Most of the action is centered on the north jetty, which surfers consider the best break in the state for its sudden-rising, dramatically breaking waves.
Younger kids can take refuge in a calm, shallow lagoon right across the road.
A park concession by the north-side beach picnic area sells food and fishing supplies, and serves meals until 6 p.m. Because winter is Florida's high season, the campground rarely fills during the summer. Beneath the inlet bridge, catwalks offer great vistas and a breezy reprieve from the sweltering rays, especially on an incoming tide. At this manmade inlet, anglers land blues, jack, flounder, snapper, grouper, and mackerel. The inlet connects the Atlantic Ocean with the narrow 156-mile Indian River Lagoon, the nation's most diverse estuary. Ecotourist boat trips to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge originate at the park marina.