Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Orlando International Airport and Sanford International Airport are about 50 minutes
west of Cocoa Beach.
BUS
Space Coast Area Transit (SCAT; 321-633-1878; www.ridescat.com ) operates a local bus
service including a mainland route from Merritt Island south to Melbourne Beach, a beach
trolley in Cocoa Beach and a bus running along Hwy A1A from Cocoa Beach to Indialant-
ic. Surfboards and bikes are allowed on the bus, space permitting. GoLineIRT (
772-569-0903; www.golineirt.com ) services Sebastian Inlet south to Vero Beach, and Grey-
hound (
321-723-4329; www.greyhound.com ) buses stop along the mainland.
CAR
Three major roads run north and south: A1A along the beaches, US 1 on the mainland and
paralleling the shore of the Indian River, and I-95 close to the western border of Brevard
County. Seven bridges and causeways run east-west across the lagoon, the most important
being Hwy 405 to the Kennedy Space Center, Hwy 528 (the Beachline) connecting Cape
Canaveral to Orlando, and Hwy 520 between Cocoa Village and Cocoa Beach.
Major car-rental agencies have offices in Cocoa Beach, Melbourne and Vero Beach.
TRAIN
Amtrak trains run as far as Orlando.
Merritt Island
In 1958, in the aftermath of WWII, the US government selected the east coast of Florida as
the base of its newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
From here new-age captains would launch rockets, telescopes and shuttles into the orbiting
circle of the earth to discover new worlds and galaxies. Thousands of acres of scrubland
were commandeered at the northern end of Merritt Island; a third of it was cleared to form
the new NASA base, while the remainder was given over to the US Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice to operate as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Canaveral National
Seashore. The refuge and seashore provide the military with a secure and impenetrable
buffer zone while also offering some 500 species of wildlife a pristine coastal habitat of
saltwater marshes, hardwood hammocks, pine flatwoods and scrub.
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