5 Things to See Near Atlantic Beach Florida

The First Coast / Atlantic Beach area is experiencing a ton of interest and increase in tourism these days, thanks to the beautiful beaches, laid back surfer atmosphere, cute historic towns, great climate, gorgeous palm trees and rich animal life, along with the area’s recent investments in protecting and revitalizing their natural parks.

Thankfully after spending a week in Orlando, checking out things other than the theme parks, Paige and I were able to hop in the car, (bleary-eyed, first thing in the morning), and take a beautiful drive up the coast to Atlantic Beach (right next to Jacksonville Beach).

Atlantic Beach Restaurants

Atlantic Beach is a super popular area right now. It’s a relaxed beach town with tons of cool bars, restaurants, and shops – it’s also has a pretty cool beach if you’re into that sort of thing ;). We stayed in a cute house steps from the beach and walking distance to our favorite spots to grab a bite, North Shore Fish Camp and Metro Diner.

Guana River

I think the Guana River was the highlight of our trip to Florida. It was a bit chilly for the beaches, but we really wanted to see some beautiful landscapes, so we hopped in a car and headed south along the coast. The drive by the way – was gorgeous, tons of beautiful overhanging willows and Spanish moss along the road if you’re into that sort of thing (I am). A few miles down Atlantic Coast we came to this gorgeous river – it’s pretty cool because you’re actually sandwiched between this huge swampy river on the inside of the coast, and the Atlantic ocean on the other side.

Initially, we just wanted a great spot to fly our drone and take some photos (which this was great for) but while we were doing this we came across a kayaker who said that he rented his kayak from a place nearby – North Guana Outpost. Turns out it’s a great little spot for renting and buying kayaks, we decided to try it out for ourselves and we had a blast! The swampy river was super cool, we saw all sorts of beautiful birds… and other exciting wildlife (check out the video to see for yourself).

St. Augustine

Having thoroughly enjoyed the Guana River, we decided to venture further south and we happened upon this pretty cute little historic town called St. Augustine. Turns out, St. Augustine lays claim to being the oldest city in the US. Known for its Spanish colonial architecture, the town is full of beautiful buildings (including the Castillo de San Marcos – the stone Spanish fortress, and the Lightner Museum – a tropical stone museum of antiquities with a picturesque courtyard), cute shops, bars, restaurants, and a handful of great instagrammable spots, especially while the sun is setting. Right nearby, on the other side of St. Augustine Inlet is another large state park (Anastasia State Park) with tons of protected wildlife. One of my highlights here was passing through the cute shops and convincing Paige to taste some particularly interesting artisanal olive oils.

Lighthouse Pier

As we saw the famous Florida sun slowly setting in St. Augustine, we decided we should hurry and see if we could get a nice oceanside shot of the sunset. We jumped in the car and headed for the Atlantic, driving just across St. Augustine Inlet, we happened upon a beautiful lighthouse. Turns out the Lighthouse Pier is pretty popular in the area. We made it just in time to see the gorgeous Florida sunset and also met some folks who gave us a handful of recommendations in the palm coast area – from an awesome BBQ spot (Captain’s BBQ) to yet another beautiful sunset destination, Porpoise Pier.

 

Porpoise Pier

One of the coolest things about meeting people while you travel is that you learn some amazing tips as you go. Our friend from the lighthouse told us about Porpoise Pier – this great hidden spot further south along the coast that gets amazing views of the sunset, which we were able to catch the day before we left. Hidden in behind a quaint residential neighborhood along the palm coast, the southwest facing Porpoise Pier is surrounded by water, wide sand beaches, and is accessible by vehicle – you’ll see groups of people out along the beach catching the iconic sunsets. It’s a pretty romantic spot that could easily be missed if you’re not in the know.

All of this just scratches the surface, but we love finding cool spots when we travel, so if you live in the area or you’ve traveled here before, please give us your recommendations in the comments!