QUICK VIEW: Daytona Beach is branded the World's Most Famous Beach, but get ready to be entertained. Follow this itinerary for visits to the Boardwalk, Main Street Pier, Screamer's Park, the historic Bandshell, and fun arcades.
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This Blog is part of our travel series covering the state of Florida in the United States.
DAYTONA BEACH BANDSHELL, BOARDWALK, AND PIER
Daytona Beach is known as the World's Most Famous Beach
Beach Culture
The Daytona Beach area has over 23 miles/37 km of white sandy beaches.
Matthias Day, Jr. built the first hotel in the Daytona area in 1874. Today more than 10 million visitors flock to Daytona-area beaches each year.
In the early 1900s, Commodore Charles Burgoyne began promoting concerts on the Halifax riverfront, attracting vacationers from far and wide.
Today, the area of Daytona offers diverse attractions for visitors with varied interests: Daytona Beach Bandshell concerts, the Daytona International Speedway, the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, the Daytona Beach Boardwalk & Pier, the Daytona Flea & Farmer's Market, and the Daytona Lagoon Water Park.
Daytona Beach is also well known for hosting the first live MTV Spring Break broadcast in 1986, reinforcing its reputation as a major annual Spring Break destination for college students.
The flat sandy beaches of Daytona are popular with young and old
The closest we came to a Spring Break experience was our evening at the Daytona Beach Bandshell. We say that tongue in cheek, because the experience was dominated by people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s.
On one of our many walks along the Daytona Boardwalk and Pier, we noticed a posting for the annual Summer Concert Series held at the historic Bandshell.
The Bandshell features cover band concerts every Saturday night from the end of May thru Sept
Each summer, the series starts on the last Saturday of May and extends through the last Saturday of September. Every Saturday features a different tribute band, and on the evening we attended, we were treated to a very talented cover of Bon Jovi.
We had no idea, but the Bandshell has quite the history. In 1999, it was actually listed on the US National Registry of Historic Places. The Bandshell structure was built in 1938 using local sedimentary coquina rock, a mix of crushed shells and sand.
The Bandshell has been a focal point on the Boardwalk since its inception. Beyond the annual Summer Concert Series, the venue is also used for all kinds of private and public open-air events. With an ocean view backdrop, one can only imagine how beautiful a wedding would be in this special setting.
The Bandshell concert venue, with a scenic ocean view backdrop
The Bandshell structure is designed to amplify and direct its sound out toward the crowd seated next to the Boardwalk, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It's quite a sight!
But, there's more. You get the live concert, a beautiful setting, ... and, at the end of the evening around 9:30 pm, you're treated to an impressive fireworks show on the beach opposite the concert! Not bad for a $4 ticket, if you'd like a seat in front of the stage.
Seating in front of the stage for the summer bandshell concerts are reasonably priced
But if you prefer sipping beer at the City Walk restaurant above the Bandshell, or don't mind sitting on the beach or standing on the outskirts, the concert and fireworks are free!
The concert & fireworks were free from our vantage point near the bar
The Daytona Beach Boardwalk promenade was built in the late 1920s, a decade before the Bandshell complex. The original name is actually the Daytona Beach Broadwalk--not Boardwalk, but the local newspaper editor didn't like the connotation of the word "Broad."
Today, the promenade is lined with hotels, restaurants, the Bandshell complex, arcades, and amusement centers. At the pier-end of the walk, you can get a reasonably priced hot dog or pizza, grab a beer, play Skee Ball, and enjoy your favorite video game--all within a short walk.
The Boardwalk is lined with arcades and restaurants
And, if that's not enough excitement, there's Screamer's Park, only 50 yards away. For the those with strong stomachs, why not test the Slingshot or the Vomatron? The names tell the story! It was fun watching, but we didn't dare. The huge Daytona Lagoon Water Park is just a block away for kiddies of all ages.
Screamer's Park is located just off the the Daytona Beach Boardwalk, for those who dare!
The historic Daytona Pier, also known as the Main Street Pier, was built in the late 1800s. The original Pier was approximately 600 feet/183 meters long and built of palm logs. It was destroyed by a significant fire in 1920, and recast as the Ocean Pier & Casino in 1925.
Today, the modern pier is approximately 1,000 feet/305 meters long and includes a restaurant.
Walking the sandy beach and the Main Street Pier is part of the charm to a Daytona stay
Even if you aren't into the games, rides, and entertainment, why not just enjoy a relaxing walk along the promenade or take off your shoes and head down to the shoreline. We certainly spent most of our time walking along the ocean once we explored all the promenade sights.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring the Daytona Beach area. Expecting a highly commercialized beachfront, we were pleasantly surprised to find a rather laidback beachfront community that still had a lot of its original small-town charm. We'll be back!
A walk along the promenade is a relaxing way to see Daytona Beach
