Ocean Ave Surf Guide

Ocean Ave Surf Guide

Driving south on A1A from Indialantic, you'll enter Melbourne Beach, one of Brevard's older beach communities and more desirable neighborhoods. Mel Beach's main break is at the end of Ocean Avenue, a street made famous by a now defunct surf shop and factory of the same name. Fortunately, the break survived, and it retains the OA tradition as a neighborhood spot. Ocean Avenue is an easy find marked by the town's only traffic light where A1A juts east a couple of blocks before steering south again. However, if you accidentally go straight on Oak Street, you'll reconnect with A1A about a mile south. Just be careful and adhere strictly to speed limits on Oak Street -- this is a family neighborhood area with lots of kids along with a couple preschools and the local elmentary school, so Melbourne Beach Police are usually posted up to keep drivers honest.

After turning left at the traffic light, you're on Ocean Avenue. Drive two blocks till you see a flagpole flying the American and Florida flags in the center of a small short-term parking lot overlooking the beach. Adjacent to that parking lot are sand volleyball courts, a pavilion and a second parking facility. Sand shifts over the course of a year, changing the break from a mushy outside wave to a strong shorepound. The break is most appreciated for being relatively deep, limiting the shutdown factor that plagues most Central Florida spots on large swells. When it's small, the semi-mushy conditions and open lineup make Ocean Avenue a mix of old-school longboarders and Mel Beach groms. Most travelers either zip by or drive through the beachside lot for a quick peek on their way to Sebastian.