11. Sebastian Inlet - September 19th and 20th, 2009

Sebastian Inlet is one of two state parks in Brevard County, where my hometown is located. Suprisingly enough, I had never been there. One of the main attractions is the beach. I have been to Cocoa Beach many times, and also the beaches on the West Coast, so I didn't expect to find much new here. However, the waves were so much larger! One minute I was standing about thigh deep the next second I was at least 10 feet off the ground! It was not very crowded; we were there on a Saturday afternoon and we had a stretch of the beach almost to ourselves.

The campsites were nice. We were not lucky enough to book one that faces the inlet; those are probably booked several months in advance and we only booked about a month out. I believe they were $22 each. The sites away from the inlet were larger, however. They also had the most interesting crabs. They were very small and blended into the foliage on the ground.

We went for a sunset canoe ride through the inlet. I would not recommend this for someone unless they were a strong paddler. The tide was going in at that time and we went the length of about three football fields in 45 minutes. Then we drifted back (no paddling) in 15 minutes. Do not go downstream first! You will never make it back.

The next day, we went to the alcove they have roped off for swimming. It never gets so deep I couldn't touch, but it is large enough that there is plenty of room for everyone. There were little fishes and pelicans lined up on the rocks. People did not seem to bother them and we were able to get pretty close before it appeared as though we were disturbing them, and then we left them alone. The bridge in the picture is A1A.

There is a small museum on site, worth a quick walk through. Even though the video was fairly new, made in 2006, I wouldn't say it was worth the time. Most importantly, I did not think the McLarty treasure museum was worth the money -- it was an additional $2 on top of park entrance. It was not very big and had very few items that were actually pieces from the shipwreck. There is a walkout balcony to look out at the beach, which is where the picture was taken.

It was a nice park with great waves. I am sure we will go back again because it is so close to my home.

Til next time,

The camping bug