The Daytona coast runs about 23 miles of Atlantic shoreline, and it is not one beach but several: the famous drivable strand, the inlet parks at either end, and New Smyrna's quieter dunes to the south. This guide assembles the films that compare them.

Daytona Beach Travel Guide - 23 Miles of the Fun Coast

TampaAerialMedia

TampaAerialMedia's aerial-led guide explains how Daytona's hard-packed sand made it the 'world's most famous beach': pioneers raced automobiles on the shore from Ormond Beach to Ponce Inlet long before paved roads. The tour runs the whole coastal region — Sand Dune Park at New Smyrna, Ponce Inlet, a Halifax River cruise, the boardwalk and a beach drive — and notes the modern calendar: the Daytona 500, the nation's second-largest bike rally and major car shows, plus nature for the crowd-averse.

Key takeaways
  • Beach racing on hard-packed sand is the original claim to fame
  • The guide covers the full coast, not just the Daytona strip
  • Festival city: Daytona 500, Bike Week-scale rallies and big car shows anchor the year

Drive With Me On The Beach in Daytona Beach Florida!

Michael Bordenaro

Michael Bordenaro drives the length of the beach on camera (2021) and narrates how the system works: as filmed, $20 buys a full day of beach access with in-and-out privileges, residents can hold a seasonal pass, traffic keeps to the right at a 10 mph limit, and drivers stop for pedestrians just as they would on a road. He points out the beachside services every few blocks — chair and umbrella rentals, ice-cream and food trucks — and argues the convenience of parking at your own beach setup instead of hauling gear across one of Florida's widest beaches.

Key takeaways
  • As filmed in 2021: $20 per day to drive and park on the beach, with same-day re-entry
  • Speed limit on the sand is 10 mph; park on the right (land) side and yield to pedestrians
  • Rental kiosks and food trucks repeat every few blocks along the driving lanes

Smyrna Dunes Park- The Beaches, Pier, Jetty, and Boardwalk. in New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Off Our Couch

Off Our Couch's full tour of Smyrna Dunes Park covers the 184-acre inlet park on the south side of Ponce de Leon Inlet in New Smyrna Beach: more than 2 miles of boardwalk with overlooks onto the Atlantic, the Indian River and the inlet. Entry was $10 per vehicle as filmed (with a veteran discount shown), and the walk runs from the entrance pavilion out to the south jetty — past gopher tortoises feeding beside the boardwalk — where the dog-friendly beach section and the inlet fishing draw crowds.

Key takeaways
  • 184-acre Volusia County park on the inlet's south shore in New Smyrna Beach
  • 2+ miles of elevated boardwalk with ocean, river and inlet overlooks
  • Dog-friendly beach by the south jetty; gopher tortoises live in the dunes

The famous one: drive on it

The aerial-led guide explains the origin story — hard-packed sand raced by pioneers from Ormond Beach to Ponce Inlet before paved roads — and the drive-with-me film shows the modern system: $20 a day with in-and-out privileges as filmed, 10 mph, park on the land side, yield to pedestrians. Current 2026 footage of the ramps and driving lanes closes the point: the tradition is alive.

The inlet bookends

At the south end of the main beach, Lighthouse Point Park fronts Ponce Inlet — boardwalk, jetty, calm dog beach on one side, surf on the other. Across the inlet, Smyrna Dunes Park wraps 184 acres of protected dunes in two miles of boardwalk, gopher tortoises beside the path, the lighthouse in frame the whole way.

The Beach, Jetty, and Views of Lighthouse Point Park in Ponce Inlet, Florida

Off Our Couch

Off Our Couch's full visit to Lighthouse Point Park: the boardwalk and its greenery overlooks, the benches, the feral cats the signs warn you not to feed, and the practical layer done properly — $10 per vehicle to enter as filmed, a 50% veteran discount, and the park's closeness to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse itself. A complete, unhurried portrait of the park on a normal day.

Key takeaways
  • Entry $10 per vehicle, as filmed; veterans half price
  • Boardwalk overlooks face the greenery, not the beach
  • Park and lighthouse are minutes apart — visit both

I'm Going Alone to New Smyrna Beach

Miles In America - Introvert Travel

Episode one of Miles In America's New Smyrna Beach road trip (2026) races the rain through five planned stops and makes it to the atmospheric ones: the Cruger-dePeyster Sugar Mill Ruins under Spanish moss, Old Fort Park, and a climb of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse just across the inlet, with blackened fish tacos and key lime pie in between. Cheerfully unpolished, it shows how much of the NSB area a visitor can string together in a single day.

Key takeaways
  • Sugar Mill Ruins and Old Fort Park anchor the history stops
  • Ponce Inlet Lighthouse sits just across the inlet from NSB
  • Filmed June 2026, racing afternoon rain

10 Best Things to Do in New Smyrna Beach // Travel Guide 2022

ChadGallivanter

Local resident ChadGallivanter's ten best things in New Smyrna Beach come with the town's deep backstory: Dr. Andrew Turnbull's 1768 colony of some 1,300 Mediterranean settlers was the largest attempt at British colonization in the New World, and its collapse under mistreatment still shapes the town's identity. Today the town of 30,000-plus, just south of Daytona, pairs that history with a classic, laid-back beach scene.

Key takeaways
  • New Smyrna began as the largest British colonization attempt in the New World (1768)
  • The Turnbull colony's collapse is the founding story locals still tell
  • Classic and laid-back is the local verdict — and the local bias is admitted up front

New Smyrna: the locals' coast

Two films make the NSB case: a solo road-tripper racing the rain between the sugar mill ruins, Old Fort Park and a lighthouse climb, and a resident's ten-best list rooted in the town's 1768 Turnbull colony story — a classic, laid-back beach scene thirty minutes south of the boardwalk crowds.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page, filmed along the Daytona–New Smyrna coast.

Watch: Daytona Beach Beaches Guide, guided

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Lighthouse Point Park Beach 🌊 Ponce Inlet Florida 4K

Let's Walk The World

A walk the length of Lighthouse Point Park's jetty and beach — the walkthrough itself is silent; the film opens with the creator's jet-car sponsor segment. Kept for the full-length jetty footage.

DRIVE YOUR CAR ON DAYTONA BEACH,FLORIDA

klassy ride

Driving a car on Daytona Beach in 2026: current footage of the beach ramps, driving lanes and parked rows that keep the tradition running.

More Daytona Beach essentials

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