. There is nothing quite like being perched over the ocean and enjoying a drink at the Mai Tiki Bar. Other bars are Oh Shucks, and the Boardwalk. Imagine this. In the early 60’s, people could actually drive their cars up onto the boardwalk.

Cocoa Beach is also home to the Sandbar Sports Grill located at the public beach. Walk up from the beach and enjoy a fish taco and your favorite drink from one of two bars. The fish tacos are famous and the Hurricanes are even more so. There are plenty of events, like the Red White and Boobs bikini contest, and live entertainment mostly on weekends.

One of the most popular beach bars on Cocoa Beach is Coconuts on the Beach. This toes-in-the-sand beach bar has music daily starting at 2 PM. You can show up in your bathing suit or your best shorts. The large deck extends onto the beach, and the live entertainment goes into the late evening hours.

Just south of the Space Coast is the Treasure Coast and places like Sebastian Beach Inn on Melbourne Beach. As their menu points out, "If you look due east at the ocean, you may be looking at real sunken treasure”. In 1715 a fleet of ships returning to returning to Spain filled with gold and silver from the New World sunk off the Melbourne Beach shore. You are invited to walk their small beach and see if you can find any treasures that may have washed up on shore. Treasure aside, this is a terrific little beach bar that sits smack dab on the Atlantic Ocean, and is the last remaining coastal watch station dating back to World War II.

There are beach bars on and off the beach in this area, and some like Squid Lips, are located on the Indian River These Florida beach bars bring the beach to the bar with manmade beaches. Squid Lips, Florida beach bar, has just about everything, including sand, you'd find on the beach. The only thing missing is the waves and the surfers.

Fort Pierce is the home of the Original Tiki bar. Don't let the name fool you, this is the original Fort Pierce Tiki bar, but quite a place nonetheless. It's located on the Indian River. In 2004 Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne did some damage to the Original Tiki Bar, but crews worked four months round the clock, and the tiki bar opened up again December 31, 2004. That is beach bar love.

Archie’s Seabreeze is a special kind of beach bar across the street from the beach. Archie’s is a collection bars, buildings, and beach artifacts that are old displayed like an old Florida property. Archie's was established in 1947 as a military shack that served beer to soldiers stationed on South Beach. Patty McGee purchased Archie's In 1994, and as it says on their web site, made this a “feel at home place where you can put your feet up, relax and enjoy an Atlantic breeze, live entertainment, a fresh delicious meal and a refreshing beverage”. It is all that, indeed.

There are plenty more treasures found on this coast, treasures in the form of great little beach bars. And if you can't find them on A1A, just travel inland a bit to the inlets and bays. While these bars may not be on the beach, they have music, food, and are on or by the water. That's not half bad.

Stuart, also part of the Treasure Coast, is an east coast city bordered by the St. Lucie and Indian Rivers. FINZ Waterside Grill, located in Stuart, is at the southern end of Manatee Pocket, just a short boat ride to the "crossroads" of the Intracoastal, the Saint Lucie Inlet, and the Saint Lucie Waterway. This entirely pink building and décor makes it an experience in itself. There are plenty of boat slips with shore power, and of course, a recently expanded Tiki Bar with live music Thursday through Sunday.

Nearby is Manatee Island Bar and Grill owned by “a couple of old restaurant guys from the northeast who swore we’d never move back up to the cold”. They say it’s “It's always Island Time at Manatee Island Bar & Grill”. This old style beach bar is complete with tiki hut and live music Wednesday through Sunday.