Apollo Beach - Florida's Atlantic Beaches
Florida's Apollo Beach
Report by Tom Pitton
Apollo Beach is located at the north end of the Canaveral National Seashore. The clothing optional area has been traditionally south of crossover #5. Unlike, Playalinda Beach at the south end of Canaveral, there is no history of mass arrests. The only problem is very limited parking. The distance between lot 4 and 5 is 2 miles.
Take the New Smyrna Beach/Highway 44 exit off of I-95. Go east. From the intersection of Highway 44 and A1A near New Smyrna Beach, go south for 8 miles and park in parking lot 5 (limited spaces-obey all laws). Walk to the right, south of parking lot 5, to marker 29, where the CO area begins.
Because of the problems in past years at Playalinda, naturist groups had asked visitors to not spend money in Brevard County. On the other hand, they said if you are at Apollo, you are strongly encouraged to spend money in Volusia County. The closest place to stay near Apollo is almost right outside the gate.
Tell merchants that you are in the area spending money because you are there for the clothing-optional beach at Apollo. You will not encounter outright hostility against naturists in this area. Many merchants well remember the hit that the local room occupancy rate took a couple of years ago when Wendell Simpson ticked and/or arrested some German tourists. Every German travel bureau knew about these incidents and diverted German tourists to alternate locations until the situation at Apollo was clarified.
There is no current prohibition unless your behavior is a breach of the peace. In other words, genuine naturists will have no problem. There at one time was a sign about 30 meters south of the steps from the last parking lot that notifed visitors of possible clothing optional sunbathing. Some reports say rangers may have taken down this sign.
Apollo is packed from front to back most of the time these days with cars. It starts early and it stays that way through the day. The problem with the limited parking is not the naturists, but the publication of an article about "hidden treasures" of the park system in Holiday Travel Magazine. Actual on the beach naturist participation at Apollo is about half of "normal." The park is overflowing with textiles. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office, in past years had been engaged in letting the perception take hold that the crowding and parking problems are the fault of naturists filtering in from Brevard County.
Local Volusia County information can be found at: http://www.volusia.com
The National Park Service search engine is at: http://www.nps.gov/
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Other Sources of Naturist Information:
Sanibel Naturist, Inc. - Sanibel Island, Florida - (941) 995-6833
Southwest Florida information:
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