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JACKSONVILLE
NEIGHBORHOODS
ATLANTIC BEACH - NEPTUNE BEACH - JAX BEACH - PONTE VEDRA BEACH - MAYPORT
MICKLER'S LANDING - HANNA PARK - HUGUENOT PARK - TALBOT ISLANDS - GUANA RIVER
METRO CITIES
TO HOME
The beaches of the Jacksonville metropolitan area stretch across three counties, six barrier islands and roughly 80 miles of Atlantic shoreline in the northeasternmost corner of Florida. Dubbed the "First Coast," these beaches are where Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first landed in 1513 on a quest to find the legendary "fountain of youth." For centuries these shores were hotly contested between Spanish, French, British, Native American and pirate factions before they ever became part of the United States. In fact, St. Augustine, 45 minutes south of Downtown Jacksonville, is the nation's oldest city. Meanwhile, Amelia Island, 45 minutes north of Downtown Jacksonville, has seen eight different flags raised over its shores.
Today, the First Coast offers an appealing tapestry of laid back and funky beach towns, ritzy resort playgrounds of the rich and famous, and some of the most unusual natural beaches in the state. At the heart of the First Coast are Jacksonville's Beaches, separated from those of Amelia Island to the north and St. Augustine to the south by unique, pristine state parks.
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of Jacksonville's beaches.
The communities of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach serve as Jacksonville's core beaches. Each is connected to the rest of the city by four convenient causeways over the Intracoastal Waterway.
Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach are hip, easy-going towns popular with surfers, families, tourists and yuppies alike. The towns share a lively yet quaint "Town Center" where trendy restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, galleries and eclectic gift shops line a few square blocks of brick streets at the edge of the sand.
Jacksonville Beach is the most populated and boasts an evergrowing skyline of highrise condos and family oriented hotels. At its center is Latham
Immediately across the county line from Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach is an exclusive playground of the rich and famous known for its world-renown 4 and 5 star oceanfront resorts as well as its top-notch golf courses and tennis facilities. In fact, the Tournament Players Championship lures top pro golfers to compete for the highest payout in the PGA and the ATP Tour is headquartered here. Mickler's Landing is a popular locals beach where commoners can stroll past multi-million dollar oceanfront mansions.
Guana River State Park, just south of Mickler's, is a long stretch of protected natural shoreline that separates Jacksonville's beaches from those serving the city of St. Augustine and the southern reaches of the First Coast.
Back in Jacksonville, the city's northern shoreline is dotted with a series of diverse beach parks. Hanna Park, just north of Atlantic Beach, is a very popular park operated by the city of Jacksonville that includes pristine beaches with high sand dunes. The park also includes renown "mountain" biking trails through its coastal woodland hammock and a large freshwater lake. Immediately north and west of the park is the weathered, rustic fishing village of Mayport and its namesake Mayport Naval Air Station. Here, a fleet of shrimp boats share dock space with a casino ship and a ferry boat just yards from behemoth aircraft carriers and battleships at the mouth of the St. Johns River.
Continuing north by ferry across the river are Fort George, Little Talbot and Big Talbot islands, an intriguing study of coastal contrasts that mix towering dunes with desert-like expanses, reddish brown outcroppings, eroded cliffs and a driftwood forest of uprooted and bleached oak trees. A scenic bridge over the entrance to Nassau Sound connects Jacksonville's Big Talbot Island to the beaches of Amelia Island, Florida's northernmost barrier island.
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