[ThesaltHeir]

Im a San Diego native currently living in Minneapolis and looking to move to a more warm, affordable place than my hometown.

The reasons I've boiled it down to Cocoa Beach or Jacksonville Beach are the following:

I surf so in the case of Florida, it has to be on the East coast. From all my Flickr photo research, as well as surf sites, etc, South Florida is flat on a daily basis until a storm is approaching. Whereas, it appears Cocoa Beach and Jacksonville Beach are more prone to have average everyday surfable waves...much like San Diego does.

I love Piers. I grew up around Pacific Beach in San Diego, and always took a walk down to Crystal Pier. The Cocoa Beach pier seems to be the closest thing to that pier. However, the new Jacksonville Beach pier will suffice as well. I have to live next to a pier, no if's and's or but's. Dont ask me why, but there's nothing like taking a walk with the goal of the pier. I think Im just programmed that way.

I like the proximity that the both cities offer - Cocoa Beach to Orlando = fine dining, Magic games, I have kids so Disney World and Sea World. I used to want to be an astronaut, so I can imagine Cape Canaveral is a most interesting place to live next to. The casino boats, the Melbourne dog track, and any Banana River activity all seem interesting. Can you canoe to those little islands in the river? Are there sunset boats tours, etc, on the Banana River?

I like the warm water compared to San Diego in the Cocoa Beach area, and I also like that it has a bit more of change of seaons than does, say, Miami, which I love to look at but really dont want to live in. You might actually need a sweater in the winter in Cocoa Beach right?

In the case of Jacksonville Beach, I like the houses...they're my style, many of them at least, whatever that is, I just seem to recognize them when I look online. I like the wide beaches, and the water, even though it gets colder in the winter, like San Diego, the water still gets warmer in the summer than San Diego's ever has. I like that JB is close to the NLF Jaguars, and a big city in general, within reasonable driving distance to, again, fine dining, and whatever else a big city offers. Jacksonville was recently rated by Forbes as being one of Americas top outdoor places

America's Best Cities For The Outdoors - Forbes.com

I was all set to go visit Cocoa Beach with intent to move there until the sobering reality of the recent floods moved in - it's a barrier island that changes naturally, and global warming isnt going to help its cause of staying un-flooded and above sea level for the next 20 years to come.
My biggest quandary is the whole barrier island concept - in Cali it's just land mass meets ocean, no in between islands and such. How much of Cocoa Beach is even "real" in that how much was naturally there and how much was dredged/made by man?

I was looking at houses on the Banana River then saw pictures of peoples backyards flooding out from the river during that last storm.
Larry's Take on the Cocoa Beach Florida Real Estate Market

And this about beach erosion

The beach erosion in Florida is stunning. - Democratic Underground

as well as this
Bid-Rigging, Bad Science, & The Beach

From all this I just realized that it seems like I missed the peak of Cocoa Beach, when things were booming in the 90's and Ice wasn't melting in the North

Ice Cracks at Greenland's Tip Worry Scientists : Discovery News

just makes me wonder how wise it is now to move to a barrier island.
Which is where Jacksonville Beach comes up. Because it's about the same price in housing, by a big city, and yet seems more on solid ground, not quite as much an obvious island like Cocoa Beach is.

Any comments as to either?

[DailyJournalist]

I would choose Cocoa Beach, its a surfer beach and the weather is warmer than Jacksonville Beach so you will be able to enjoy the ocean more times per year.

[riveree]

Surfing is a year-round passion in Jax, for sure .

Our barrier islands are to the north and south of Jax proper, so our Jacksonville/Duval county beaches - Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach - are wide non-barrier beaches, as you said. Also, a lot of our beaches are preservation land...only a small stretch is populated. This may be a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective.

The Pier was rebuilt a few years back and it's a really nice pier. It's usually a mellow scene there...some walkers, people fishing, etc.

I've never lived in Cocoa Beach, I've only vacationed there, but I will say from my experience, Jax and Cocoa are nothing alike. Cocoa feels more like a vacation destination with time-shares and hotels dotting the ocean, lots of touristy surf shops, etc. Jax is not a tourist destination. We have a small stretch with a few hotels on the beach, but locals have put up a stink about them and we probably won't see many more built. Our beach restaurants and shops cater to year-round local residents and the weekend crowd who "crosses the ditch" from "town" to hang out.

So, we don't have a ton of activity at our beaches. If you're looking for the Cocoa scene, you won't find much of it in Jacksonville.

Hope that helps .

[ljoy]

I have surfed it all on florida coast. best is: new symrna beach and ponce inlet jetty and daytona beach pier are ALWAYS ON even when and other areas like FLAT COCOA BEACH, are well typically flat. jax has good waves, good crowd, but a bit on the colder side, and water is not as clear as PONCE or the daytona area. cocoa is dirty and the waves suck there ... north East coast florida has for the most part better waves, with exception of sebastion WHICH IS A GREAT WAVE. everyone coming out of NSB is going pro like eric geisleman etc lots of pro locals surf in the volusia county area as it is a HOTBED for surfers and the surf culture! but watch your self in the water READ About our beaches here!

[LA-VA-FL]

To me, jax beach has a slight "cali" vibe comared to the other places I have been in FL. I used to live on the west coast and obviously nothing compares. I do recommend visiting Jax Beach and seeing for yourself. I love it here. Just dont be fooled. we do have surf year round here in FL, but this is east coast surf. It is nothing like san diego's year round surf.

[jbbs2007]

I live in Jacksonville beach and moved back from San Diego (carlsbad) in 2001 because we have family here. Me and my husband own a surf shop in Jax beach, and had one in San Diego as well for 9 years. My husband grew up surfing jax beach, cocoa beach, ponce inlet, smyrna etc. etc. etc. and every contest. He would never live in cocoa because if the waves are great in cocoa on a certain swell he will just travel there. He never seems to go there though because he surfs jax beach pier, north jetty (on certain swells) and the poles so our waves are pretty abundant. Now I will say he mentioned if he could live in another place other than Jax it would be Melbourne.

We have so much more going on in Jax beach and it is definitely local here. I think cocoa is a more tourist destination with timeshares and such. I know they have their surf community and locals as well. Plus we heard from several reps who live in that area jobs are not abundant unless you work in restaurant, service industry, own your own business, or sell time share.

Jacksonville has a lot to offer as far as jobs we have become a metropolitan city with a laid back beach. I agree with I think it was LA-LA-VE jax beach is more of a San Deigo vibe. We have lots of friends who moved here from San Diego and say it definitely has that cali vibe and I have to agree. My personal choice to live is San Diego, but we have family here and cannot afford to move back. We also have a thriving surf shop here at Jax Beach. I will tell you the only thing that really gets me down about Jax Beach are the transients (bums) and they don't seem to be doing anything about it here. If you can overlook that you will be fine.

My husband also enjoys surfing without a wetsuit which was very rare in San Diego. Don't get me wrong they have to wear a wetsuit here in the winter as well.

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful we had a springing in the blues festival down at the beach and also the big AMA Supercross was at the colliseum last night. My son surfed and then went to the show. There is lots to do here in Jax.

[Icmoore]

HI -

I would like to follow you on your journey as I am a Santa Barbara/previously San Diego resident looking to move to JAX but also looking at Fort Lauderdale, Sebastian Beach. My list was much the same as yours - I am a surfer and wanted to be able to surf and enjoy a better quality of life but have a metropolitan area close by - I heard that JAX offers up a decent mix of California culture, decent surf and that it has affordable properties -something I just can't find here in CA unless I am living in the middle of nowhere. I would like to hear what you find and whether it is worth the move. I will be spending 3 months there for a trial - leaving in 6 to 7 months so I am hoping for the best but hesitant to pull the trigger.

Keep me posted and write back some time.

Best


Ian Moore

[yamahastar]

If I were you, I'd compare crime rates for these two places and I'll bet Jacksonville will be the worse.

[fsu813]

crime in Jax is concentrated into specific areas. if you don't live in those areas (which the general beaches area is not in) then you don't have to be overly concerned.