Ocean Reef Park Beach
Palm Beach County. Guarded, on Singer Island, and deliberately quiet - the calm end of the island rather than the developed one.
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Which Florida beaches have free parking?
Free beach parking has become rare on the built-up coasts and normal on the quieter ones.
In Palm Beach County, Ocean Reef Park in Riviera Beach and Loggerhead Park in Juno Beach both park free, which on that stretch is unusual enough to be the reason people go. The Panhandle county accesses are mostly free: the Okaloosa Island waysides, Navarre Beach in Santa Rosa County, Grayton Beach in Walton and Mexico Beach in Bay and Gulf counties. Flagler Beach parks free along the whole seafront. Nassau County beaches - Main Beach Park, Peters Point, Burney Park - are free. Cedar Key in Levy County and Horseshoe Beach in Dixie are free. State parks charge an entry fee per vehicle rather than a parking fee, and an annual pass pays for itself quickly.
The places named in this answer.
Loggerhead Park Beach
Palm Beach County. Guarded, and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center sits in the park behind it - a working sea turtle hospital with aquariums and exhibits you can walk through.
Open the guide →Wayside Park Beach
Okaloosa County. Wayside Park is Newman C. Brackin Wayside Park, which Okaloosa County also calls The Boardwalk, on Miracle Strip Parkway on Okaloosa Island next to the fishing pier. It is the same park as Newman C.
Open the guide →Navarre Beach
Santa Rosa County. About four miles of Santa Rosa Island, with swimming and surfing, and snorkeling and diving on artificial reefs set close to shore. The Navarre Beach Pier runs 1,545 feet out over the Gulf and is used by experienced anglers and beginners.
Open the guide →Grayton Beach
Walton County. Walton County opened a new regional beach access here in June 2026, the Bets "Beachmama" Haynes Regional Beach Access at 44 Hotz Avenue in downtown Grayton Beach, just west of the Red Bar: restrooms, rinse showers, an observation deck, a boardwalk to the sand and a stop for the county's Beach Park and Ride tram.
Open the guide →Mexico Beach
Bay County. 3.1 miles of white sand in Bay County, and the city calls its beaches uncrowded. South 37th Street is a way onto the sand, with public parking there and in several areas on the beach side of U.S. 98.
Open the guide →Flagler Beach
Flagler County. Six miles of beach through a town of 5,182 people. Lifeguards cover the stretch from North 9th Street to South 9th Street, 9:00am to 6:00pm, on weekends from October to May and every day between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Open the guide →Main Beach Park
Nassau County. At Atlantic Avenue and South Fletcher Avenue, and the most equipped beach on the island. Paved parking, a boardwalk, restrooms, outdoor showers, covered picnic tables, barbecues, a volleyball court, a playground, a skate park and multi-purpose courts, with oceanfront restaurants and mini-golf beside it.
Open the guide →Peters Point Beachfront Park
Nassau County. 4600 Peters Point Road, off South Fletcher Avenue. A large parking area, restrooms, indoor and outdoor showers, picnic tables and barbecues, and fishing is allowed. Four lifeguard towers are staffed from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Open the guide →Cedar Key City Beach
Levy County. A small beach in Cedar Key City Park at 192 Second Street, in a town that is more fishing village than beach resort. A roped-off swimming area with calm, shallow water, though the bottom is muddy and sandspurs grow nearby, so wear beach shoes.
Open the guide →Horseshoe Beach
Dixie County. Butler-Douglas Memorial Park, also called Horseshoe Beach Park, at 244 8th Avenue West in the town of Horseshoe Beach, run by Dixie County. The shore is rocky and strewn with oysters rather than sandy, and there is no swimming area and no lifeguard.
Open the guide →More questions like this.
Which Florida beaches have lifeguards?
Guarded beaches are the exception rather than the rule in Florida, and rip currents drown more people here than any other natural hazard.
Which Florida beaches have wheelchair access and beach mats?
Two things make a beach reachable: a rolled matting path across the soft sand, and a loan wheelchair with balloon tires that floats on it.
Which Florida beaches are open at night?
Most Florida beaches close at sunset, and every state park does, so a late evening on the sand needs a city beach rather than a park.
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