Beaches & Waterways

With 1,100 miles of navigable water, Jax has more shoreline than any other city in the nation.

Just a few minutes from Downtown, Jacksonville's white sand beaches await you. Spend a day unwinding by the ocean and enjoy the nearby shops, restaurants, attractions, and nightlife.

Bring your flip-flops and pack that sunscreen, Jacksonville has 22 miles of wide, uncrowded, white-sandy beaches that offer visitors majestic sunrises and star filled nights. Visitors will find plenty to do and a variety of water activities. Casual fun restaurants, nightlife hotspots, souvenir shops, and oceanfront hotels blend into the scene without crowding the views of the shorelines in Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Mayport.

We are home to 40 miles of the Intracoastal Waterway, 50 public boat ramps, and the longest stretch of the St. Johns River in the state of Florida. Jacksonville is the birthplace of the Salt Life movement and Florida’s best water sports getaway! Read more on How to Experience Jacksonville's Local Waters.

22 Miles of Beaches

These are not your grandparents’ beaches. Come surf, kayak, paddleboard, swim, dive, boat, fish and explore Jacksonville’s unique coastal shores. The city’s main beaches are Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Mayport Beach and Atlantic Beach. They are public, and pet friendly, plus they are home to surf shops, fresh seafood restaurants, quaint beach boutiques, and parks like Hanna Park and Dutton Island Preserve. In the city’s Northside, unspoiled barrier islands offer must-see beaches like Blackrock Beach, Boneyard Beach, Little Talbot Island, and Huguenot Park. All accessible by taking a short ferry ride from the beaches or driving down the picturesque Heckscher Drive from Downtown. Jacksonville also has a very active diving scene, with more than 30 offshore reefs off our Atlantic coast. Try out some of these unique water sports like kayaking and diving in Jacksonville.

St. Johns River

The mighty St. Johns River is an integral part of the Jacksonville landscape with rich history and opportunities for both recreation and transportation needs.

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Jacksonville Beach

Located 17 miles from Downtown Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach offers visitors a family-friendly beach vacation with outdoor activities, a variety of hotels for all budgets and if you’re into nightlife, there's plenty of that too.

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Two rows of palm trees line a path to Neptune Beach at sunset. The sky is cloudy with shades of yellow, orange, pink and purple

Neptune Beach

Nestled between Atlantic Beach and Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach presents visitors with a relaxed, beach atmosphere alongside plenty of local dining and shopping opportunities.

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Photo by: Ryan Ketterman

Atlantic Beach

The farthest north in Jacksonville’s beaches community, Atlantic Beach has a rich history of being an esteemed vacation destination dating back to the early 1900s.

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The St. Johns River

This mighty Florida river is one of the largest recreational sports in Jacksonville. The St. Johns’ is one of fewer than 30 rivers in the United States that flow northward. Most of the river in our area is part seawater, making it a unique ecosystem where dolphins, manatees and even sharks swim freely. The St. Johns River is ideal for boating and fishing, with fish such as mullet, flounder, shad, and blue crabs migrating from the ocean to freshwater springs upriver to spawn. In Downtown Jacksonville, the river provides tons of attractions opportunities including the Riverwalk, and sporting events like the P1 Powerboats and kayaking excursions. There are dozens of public water access ramps along the St. Johns River.

The Intracoastal Waterways

This natural body of water flows along the East Coast and divides Jacksonville’s Southside from the beaches area. Fisherman and boating enthusiast enjoy the more than 40 miles of ICW’s canals, marshes and channels in Jacksonville every day. Public access ramps make it easier to enjoy a paddleboard adventure, or a leisure kayak trip. The mouths of the larger creeks on the ICW are where the fish run hard. Spotted seatrout, flounder, black drum and redfish call this brackish tributary home.

Neighborhood Conversations: The Beaches
Jax Surf and Paddle
360 Fishing Video

Fun on the Water