Vilano Beach, St Augustine: Access and Swimming

Published on 4 min read
Vilano Beach on Florida’s Atlantic coast
Vilano Beach, north of St Augustine. (Excel23 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edited)

Vilano Beach lies across the inlet from St Augustine’s historic centre. You can spend the day on its Atlantic shore without driving onto the sand. Public pedestrian entrances let you leave your car off the beach and carry your gear to the water.

The main entrance at Vilano Beachfront Park and the northern entrance at Surfside lead to the same beach. Choose between them for location and facilities, then decide whether the conditions suit swimming or a day on the sand.

Main ocean access and Surfside

  • Choose Vilano Beachfront Park, the main ocean entrance on Anahma Drive, for public toilets and outdoor showers to rinse off after the beach.
  • Choose Surfside Park, north along Coastal Highway, for a northern entrance with public toilets.
  • Treat Porpoise Point as an inlet-side fishing and watercraft landmark, not your swimming destination.

Vilano Beach is a good choice for time on the sand, but less suitable for small children or swimmers seeking sheltered shallows. The sandy shore offers space for a towel-and-shade day, but the bottom drops steeply as you enter the water and the surf can be heavy. Children who can stand at the edge may quickly reach deeper water.

The two entrances do not offer different kinds of sea. Moving north to Surfside changes where you arrive, not the need to judge the waves before entering. If gentle, shallow water is the deciding requirement for your day, neither entrance removes that concern.

Bring your own towel and shade for a public-beach day rather than planning around a bathing establishment. The main entrance is useful for returning to town after time on the shore, while Surfside suits plans already taking you north along the coast.

Name
Vilano Beachfront Park
Location
2725 Anahma Dr, St. Augustine, FL 32084 Maps
Hours
6am–9pm
Essential fact
A public beachfront park on Anahma Drive providing access to Vilano’s Atlantic shore.

Public entrances and entry costs

Main entrance pedestrian admission
Free, open to the public
Surfside pedestrian access
Open to the public
Both parks’ opening window
Dawn to dusk
Non-resident daily beach-driving pass
$15, required 1 March–30 September
Beach-driving pass-free period
1 October–28 February

Walking onto the beach and driving onto the sand are different kinds of access. At Vilano Beachfront Park, use the walkover from Anahma Drive for the Atlantic shore. Surfside Park’s northern pedestrian entrance is on Coastal Highway. Neither requires you to bring your car onto the beach to reach the water.

Off-beach parking means leaving the vehicle on land and carrying your beach gear through the pedestrian entrance. A beach-driving pass instead covers vehicle access onto the sand, and it is not a pedestrian admission ticket. Choose the walkover if your aim is simply to spread out a towel and enjoy the shore.

Swimming, lifeguards and Porpoise Point

Atlantic-shore swimming
Permitted, subject to water closures
Lifeguard tower staffing
Memorial Day through Labor Day
Outside the tower-staffing period
Patrol monitoring

The lifeguard staffing season is not a limit on when you may swim. It does change the supervision you can expect. For a swimming day, choose a stretch near a staffed tower when one is operating, and ask the lifeguard about the conditions before entering.

Wind and waves can make the steep entry harder to manage, while rip currents can pull swimmers away from shore. Inlet currents add another hazard near Porpoise Point. Use the beach warning flags to decide whether to enter, not simply whether other people are swimming. If the surf exceeds your ability, stay on the sand.

Keep children close at the water’s edge, and do not rely on their being able to stand as protection against waves. If caught in a rip current, do not fight it by swimming straight towards shore. Float or tread water and signal for help, or swim parallel to the beach to escape the current before returning.

Driving from the historic centre

Shared road approach
A1A across the Vilano Bridge
Main entrance
Anahma Drive
Northern entrance
Surfside Park, Coastal Highway
Porpoise Point sand access
Four-wheel drive required

From the St Augustine Visitor Information Center, drive across the Vilano Bridge towards the ocean, then turn towards Vilano Beachfront Park. The drive is about 8 minutes. For Surfside Park, continue north along Coastal Highway. From the same starting point, that drive is about 7 minutes.

Allow additional time to park and carry your gear to the sand. Use off-beach parking and a pedestrian walkover if you do not want to drive on the beach. Vehicle ramps depend on sand conditions, so a driving pass alone does not guarantee access.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: services and fares and charges.

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