Fun Coast

A popular surfing destination, the Fun Coast is the unofficial name for the coastal area surrounding Daytona Beach. If you want to be sure, just punch out its area code on your keypad, 386 for FUN.  With regular swells and a soft sandy bottom, the Fun Coast’s waters are great for surfers of all ages, and Daytona and Ponce Inlet’s beaches are consistently ranked as some of the best for catching waves. Get an overview of it all from the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest in Florida. 

Daytona Beach ©Chris Garrison Photography, Inc.

Orlando magazine’s dedicated editorial team is taking the guesswork out of your next coastal trip! Check out these important facts:

 ☀ BOUNDED BY: Flagler Beach to Edgewater. 

⚑ COUNTIES: Flagler, Volusia.    

⚐ MAJOR CITIES/AREAS: Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Port Orange, Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna Beach. 

♜ HIGHLIGHTS: Auto racing, outdoor festivals, scenic cruising, surfing.  

☸ HIDDEN GEMS: Caladesi Island State Park (accessible only by boat), The Gnome Tree (in Holly Hill), Ormond Indian Burial Mound (thought to be more than 1,200 years old). 

☺ OVERALL VIBE: Sun and surfing.

Getting artsy at the Bob Ross Art Workshop & Gallery ©Brendan O’connor

New Smyrna Beach

After Florida became part of the United States in 1821, New Smyrna developed as a center for citrus farming, fishing and railroad expansion. By the 20th century, it had grown into a popular coastal destination known for its pristine beaches, surfing culture and historic charm. Today, New Smyrna Beach is celebrated for its unique blend of history, natural beauty, vibrant arts community and is being gobbled up by out-of-towners looking to live the beach life for a portion of the year and a quick drive away from Orlando.  

Plein-air painting ©Brendan O’connor

I always find, however, that New Smyrna has a great sense of community. The bars and restaurants all have a see-and-be-seen mentality with expansive outdoor patios lining the roads. The shuffleboard courts are always full of locals wearing fashionable outfits and doing whatever you’re supposed to do when you play shuffleboard. And institutions like the Atlantic Center for the Arts bring world-class cultural programming to the area.

I stayed in the historic Riverview Hotel and Spa during my last visit, which is located right on Flagler Avenue, an ideal situation if you’re looking for more nightlife than hours of deep sleep. The hotel was apparently a boudoir at one point in its life, and I think my room was most definitely haunted; the air conditioning was off but it was freezing, the patio door kept opening and I kept thinking the car stereos were playing Lady Marmalade. 

Some highlights include visiting SugarWorks Distillery to taste small-batch spirits, going to the Bob Ross Art Workshop & Gallery to paint a landscape in his style of happy clouds and pretty little trees, visiting the super-friendly chickens at my hotel cafe, shopping the avenue and finding local weird things like the site of Charles Dummett’s grave, which the town built a road around in the 1950s. An anonymous artist added a statue of a dog to the gravesite at some point and I’m obsessed with finding out why. 

Back to our guide to Florida from Coast to Coast